Mary Berry Baking Recipes — Cheesecake, Brownies, Apple Crumble, Carrot Cake, Sausage Rolls, Chicken, and More
Mary Berry’s recipe collection spans decades of British home cooking — from her early baking books through to her television appearances on The Great British Bake Off and Mary Berry Cooks. Her recipes are known for their reliability, clear instructions, and the understanding that most home bakers want results that look and taste impressive without requiring professional skills or specialist equipment. This guide brings together her most searched recipes: cheesecake, brownies, apple crumble, carrot cake, lemon drizzle traybake, chocolate fridge cake, sausage rolls, chicken dishes, carbonara, and soup — all with UK measurements.
For Mary Berry’s banana bread, banana loaf, banana cake, walnut loaf, and chocolate banana recipes, see our article on Mary Berry banana bread, banana loaf, banana cake, and walnut loaf recipes guide.
Mary Berry Cheesecake Recipes
Mary Berry Baked Cheesecake
Mary Berry’s baked cheesecake is a classic British version — rich, smooth, and not overly sweet. Her recipe uses a digestive biscuit base and a filling based on full-fat cream cheese rather than the ricotta used in Italian versions.
Baked Cheesecake — Ingredients (Serves 8)
| Ingredient | Amount |
| FOR THE BASE: | — |
| Digestive biscuits, crushed | 200g |
| Butter, melted | 85g |
| FOR THE FILLING: | — |
| Full-fat cream cheese | 600g |
| Caster sugar | 150g |
| Soured cream | 150ml |
| Eggs | 3 large |
| Vanilla extract | 1 tsp |
| Plain flour | 2 tbsp |
Baked Cheesecake — Method
- Preheat oven to 160°C/140°C fan/gas 3. Grease and line a 23cm springform tin.
- Mix crushed biscuits with melted butter and press firmly into the base of the tin. Chill for 15 minutes.
- Beat cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each. Stir in soured cream, vanilla, and flour.
- Pour filling over the biscuit base. Bake for 35–40 minutes until the filling is just set with a very slight wobble in the centre.
- Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake inside with the door ajar for 1 hour — this prevents cracking.
- Remove from oven, cool completely at room temperature, then chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours before serving.
Mary Berry’s No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake
Mary Berry’s chocolate cheesecake no-bake version uses the same digestive biscuit base but a filling of cream cheese, melted dark chocolate, and lightly whipped double cream — no oven required. The filling is set in the fridge for at least 4 hours. For the chocolate filling: melt 200g dark chocolate and leave to cool slightly, then fold into 300g softened cream cheese with 300ml lightly whipped double cream and 50g sifted icing sugar. Pour over the chilled biscuit base and refrigerate.
Mary Berry Raspberry Cheesecake
For Mary Berry’s raspberry cheesecake, follow the baked cheesecake recipe above and top the cooled cheesecake with a raspberry compote made from 300g fresh or frozen raspberries simmered with 3 tablespoons of icing sugar until just softened. Allow to cool before spooning over the cheesecake. Alternatively, simply arrange fresh raspberries on top of the cooled cheesecake and dust with icing sugar.
Mary Berry Brownie Recipe
Mary Berry’s brownies are consistently described as deeply chocolatey, fudgy rather than cakey, and richly satisfying. Her recipe uses a generous amount of butter and good quality dark chocolate — she advises against using cheap cooking chocolate, which gives a waxy rather than smooth result.
Mary Berry Chocolate Brownies — Ingredients (Makes 24 squares)
| Ingredient | Amount |
| Dark chocolate (70% cocoa) | 200g |
| Butter | 175g |
| Caster sugar | 325g |
| Eggs | 4 large |
| Vanilla extract | 2 tsp |
| Plain flour | 75g |
| Cocoa powder | 50g |
Mary Berry Brownies — Method
- Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4. Grease and line a 30cm x 23cm roasting tin with baking parchment.
- Break the chocolate into pieces and melt with the butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water (or in the microwave in 30-second bursts). Stir until smooth. Leave to cool slightly.
- Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a large bowl until pale and slightly thickened — about 2 minutes with an electric hand whisk.
- Stir the cooled chocolate mixture into the egg and sugar mixture. Add the vanilla extract.
