Tom's Honey and Spice cake

This month's theme was April's fool.  I'm afraid my cake wasn't really a fool at all, even though I did make it in a torus shape.  Instead I made a card jester's hat to go in the middle!  You could add some colouring to the icing to make it a bit different.

Ingredients:

8oz plain flour
4oz butter
3oz caster sugar
3oz clear runny honey
2oz finely chopped mixed candied peel
1 egg, beaten
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
1tsp ground cinnamon
1tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
grated zest of an orange
grated zest of a lemon

Method:

Butter a 7" square cake tin.

Sift the flour and spices together, then add the sugar and zest. Rub the butter in to form a crumbly mixture. Mix in the egg and honey (if the honey is not very runny then warm it in the microwave for 30s or so). Dissolve the bicarb with 3 tablespoons of cold water then beat into the mixture until it is smooth. Stir in the mixed candied peel, and spoon into the tin.  Bake for about 30 minutes at 170C.  Leave to cool for 10 minutes then turn out onto a cooling rack.

The Icing:

4oz sifted icing sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons warm water

Sift the icing sugar then mix in the water and juice to make a thin icing. Put a big plate under the cake and pour the icing over the top, letting it run down the sides a bit.

Stacey's Honey and Apricot Scones

I entered my Champagne Victoria Sponge recipe into a competition run by Natural Selection Foods and I won a whole bunch of their dried fruits, so I wanted to use some in my baking for fruit and veg month. I chose the apricots as they were lovely and sweet, and substituted the sugar for honey in this recipe.

225g plain flour

1tsp baking powder

50g butter or margarine

50g chopped apricots

2tbsp clear “runny” honey

100ml buttermilk

Beaten egg, to glaze

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 15-20 minutes

Makes 12 small scones

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 6 and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
2. Tip the flour and baking powder into a large bowl and mix together by hand. Add the butter and rub this into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3. Add the chopped apricot, honey and buttermilk to the mixture and stir with a spoon until the mixture comes together to form a dough. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly for a few minutes, until the dough is soft and smooth.
4. Roll the dough out to around an inch thick, cut out small scones using a round cutter, then place these on the prepared baking tray, leaving a space between each. Brush with the beaten egg to glaze, then bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown on top.
5. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack to cool – although scones are always best eaten slightly warm!
6. Eat as they are, or serve with jam and cream.