Baking on a budget

Get drizzling, dripping and swirling with these fun, thrifty bakes. Whip up an easy, showstopping birthday cake or try new twists on old favourites like red velvet cookies or sticky toffee banana bread – with just a few clever tricks you can make them look extra special

- ANNA GLOVER

Rhubarb & custard blondies

Blondies are brownies made with white chocolate instead of dark and flavoured with vanilla instead of cocoa. Custard powder in the cake mix makes them extra fudgy and, if you don’t have rhubarb, you can use any jam or compote – swirl through the ready-made raspberry jam, or a homemade pear and apple compote for a crumble-inspired blondie.

SERVES 12 PREP 15 mins plus cooling COOK 55 mins EASY V

225g salted butter (or unsalted with a pinch of salt), plus extra for the tin

200g light brown soft sugar

100g caster sugar

150g plain flour

50g custard powder

½ tsp baking powder

3 medium eggs

250g white chocolate chips or white chocolate finely chopped

2 tsp vanilla extract

For the rhubarb & custard swirl

200g rhubarb (frozen, or canned and drained is fine)

75g caster sugar pink or red food colouring (optional)

4 tbsp ready-made custard (from a carton is fine, or made up from powder)

1 For the rhubarb & custard swirl, put the rhubarb and sugar in a wide pan with 2 tbsp water (or omit the water if using canned rhubarb). Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently for about 10 mins until the rhubarb breaks down and turns jammy. Add a few drops of food colouring if you want a pink rhubarb swirl, but the flavour will still be great if you’re using green-tinged rhubarb. Leave to cool.