- Sift in the flour and cocoa powder and fold together gently until just combined — do not overmix.
- Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 25–30 minutes. The brownies are done when the top has a papery crust but the centre is still slightly soft. They will firm up as they cool.
- Leave to cool completely in the tin before cutting into squares.
Mary Berry’s Tips for Perfect Brownies
- Do not overbake — the most common brownie mistake. They should be slightly underdone when they come out of the oven, as residual heat continues to cook them in the tin
- Use a metal tin rather than glass — glass retains heat differently and can cause uneven baking
- Cool completely before cutting — cutting warm brownies causes them to crumble
Mary Berry Apple Crumble Recipe
Mary Berry’s apple crumble is a quintessentially British pudding — simple, warming, and endlessly adaptable. Her crumble mix is characteristically straightforward: rubbed-in butter, plain flour, and a mix of sugars for depth of flavour. She adds a small amount of ground almonds for texture and a nuttier crumble top.
Apple Crumble — Ingredients (Serves 6)
| Ingredient | Amount |
| FOR THE FILLING: | — |
| Bramley cooking apples, peeled, cored, sliced | 900g |
| Caster sugar | 75g |
| FOR THE CRUMBLE: | — |
| Plain flour | 175g |
| Butter, cold and cubed | 110g |
| Demerara sugar | 75g |
| Ground almonds | 25g |
Apple Crumble — Method
- Preheat oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6.
- Arrange the sliced apples in a 1.5 litre baking dish. Sprinkle with caster sugar and toss to combine.
- For the crumble: put flour and cold cubed butter in a bowl and rub together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the demerara sugar and ground almonds.
- Scatter the crumble mixture evenly over the apples — do not press down.
- Bake for 30–35 minutes until the crumble is golden and the apple juices are bubbling around the edges.
- Serve warm with custard, cream, or vanilla ice cream.
Mary Berry Crumble Mix Variations
- Rhubarb crumble: Replace apples with 900g trimmed rhubarb cut into 3cm pieces; increase sugar to 100g in the filling
- Plum crumble: Halved plums with 75g caster sugar; no additional liquid needed
- Pear and ginger crumble: Replace apples with pears; add 1 tsp ground ginger to the crumble mix
Mary Berry Carrot Cake
Mary Berry’s carrot cake uses oil rather than butter — a deliberate choice that keeps the cake exceptionally moist for several days after baking. She typically uses sunflower or vegetable oil and finishes the cake with a cream cheese frosting, which has become the standard pairing in British carrot cake.
Mary Berry Carrot Cake — Ingredients (Serves 10)
| Ingredient | Amount |
| Self-raising flour | 225g |
| Caster sugar | 200g |
| Sunflower oil | 175ml |
| Eggs | 3 large |
| Carrots, grated | 250g (about 3 medium) |
| Mixed spice | 2 tsp |
| Bicarbonate of soda | 1 tsp |
| FOR THE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING: | — |
| Full-fat cream cheese | 300g |
| Icing sugar, sifted | 100g |
| Butter, softened | 75g |
| Vanilla extract | 1 tsp |
Mary Berry Carrot Cake — Method
- Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4. Grease and line two 20cm sandwich tins.
- Whisk together oil, sugar, and eggs until combined. Stir in grated carrots.
- Fold in self-raising flour, mixed spice, and bicarbonate of soda until just combined.
- Divide between the tins and bake for 25–30 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.
- For the frosting: beat cream cheese, butter, and icing sugar together until smooth and fluffy. Add vanilla extract.
- Sandwich the cooled cakes with half the frosting; spread the remainder on top. Decorate with walnut halves if desired.
Mary Berry Lemon Drizzle Traybake
Mary Berry’s lemon drizzle traybake is one of her signature recipes — her own description of it as one of her most popular recipes is well justified, and it appears in multiple of her books. Baked in a roasting tin and finished with a crunchy lemon sugar drizzle poured on while warm, it gives a satisfying crunch on top with a tender sponge beneath.
