Britain may be in the midst of a baking boom, but TV chef James Martin reckons we can learn a thing or two from how Americans approach the cake industry.

Romford Recorder: Ginger and banoffee cheesecake. Picture: PA Photo/Charlotte Tolhurst.Ginger and banoffee cheesecake. Picture: PA Photo/Charlotte Tolhurst. (Image: Copyright: Charlotte Tolhurst)

“We’ve got a better history and certainly have some better dishes but we don’t promote and market it as much as these guys, and that’s the big difference,” says the host of Saturday Kitchen during a break from filming scenes in New York for his new show, United Cakes Of America.

Romford Recorder: Lemon curd butterfly buns. Picture: PA Photo/Charlotte Tolhurst.Lemon curd butterfly buns. Picture: PA Photo/Charlotte Tolhurst. (Image: Copyright: Charlotte Tolhurst)

The series sees Martin drive along the east coast of the States, trying out authentic sweet dishes along the way, meeting the colourful characters behind them, and marvelling at their business acumen.

Romford Recorder: Apple crumble cake. Picture: PA Photo/Charlotte Tolhurst.Apple crumble cake. Picture: PA Photo/Charlotte Tolhurst. (Image: Copyright: Charlotte Tolhurst)

“We went to the Hammond Pretzel Bakery, where the oven is proper old-school. It’s got this massive stone block, it still uses all the wooden boards and the pretzels are made by hand,” he says.

“They’re in this shack in the bottom of the garden, but they’re shipping pretzels all around the world so they are very business savvy.”

He was also impressed by the famous Magnolia Bakery in New York. “It was only on [the TV show] Sex And The City for 10 seconds, but they’ve got queues round the block for their cupcakes,” he says.

When I meet Martin, it’s also in a bakery that appears to have nailed its market. Make My Cake in Harlem is a girly pink paradise, piled high with mouth-watering red velvet cakes with pictures of its many famous fans, from Tina Fey to Jay-Z, adorning the walls.

Despite being an experienced pastry chef, Martin has come across dishes he has never tried before, such as butter cake, whoopie pie, the syrupy Amish dish shoofly pie and the calorie-laden Pumpple Cake, which incorporates a pumpkin pie, chocolate cake, apple pie and vanilla sponge.

“My favourite thing was probably the icebox cake we made at Magnolia,” he says. “I’d never heard of but it is well known in New York. It’s made with ready-made cookies, whipped cream and a few strawberries or raspberries. You make it in three minutes then stick it in the fridge for 24 hours.”

Throughout the trip, Martin has been picking up baking tips and figuring out ways to put his own twist on the dishes back home.

“You can’t translate an exact recipe from America to the UK because the flour is different and the butter is different. They use a lot of corn oil, which we don’t use, and we have far better chocolate in Britain.

Martin may be full of admiration for the American way of doing things, but he’s pleasantly surprised Britain has fallen back in love with baking.

The baking trend goes hand in hand with the success of The Great British Bake Off, and Martin is thrilled for its judges, Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry, both friends of his.

But with all these cakes around, the chef, who turned 40 last year, admits it’s time to pay attention to his weight.

“You are what you eat. Simple as that. But you have to exercise too. I spend a lot of time working in restaurants and I think if I stopped doing that my weight would balloon!”

Here are three tasty treats inspired by Martin’s US travels:

Ginger and banoffee cheesecake

(Makes 4)

1 ready-made ginger cake loaf

300g full fat cream cheese

200ml creme fraiche

200ml double cream, plus extra for the sauce

1tbsp sugar

1 vanilla pod

1 x 397g tin dulce de leche

50g butter

100g caster sugar

2 bananas

Pre-heat the oven to 100°C/80°C fan/gas ¼. Slice the cake thinly and place onto a baking sheet. Dry out the cake completely in the oven. This will take 1 to 2 hours. Cool and blitz in a food processor until it resembles fine crumbs.

Whisk together the cream cheese, creme fraiche, double cream, a tablespoon of sugar and the seeds from the vanilla pod.

Swirl half the dulce de leche into the cheesecake mixture.

Melt the butter and sugar to a caramel, halve the bananas and cook for 1 minute in the caramel. Then add a good splash of double cream to create a sauce.

Sprinkle the base of four chefs rings, 8cm wide, with the blitzed ginger cake. Fill them with the cheesecake mixture, smooth off the top then top with more of the blitzed ginger cake and place in the fridge.

Put the cheesecakes onto the plates and warm the edge of the ring with either a blow torch or a hot cloth to loosen and then lift it off to reveal the mini cheesecakes.

Place the caramelised bananas and sauce around the cheesecake on the plate and serve.

Lemon curd butterfly buns

(Makes 12)

For the buns:

175g butter

175g caster sugar

1tsp vanilla essence

4 eggs

1tsp baking powder

175g plain flour

To fill the cakes:

250ml double cream whipped

100ml lemon curd

Icing sugar, for dusting

For the buns, pre-heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, add the vanilla and slowly add the eggs, two at a time.

Add the baking powder to the flour and gently fold into the mixture.

Divide into a 12-muffin tin lined with paper cases, bake for 15 minutes until well risen and golden brown and then set aside to cool.

Cut the tops off the cakes and cut the tops in half to make the butterfly wings.

To fill the cakes, fold the cream and lemon curd together, until marbled, pipe onto the top of the cakes, put the cake wings on top and dust with icing sugar.

Apple crumble cake

(Serves 6-8)

For the cake:

250g butter

250g light brown sugar

1tsp ground cinnamon

1tbsp maple syrup

4 eggs

250g self-raising flour

50g pecans

2 apples, cored and diced

For the crumble:

50g butter

100g plain flour

50g light brown sugar

For the fudge topping:

25g brown sugar

25g butter

25g maple syrup

50ml double cream

For the filling:

Whipped cream

For the cake, pre-heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4. Grease and line a 25cm spring form cake tin.

Cream the butter and sugar. Add the cinnamon and maple syrup, then the eggs, one at a time.

Fold in the flour, pecans and half the diced apples. Add the mixture to the cake tin.

For the crumble, rub the butter into the flour and sugar to resemble breadcrumbs. Sprinkle over the top of the cake mixture, with the remaining diced apples, and bake for 30 to 40 minutes.

For the fudge topping: while the cake is cooling, add brown sugar, butter, maple syrup and cream into a pan and bring to the boil.

Slice the cake horizontally and sandwich with whipped cream. Drizzle with the fudge topping.

- James Martin’s United Cakes Of America is on Good Food on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, starting Sunday, February 24