Adventures in the kitchen: marmalade, cake and shortbread

Foggy, misty days are perfect for staying indoors and making marmalade, shortbread and cakes. Shame I had to go to work today - but here are some I made at the weekend.

Seville Orange Marmalade - the best. Recipe is from a Dorling Kindersley book - to which I would add my top tips: cut the peel using scissors, cook the peel until tender for at least 2.5 hours thereby much reducing the liquid, and when the sugar is added boil for 30 to 40 minutes to get a rich flavour and a good set.

Heart shaped cake - a family favourite, that makes an appearance at birthdays and on weekend days when we must have cake - this one is chocolate with plum jam filling

This shortbread could not be easier. The amount of butter is terrifying- recipe from here (BBC website) - 125g butter, 55g sugar, 180g plain flour