Lemon Drizzle Traybake — Ingredients (Makes 24 squares)
| Ingredient | Amount |
| Self-raising flour | 225g |
| Caster sugar | 225g |
| Butter, softened | 225g |
| Eggs | 4 large |
| Baking powder | 2 tsp |
| Milk | 4 tbsp |
| Lemon zest | 2 lemons |
| FOR THE DRIZZLE: | — |
| Granulated sugar | 175g |
| Lemon juice | 2 lemons (about 6 tbsp) |
Method: Beat all cake ingredients together until smooth. Pour into a greased and lined 30cm x 23cm tin. Bake at 180°C/160°C fan for 35–40 minutes until golden. While still warm, mix granulated sugar and lemon juice together (do not dissolve the sugar — the undissolved sugar creates the crunchy topping) and pour evenly over the warm traybake. Leave to cool completely in the tin before cutting.
Mary Berry Chocolate Fridge Cake
Mary Berry’s chocolate fridge cake — sometimes called a refrigerator cake or chocolate biscuit cake — is a no-bake traybake that sets in the fridge rather than the oven. It is an ideal recipe for when you want a rich chocolatey treat without turning on the oven. The base is broken digestive biscuits, glacé cherries, and mixed dried fruit bound together in a dark chocolate and butter mixture, then chilled until firm.
Chocolate Fridge Cake — Key Ingredients
- 225g dark chocolate (70% cocoa), broken into pieces
- 100g butter
- 2 tbsp golden syrup
- 225g digestive biscuits, roughly broken
- 50g glacé cherries, halved
- 50g mixed dried fruit
Method: Melt chocolate, butter, and golden syrup together. Stir in broken biscuits, cherries, and dried fruit. Press into a lined 18cm square tin. Chill for at least 2 hours until firm. Cut into squares to serve.
Mary Berry Sausage Rolls
Mary Berry’s sausage rolls use rough puff pastry rather than shop-bought — giving a far superior flaky result that is worth the small extra effort. Her filling typically combines good quality pork sausagemeat with fresh herbs and a little mustard for depth.
Sausage Rolls — Key Details
- Pastry: 225g plain flour, 175g cold butter — grated rather than rubbed in for a quicker rough puff. Mix with ice-cold water to a dough, fold three times with 30-minute rests in the fridge between folds
- Filling: 450g good quality pork sausagemeat, 1 tsp dried thyme, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, salt and pepper
- Bake at 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6 for 25–30 minutes until deep golden
- Makes approximately 16–20 cocktail-sized or 8–10 large sausage rolls
Mary Berry Chicken Recipes
Mary Berry Honey Chicken
Mary Berry’s honey chicken is a simple all-in-one tray roast — chicken thighs or pieces coated in a sticky glaze of honey, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger, then roasted until caramelised and tender. The glaze ingredients: 3 tablespoons honey, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 2 cloves garlic (crushed), and 1 teaspoon fresh ginger (grated). Coat 8 chicken pieces, roast at 200°C/180°C fan for 35–40 minutes, basting halfway through.
Mary Berry Chicken Recipes for a Dinner Party
For dinner party chicken, Mary Berry favours make-ahead dishes that can be prepared in advance and require minimal last-minute effort. Her chicken dishes suitable for entertaining include: Chicken with Tarragon Sauce (chicken breasts in a creamy tarragon and white wine sauce — can be made a day ahead and reheated gently); Slow-roasted Spiced Chicken (whole chicken rubbed with spices and slow-roasted at 160°C for 3 hours — falls off the bone); and Chicken Marengo (chicken pieces in a tomato, wine, and mushroom sauce, French-inspired and very popular from her television work).
Mary Berry Carbonara, Soup, and Bread Recipes
Mary Berry Carbonara
Mary Berry’s carbonara recipe takes a slightly simplified approach to the Italian original — she uses a combination of double cream with egg yolks rather than egg yolks alone, giving a more stable sauce that is less likely to scramble. The cream stabilises the sauce at higher temperatures, making it more accessible for home cooks. Her carbonara uses streaky bacon or pancetta, Parmesan, a generous amount of black pepper, and is served with spaghetti or tagliatelle.
Mary Berry Soup
Mary Berry’s soups are characteristically warming and straightforward. Her most popular soup recipes include Cream of Tomato Soup (fresh tomatoes roasted until caramelised, then blended with stock and cream), Leek and Potato Soup (a British classic), and Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with chilli and crème fraîche. Her approach to soup — roasting vegetables before blending — concentrates flavour significantly compared to simply boiling them.
