Flora Shedden (Andrew Cawley / DC Thomson)

We revealed last year that Flora, 20, had quit her studies for a year as she’d landed a book deal.

But now she’s admitted all her commitments will delay her return to St Andrews University even longer.

“I definitely want to do uni at some point,” said Flora. “I think it will happen but I’m not convinced it will happen next year or even the year after.

“That made me quite sad at the time but there’s a lot on at the moment.”

That includes being unveiled as the face of Graham’s Dairy and full-on work on her book, which will be published at the start of next year.

She admits she initially panicked at the prospect of coming up with suitable bakes and meals. But a rummage through her trusty pile of notebooks and recollections of favourite dishes meant she could have added dozens more.

However, she has revealed the bizarre middle-of-the-night feasts involved.

“My only regret about the whole thing is all the food I ate for testing.

“It’s been hard to keep the pounds off, with making pork belly at 7am and roast dinners at two in the morning.”

Flora has shared four timely favourites for our Easter Day special. And she hopes they’ll lead to a bit of a diet switch.

“Easter can be quite hard because after you’ve eaten the hot cross buns you just scoff chocolate.

“But I like to bake at Easter and these are nice, spring-like recipes you can make on Easter day or over the holidays.”

Chocolate popcorn slice

You’ll need:

300g digestive biscuits
1 tbsp cocoa
100g butter
100g plain chocolate
200ml double cream
1 tsp golden syrup
200g plain chocolate, broken into pieces
75 pistachio nuts
100g popcorn kernels
200g white chocolate

Method:

Grease and line a deep baking tray (I used a square 9” one but you can use a rectangular equivalent).

For the base, blitz the biscuits with the cocoa in a food processor. Melt the butter and chocolate together. Add to the biscuits and blitz again until it has a sandy consistency. Tip into your prepared tin and press down firmly. Place in the fridge.

Heat the cream until just about to boil. Take off the heat then add the syrup. Allow to sit for five minutes before adding the chocolate. Do not stir.

Make the popcorn following packet instruction or using a popcorn maker, but do not add salt or sugar. Once the cream and chocolate has been sitting for at least five minutes you can stir.

By leaving it to sit you are preventing the chocolate from seizing which is a common issue when making ganache. The result should be a thick and glossy mixture.

Add the pistachios and half the popcorn and stir well. Pour on to the biscuits base and return to the fridge for an hour. Just before the ganache has fully set melt the white chocolate slowly in a bain marie (over hot water).

Add the remaining half of the popcorn and stir well making sure all of the popcorn is coated in chocolate. Pour on top of the ganache and spread level with a knife. Return to the fridge for a further hour at the very least. Once fully set, use a serrated knife to cut into bars or small squares.

Store in the fridge until you are ready to serve.

White chocolate Easter celebration cake

You’ll need:

250g softened butter
150g white chocolate
250g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence or bean paste
4 eggs
250g self-raising flour
250g softened butter
400g icing sugar
150g white chocolate
whole milk
food colouring
fresh flowers and sugar coated
chocolate mini eggs to decorate

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin. In a large saucepan heat the butter until just melted. Do not boil. Remove from heat then after a few moments add the white chocolate and allow to sit for a wee minute before stirring.

Once the chocolate melts add caster sugar and vanilla and mix well. Add eggs and flour and again mix well. Pour into your prepared tin and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a knife comes out of the centre completely clean. Allow to cool completely.

For the butter-cream, whip the butter in a free- standing mixer until very pale. Place the white in a bain marie (over hot water) to melt slowly. Add the icing sugar to the butter and mix again for about five minutes. You may need a splash of milk to loosen it slightly. Add the melted chocolate and mix once more.

If you are colouring the icing remove half of the icing from the mixer then colour the remaining half but adding a little food colouring and beating until even coloured.

This way the filling will remain white.

Once the cake is cooled cut into three (you can cut it in half if that’s easier) and spread the white butter-cream between the layers. Cover the top and sides with a thin layer of icing making sure it is fully covered, though you will still be able to see the sponge. This is called the crumb coat. Place the cake in the fridge and allow the icing to set solid.

Once ready, spread the coloured icing on top of the crumb coat until you have smooth edges and can no longer see the sponge.

Bunny biscuits

You’ll need:

175g softened butter
225g caster sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla essence
or bean paste
¼ tsp cream of tartar
400g plain flour
300g icing sugar
whole milk
food colouring
sugar coated
chocolate mini eggs

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C. In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until pale.

Add the yolks, vanilla, cream of tartar and stir well. Add the flour and mix until the dough resembles breadcrumbs.

Tip on to your work surface and lightly knead until it comes together in a dough. Dust the surface with a little flour then roll the dough out to the thickness of a £1 coin. Cut out using whatever cookie cutter you fancy. It could be bunny-shaped, chick-shaped or egg- shape. Transfer the biscuits on to a baking tray and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool for five minutes before transferring on to a cooling rack to ice. Re-roll the scraps and repeat the cutting-out process until all the dough is used up.

For the icing, mix the icing sugar with a little milk. Add bit by bit so you don’t make the icing too runny. Once you have fairly thick but still pipe-able icing divide into bowls and colour each bowl individually.

I like to match the colours with the mini chocolate eggs.

Transfer the icing into piping bags and decorate the cooled biscuits however you fancy. Add the mini eggs.

Allow the icing to set before serving.

Hot cross bun loaf

You’ll need:

250g strong white bread flour
250g plain flour
½ tsp salt
50g light brown sugar
7g yeast
2 tsp mixed spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger all work well)
250g whole milk
50g butter
100g mixed fruit
zest of 1 orange
3 tbsp plain flour
whole milk
50g apricot jam, sieved

Method:

In the bowl of a free-standing mixer or food processor weigh out the flours, salt, sugar, yeast and spices. Heat the milk and butter together in a saucepan until the butter is just melted. Do not allow to boil. Add to the bowl and using the dough hook or kneading attachment, knead for five minutes or until elastic. Alternatively, do this by hand but you will need to knead for at least 10 minutes.

Place in a lightly-oiled bowl and cover. Allow to prove in a warm place until at least doubled in size (roughly an hour). Meanwhile, weigh the fruit into a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave to sit. This rehydrates the fruit and adds essential moisture to the dough.

Once the dough is doubled in size drain the excess water from the fruit and pat dry.

Add to the dough alongside the orange zest. Knead for a few moments until well combined and all the air is knocked out. Divide into 12 lumps. Tuck the edges into the bottom and pinch to form a smooth ball. If using two smaller loaf tins place six balls in each. For a larger square tin you can fit all 12 in. Make sure there is room for them to rise though.

Allow to prove for a further hour. Preheat the oven to 200C. For the cross, mix the flour with some milk until you have a runny but pipe-able batter. Transfer into a piping bag and draw a cross on each bun.

Bake for 35-40 minutes. Five minutes before they are baked heat jam with a splash of boiling water. Bring to the boil. Remove buns from oven and brush tops with the hot jam immediately. Allow to cool completely before removing from the tin and slicing.

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