Sultana and almond slices

Temptation, shame, denial, nudity, lust, obsession... the perfect ingredients for a romantic novel or a rousing Sunday sermon. Just as Adam wished he'd never eaten that apple, I wish I'd never eaten the almond and sultana slice my neighbour gave me. My clothes did not fall off, nor did I feel shame like Adam & Eve, but I knew I had to have more. My neighbour's recipe is a closely guarded secret, so I set off to recreate this little slice of paradise on my own: Soft, yielding almondy sponge strewn with juicy sultanas and a crunchy sugar topping. It's a very superior version of Mr Kipling's Country Slice - and exceedingly easy to make.

Warning: contains tempting fruit

Sultana and almond slices

200g sultanas
110g butter
110g caster sugar
2 eggs
1½ teaspoons almond essence
110g plain flour
25g self raising flour

Pre-heat oven to 170/gas 4 and grease and line a 20cm square tin. Put the sultanas into a pan with half a mug of water and simmer until the liquid has been absorbed, then set aside to cool*. Cream together the butter and sugar, add the eggs one a time (beating after each addition) and then the almond essence. Tip the flours and sultanas into the bowl and fold them in. Bake for about 40-45 minutes until the sponge is an even golden brown. Cool, remove from tin and sprinkle liberally with caster sugar.

Exceedingly good cakes

Time saving tip

* Cool the sultanas quickly: tip onto a plate and spread out into a single layer.

Lead us (not) into temptation

Oh the irony... A decade ago, I remember being so desperate for chocolate that I left my baby (asleep) in his cot while I rushed out to the corner shop for a bar of Fruit and Nut, feeling almost sick with guilt. Now I am home alone for 10 days but can't be bothered to leave the house. So this time the solution is to make chocolate covered flapjacks. They're very quick and easy to get in the oven, but there is a tantalising 2-stage cooling process.

Practically a health food

Chocolate covered flapjacks

125g butter

125g brown sugar

75g golden syrup

250g oats
100g chocolate

Pre-heat oven to 180/gas 4. Melt the butter, sugar and syrup together, then stir in the oats and mix well. Transfer to a 20 x 20cm greased and lined* tin or dish and cook for 25-30 minutes until golden brown (if in doubt, err on the side of under-cooking). Allow to cool in the dish, then turn out and spread with melted chocolate. Cut into squares or bars when the chocolate has set.

*If you can't be bothered with this, just spread the chocolate over them while they're still in the tin, then chisel them out as needed. And if you can't be bothered to spread the melted chocolate, put it in a freezer bag, snip off the corner and drizzle it over the flapjacks.