Mary Berry Bread Recipes
Mary Berry’s bread recipes favour straightforward methods accessible to home bakers without specialist equipment. Her White Tin Loaf recipe uses 500g strong white bread flour, 7g fast-action yeast, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp caster sugar, 2 tbsp sunflower oil, and 300ml warm water — kneaded by hand for 10 minutes, proved once, then baked at 220°C/200°C fan/gas 7 for 30–35 minutes. She also publishes recipes for Soda Bread (no yeast, made with buttermilk and bicarbonate of soda — ready in under an hour) and flavoured focaccia.
For Mary Berry’s banana bread, banana loaf, banana cake, walnut loaf, and chocolate banana recipes, see our article on Mary Berry banana bread, banana loaf, banana cake, walnut loaf, and chocolate banana recipes.
For all Mary Berry recipes on BBC Food, see BBC Food — Mary Berry recipes. For Mary Berry’s books and official site, see Mary Berry official website.
For more UK lifestyle, food, and travel guides, see our UK lifestyle and travel section on MetroInsight.
Bottom Line
| Mary Berry baked cheesecake | Cream cheese filling; cool slowly in oven to prevent cracking; chill 3+ hours |
| No-bake chocolate cheesecake | Cream cheese + melted dark chocolate + whipped double cream; chill 4 hours |
| Mary Berry brownies | Fudgy not cakey; do not overbake; cool fully before cutting |
| Apple crumble | Bramley apples; cold butter rubbed in; demerara + ground almonds in crumble |
| Carrot cake | Oil not butter — stays moist for days; cream cheese frosting |
| Lemon drizzle traybake | Pour undissolved sugar+lemon juice on warm cake — gives crunchy top |
| Chocolate fridge cake | No-bake; dark chocolate + butter + golden syrup; set in fridge 2+ hours |
| Sausage rolls | Rough puff pastry; pork sausagemeat with thyme and Dijon mustard |
| Honey chicken | Honey/soy/garlic/ginger glaze; 200°C/180°C fan for 35–40 mins |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Mary Berry’s apple crumble recipe?
Mary Berry’s apple crumble uses 900g Bramley cooking apples (peeled, cored, and sliced) tossed with 75g caster sugar as the filling. The crumble topping is made by rubbing 110g cold cubed butter into 175g plain flour until breadcrumb-like, then stirring in 75g demerara sugar and 25g ground almonds. Scatter over the apples and bake at 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6 for 30–35 minutes until golden. Mary Berry’s addition of ground almonds to the crumble mix is characteristic — it adds a nuttier flavour and a slightly more substantial texture than plain flour and sugar alone.
What is Mary Berry’s cheesecake recipe?
Mary Berry’s classic baked cheesecake uses a digestive biscuit base (200g crushed biscuits with 85g melted butter) and a filling of 600g full-fat cream cheese, 150g caster sugar, 150ml soured cream, 3 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and 2 tbsp plain flour. Bake at 160°C/140°C fan for 35–40 minutes until just set with a slight wobble, then leave in the turned-off oven with the door ajar for 1 hour. Cool completely and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving. For a no-bake chocolate cheesecake, she uses melted dark chocolate folded into cream cheese with whipped double cream.
What is Mary Berry’s brownie recipe?
Mary Berry’s chocolate brownies use 200g dark chocolate (70% cocoa) melted with 175g butter, then combined with 325g caster sugar, 4 large eggs, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 75g plain flour, and 50g cocoa powder. Bake in a lined 30cm x 23cm tin at 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4 for 25–30 minutes. The key is not to overbake — the centre should still have a slight give when pressed, and the top should have a papery crust. They firm up as they cool and should be cut only once completely cold.
What is Mary Berry’s carrot cake recipe?
Mary Berry’s carrot cake uses sunflower oil rather than butter — 175ml oil whisked with 200g caster sugar and 3 eggs, then combined with 225g self-raising flour, 2 tsp mixed spice, 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda, and 250g grated carrot. Bake in two 20cm sandwich tins at 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4 for 25–30 minutes. The cream cheese frosting is made from 300g full-fat cream cheese, 75g softened butter, 100g sifted icing sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla extract beaten together until smooth. Using oil rather than butter is Mary Berry’s deliberate choice — it keeps the cake moist for several days longer than butter-based versions.