Marmalade Cake for the 'in-laws'.

This is one of my most baked recipes. It's from the GBBO (Great British Bake Off) series II recipe book. It is a simple sponge cake with the added ingredient of marmalade. I am not a huge marmalade fan but I do love the sweet, stickiness that it adds to this otherwise ordinary sponge.

I made it last weekend when Neil's family came to stay; I had made it for the 'in-laws' before and they enjoyed it, so decided to treat them to it again.

For the sponge:

175g unsalted butter, softened

175g of caster sugar

3 large free range eggs, at room temperature and beaten

175g self raising flour, sifted.

¼ tsp baking powder

3 tbsp prune jam

2 tbsp semi skimmed milk

To decorate:

3 tbsp marmalade jam

100g icing sugar, sifted

2 tbsp warm water, roughly.

Cream butter and sugar, gradually add the eggs and the marmalade. Fold in the flour and baking powder then add the milk. Spoon mixture in to a 20 cm springform cake tin (base lined with baking paper) and bake at 175 degrees for 45 mins - this time is shorter than stated in the original recipe but any longer I find the edges get too brown. I also cover with foil for the last 10 mins of cooking time so that the top stays a nice golden colour and doesn't get too dark.

When just out of the oven, cover the top of the cake with the marmalade (I usually heat it for a few seconds in the microwave to make it easier to spread) and leave to cool completely. Then make the icing and pour over the cake randomly. I found dripping from a height works pretty well!