Lemon Drizzle Cake

Friends and family are constantly asking me for this recipe, so here it is. It's a yummy, seriously lemony, seriously simple cake. Minimal ingredients, maximum taste!

Ingredients:

150g Self-raising flour
150g Butter, softened
150g Caster sugar
2 Eggs
2 Lemons
200g Icing sugar

1. Preheat oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Grease and line a 9x13' baking tin.

2. Whisk up the flour, caster sugar, butter and eggs in a mixing bowl until thick and creamy looking, and mix in the zest of the 2 lemons (you can zest lemons by grating them on the spikey bit of your cheese grater).

3. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the sponge springs back when poked, and a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.

4. Meanwhile, juice both of your lemons , putting about 3 dessertspoons full in a separate bowl to make your icing later.

5. When your sponge is done, remove from the oven and, with a kebab skewer or something equally spikey, poke about 12 holes evenly spaced into your cake. Now pour the lemon juice into these holes so that the cake soaks it all up. Leave for 10 minutes to allow the juice to be soaked up, then remove from the tin and leave to cool for about half an hour.

6. Now for the icing. Add the remaining lemon juice to the icing sugar and mix until it resembles icing. If it's a bit thick, add a few drops of water, and if it's too thin add more sugar. You want the icing to be pourable (or drizzlable) but not too runny. Now drizzle the icing all over the cake until it looks pretty, and leave to set.

7. Enjoy!

Jam Sponge Pudding

This is a recipe I discovered this weekend when making a Sunday roast for the housemates. It's great if you're low on oven space (which, inevitably you will be if you're roasting a chicken, potatoes and yorkshire puddings!) and is the tastiest microwave meal you'll ever make, I promise! Stolen from the brilliant Hairy Bikers. Serves 8 generously.

Ingredients:

• 100g/ strawberry or raspberry jam
• 175g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
• 50g golden syrup
• 60g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 175g self-raising flour
  
  
  
  
  1. Grease a big glass bowl (at least 2 pints/1 litre).
  
  
  2. Put all of your ingredients apart from the jam into a mixing bowl and whisk up until creamy and lump-free. Add a bit of milk if it seems a bit thick, it should be at a dropping consistency when you're done (that means it'll fairly easily drop off your spoon).
  
  
  3. Put the jam in the bottom of your greased glass bowl, then pour the sponge mixture on top.
  
  
  4. Cover the mixture loosely with cling film to allow it to rise.
  
  
  5. Pop it in the microwave for 5-7 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.
  
  
  6. Serve with lots of custard :)