The best plum cake I've tried so far (excluding my dad's plum cake of course)

For years my dad's plum cake was the unachievable ideal for me (not that I've been baking for years, I only started this year). Alas! A couple of months ago I found a recipe that might just be the best plum cake recipe in the world! Every time I bake it I'm still tweaking amounts of ingredients etc but I think it's one of those things you can only improve, never spoil. I hope... Please remember to have all the ingredients at room temperature.

• 1kg plums (I suggest tangy ones otherwise the cake might be a bit bland)
• 300g flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 150g softened butter
• 200g sugar
• 80ml milk
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 lemon peel (it is really up to you how much lemon peel you'd like to use - I like my cake quite lemony so I use the whole lemon)
• a pinch of salt

1. Pre-heat the oven to 170C.

2. Slice the plums any way you like and remove stones.

3. Mix butter with sugar, vanilla, lemon peel and salt and then add eggs.

4. While mixing add flour and baking powder in turns with milk.

5. Get a baking tray, grease it with a bit of butter and pour the dough in. Add the plums.

6. Bake in the oven for about 60 minutes. Keep checking just in case the top of the cake gets burnt. You might need to cover it with tinfoil half way through.

7. Enjoy!

An unexpectedly tasty apple cake

I saw this recipe online and thought - "No way it's going to work". Well, it did. The trick I used was coating the apples and raisins with cinnamon first and let them soak to give them richer taste. I also used walnuts instead of hazelnuts as to me they just go better with cocoa. 

• 1 kg apples
• 100g walnuts (you can chop them up if you prefer smaller pieces)
• a handful of raisins (soaked and drained)
• 4 eggs (room temperature)
• 200g caster sugar
• 300g plain flower
• 1 tbsp of cocoa
• 1 tsp of cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 150ml oil (I used rapeseed)

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C.

2. Peel the apples, slice them up and coat them with cinnamon.

3. Mix the eggs and sugar until quite smooth.

4. Add flour, cocoa, cinnamon, soda, baking powder and oil. Mix well until smooth.

5. Add apple slices, nuts and raisins.

6. Wipe the baking tin with oil so the cake doesn't stick to it.

7. Bake for 50 minutes.

8. Enjoy!

My Lazy Cheesecake

Honestly, this cheesecake is so easy you won't even know when you made it. It's a no-bake option so you can whip it up in no time and after a couple of hours in the fridge you're good to go.

• a jar of chocolate and nut spread
• 2 tubs of soft white cheese (I used Philadelphia)
• a packet of chocolate digestive biscuits
• 50g butter
• 100g chopped nuts

1. Smash the biscuits and then mix them with butter until the mixture is smooth. Add some nuts.

2. Transfer the mixture into your cake tin and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes.

3. Mix the chocolate spread with soft cheese. Add some sugar if it's not sweet enough. I haven't as I prefer my cakes not too sweet.

3. Take the biscuit base out of the fridge and spread the filling on top. Sprinkle with the rest of the chopped nuts. Leave in the fridge for minimum if two hours - longer if possible.

4. Enjoy!