60 of our favourite Easter cakes and sweet treats

Easter means hot cross buns, family dinners and gorgeous legs of lamb. But it also means Easter cakes and desserts fit for the spring season.

Here are our traditional favourites...

Hot Cross Buns

Traditionally enjoyed on Good Friday due to the religious connotations depicted by the piped on cross. Make sure your yeast is within date and that your milk is only just warm (rather than hot), otherwise you will kill the yeast and your buns won't rise. This will result in a dense and chewy hot cross bun, and no one wants that!

It's important to knead the dough for at least 5min. This helps develop the gluten, which in turn creates a smooth and elastic dough, resulting in a better finished bun texture. To check whether the gluten in your kneaded dough has developed sufficiently, pull the dough taut, lightly press the surface with your finger, and it should bounce back.

If you enjoy the taste of hot cross buns but want to try something a little different this year, give our Hot Cross Bun Loaf a go.

Simnel Cake

Traditionally enjoyed on Mothering Sunday, the Simnel cake soon became a way to celebrate the end of lent due to its luxurious qualities; being crammed full of dried fruit and topped with decadent marzipan. A lighter fruit cake than Christmas cake, a Simnel cake is now the epitome of Easter since it's topped with 11 marzipan balls said to represent the 11 disciples of Jesus (minus Judus).

For an easier and less rich option, but with still the flavours of a traditional Simnel cake, try our Simnel traybake.

Easter Eggs

Easter eggs are a symbol of new life and Spring and so have become the perfect way to celebrate Easter with. Rather than buying your Easter eggs this year, why not try making your own. This will require you to temper your own chocolate (meaning to make your chocolate have a glossy sheen) which can seem like a daunting task. However, if you follow our foolproof guide to tempering, then you'll be successful every time.

And our less traditional favourites...

Easter undoubtably means indulging in chocolate and we have plenty of recipes for you to do so. From rocky roads to Malteser cakes and indulgent treats that celebrate the much loved Creme Egg, there's something for every chocoholic out there!

Crème Egg Traybake: Celebrate Easter in all its glory with this colourful traybake. If you’re not a fan of Crème Eggs then top with your favourite chocolate instead.

Recipe: Crème Egg Traybake

With a boozy Baileys twist and a delicious rich chocolate flavour, this fabulous bake with novelty bunny decoration is a celebration of all things Easter.

Recipe: Baileys Chocolate Loaf Cake

Kids and adults will love this fun twist on classic rocky road. Swap the biscuit balls and Mini Eggs for any Easter treats you have left over.

Recipe: Double Decker Rocky Road

Who wouldn’t want breakfast at teatime?! Amuse your guests with these sweet egg and bacon biscuits.

Recipe: Fried Egg and Bacon Biscuits

Mini Egg Cheesecake Squares: These layered cheesecake squares are the perfect Easter teatime treat. If making for children you may like to swap the orange zest for 1tsp vanilla extract.

Recipe: Mini Egg Cheesecake Squares

Tear-and share this rich hot cross bun loaf for an indulgent Easter breakfast.

Recipe: Hot Cross Bun Loaf

Coconut, rum and lime are a recipe for success. If you’re making these for children, omit the Malibu and simmer the syrup for less time.

Recipe: Coconut Rum Cupcakes

This chocolatey, tasty treat is SO easy to make

Recipe: Easy Chocolate Easter Bark

This stunning Easter cake is made with Simnel-inspired flavours. The icing is easier than it looks.

Recipe: Easter rainbow cake

Brunch brownies?! The saltiness of the bacon and the sugary sweet Creme Egg makes for the perfect chocolate brownie combination.

Recipe: Bacon and creme egg chocolate brownies

Oh how we love cherry bakewell tarts, and we've stuffed these cookie cups with the flavours for the perfect treat.

Recipe: Cherry bakewell cookie cups

If you're not in the mood to create a full simnel cake, this easy traybake is ideal.

Recipe: Simnel traybake

You need to try our gorgeous carrot cake cupcakes, topped with cream cheese frosting and Malteser bunnies - delicious!

Recipe: Carrot cake cupcakes

We love this take on a traditional Battenberg, complete with marzipan icing.

Recipe: Battenberg bundt cake

Blondies are a great thing to bake, and these Easter versions are packed with the fabulous spied and dried fruits of the humble hot cross bun.

Recipe: Hot cross bun blondies

You wouldn’t know this carrot cake recipe is vegan, it’s so light and moist.

Recipe: Vegan carrot cake

A delicious alternative to an Easter cake, this cornflake nest is a chocoholic's dream!

Recipe: Giant chocolate cornflake nest

Perfect for birthdays, this foolproof chocolate cake is indulgent and impressive.

Recipe: The easiest chocolate cake in the world

You'll be shocked at how delicious this 10-minute no-bake cake is!

Recipe: The ultimate no-bake chocolate cake

This amazingly soft and delectable vegan cake is dairy free and egg free, but you’d never know.

Recipe: Vegan lemon drizzle cake

This delicious chocolate cake is simple to make, using only four ingredients.

Recipe: Cheat's chocolate cake

We love Easter cookies and these biscuits are a twist on classic cornflake cakes. Adding the breakfast cereal gives a nice crunch to these cookies, and they're super fun to make with the kids.

Recipe: Chocolate cornflake and mini egg cookies

The biscuits in the pastry add subtle gingery warmth and help keep the pie case crisp.

Recipe: Rhubarb meringue pie

This failsafe pudding is sure to please both adults and children.

Recipe: White chocolate, raspberry and passionfruit trifle

This zesty lemon cheesecake recipe has a lemon drizzle cake base, combining two of our favourite desserts.

Recipe: Lemon drizzle cheesecake

Over a million people have watched these melt-in-the-middle pudding be made. And you don’t have to be nervous about getting the timings spot on, as the Creme Eggs give them their gooey interior.

Recipe: Creme Egg chocolate fondants

This Easter showstopper takes time to assemble, but is well worth the effort. You can use as many of the Malteser bunnys around outside of the cake as you like, or leave them off all together.

Recipe: Malteser bunny cake

Why have cake or cheesecake when you can have both? This combination is heavenly and surprisingly light.

Recipe: Carrot cake cheesecake

This impressive looking chocolate cake is very easy to make.

Recipe: The ultimate chocolate cake

This year why not try and make your very own Easter egg!

Recipe: Home-made Easter Egg

Pick your chocolate, flavouring and topping and let your imagination run wild.

Recipe: Mix and match chocolate lollipops

These ice cream-filled eggs are a quirky end to an Easter feast, and guaranteed to raise a laugh! Make some shortbread soldiers to go with it.

Recipe: Ice cream eggs

Next time, try adding Smarties, popping candy or chocolate chips.

Recipe: White chocolate popcorn

Condensed milk gives these biscuits extra crunch and helps them hold their shape.

Recipe: Iced Easter biscuits

If you don’t want to make lemon curd, use 150g (5oz) bought curd.

Recipe: Lemon and almond meringue roulade

A delicious Easter treat that all the family will love.

Recipe: White chocolate and hazelnut egg truffles and Salty chocolate egg truffles

Serve this deliciously moist bake topped with mascarpone icing - the perfect finale for a dinner party.

Recipe: Spiced carrot and walnut pudding

The light and fruity cake was originally a Mothering Sunday tradition, but over the years has become synonymous with Easter baking.

Recipe: Simnel cake

If you aren’t fond of marzipan, you can make this bark without it – just let the white chocolate set before spreading over the dark chocolate layer.

Recipe: Chocolate bark

This Easter pudding couldn’t be simpler to make or more delicious to eat.

Recipe: Hot cross pudding

These white chocolate and pistachio profiteroles are oozing with sweet goodness in the middle and are encased in soft pasty. A drizzle of melted white chocolate tops them off perfectly.

Recipe: White chocolate and pistachio profiteroles

Cakes don't always have to look like cakes - how about a basket? This gorgeous cake design is well worth the effort.

Recipe: Easter basket cake

These sweet, little meringue nests are lemon and lavender flavour. Topped with a couple of Easter eggs, they look fantastic in the centre of any table.

Recipe: Lemon and lavender meringue nests

This all-out Easter pud makes no apologies for being decadent!

Recipe: Creme egg cheesecake

This centrepiece pudding is full of spice and ideal to prepare ahead.

Recipe: Hot cross bun layer cake

Rippled with thick, rich dark chocolate, this Eastern European sweet bread is delicious served for brunch.

Recipe: Chocolate Babka

Use a star nozzle to pipe filling into the buns to prevent the rhubarb clogging the nozzle.

Recipe: Rhubarb and custard profiteroles

A chocolate lover’s dream, this one is sure to impress!

Recipe: Chocolate salted caramel tart

Slice into this decadent chocolate cake with Nutella icing to find a little surprise inside…

Recipe: Hidden bunny loaf cake

Decorating Easter biscuits is a great way to spend the holidays with the kids or just to brush up on your own skills. Simply stock up on piping bags and get messy!

Recipe: Coconut and lime short bread

We’ve given the classic lemon and poppy seed cake a subtle, Earl Grey twist. Covered with decadent lemon curd buttercream, it’s the perfect teatime celebration cake. If you’re not a fan of Earl Grey, simply leave the tea out.

Recipe: Earl grey celebration cake

Kids will love this fun twist on the classic teatime treat set on a crispy, chewy base.

Recipe: Easter rocky road

These American-style cookies are inspired by simnel cake, with almonds, raisins and spice. We’ve added white chocolate for extra indulgence.

Recipe: Simnel and white chocolate cookies

Served with chai custard, warming chai and zesty marmalade updates this traditional family fave.

Recipe: Marmalade treacle tart

Our carrot cake recipe gets a new twist - making a light and zesty Swiss roll.

Recipe: Carrot cake Swiss roll

This impressive showstopper of a cake is the perfect centrepiece for an Easter dinner table. A light and fluffy sponge is covered in a rich chocolate ganache and decorated with our chocolate coffee truffles. A luxurious bundt to kick off any Easter celebration!

Recipe: Chocolate Bundt

Just keep it simple this Easter with our currant and lemon biscuits!

Recipe: Classic Easter Biscuits

This fail-safe carrot cake is delightfully soft and fluffy and perfect when you have lots of guests to feed.

Recipe: Carrot cake traybake

Simnel Loaf Cake: With a central layer of hazelnut marzipan, this is one elevated classic!

Recipe: Simnel Loaf Cake

Sticky-sweet buns with a hidden gooey centre. You can of course leave out the ganache chocolate balls if you fancy a chocolate-free version.

Recipe: Marmalade and Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

A delicious chocolate rocky road in a pretty wreath shape.

Recipe: Chocolate no-bake Easter wreath

These sweet biscuits look so pretty iced and hung up like bunting.

Recipe: Egg and spoon biscuit bunting