The last couple of weeks were pretty hard on the old emotions with Will being away and his dad being so poorly. Being on my own for over 2 weeks was harder than I anticipated, despite the house being cleaner than ever and only having myself to tidy up after (conclusion: Will makes more mess than me. Maybe because he’s taller?). The last time we were apart for any period was a 5 day stretch in 2005 when he went off to a music festival in Spain with work, back then I called every day begging him to come home so it’s good to see I’ve grown up at least a little since then. This time I got through it by shopping with my mum, phone calls from friends, Grey’s Anatomy and sleeping with the lights on.

Like a typical woman, I like to eat when I’m emotional. Not so typical is the fact I don’t really like chocolate – I’d much rather eat a Jacket Potato with cheese and beans. But last week my loneliness decided I needed cake.

I couldn’t bear the hassle of the last cake I made (an amaaazing chocolate fudge creation with chocolate buttercream icing that took about 3 hours and necessitated a nap after the baking process), didn’t fancy a victoria sponge and I don’t really like cupcakes… so I decided I wanted a lemon drizzle cake.

This cake is brilliant for emotional eating. It takes about 10 minutes to whip up, and it has lemons in it so it almost does you some good. You can make it as lemony as you wish with the addition of extra grated rind (I don’t like much lemon in mine so I only grate about a quarter of the lemon) and because you cook it in a loaf tin you can pretend like you’re eating bread instead of cake:

Really easy Lemon Drizzle Cake


8oz self-raising flour
8oz caster sugar
1.5 tsp baking powder
8oz butter
4 eggs
Rind of 1 lemon (or less, if you prefer)

for the drizzle
Juice of 1 lemon
85g caster sugar

Pre-heat the oven at 160 degrees and generously butter a loaf tin.

Into a big bowl, sift the flour and baking powder. Add the sugar and stir, followed by the butter, eggs and finely grated lemon rind.

Mix together with a mixer or handheld electric whisk until well combined, dump in the loaf tin and smooth the top with a metal spoon.

Put in the oven for 45-55 minutes – until the top of the cake is golden brown.

Mix together your lemon juice and caster sugar and drizzle over the top of your cake (it’s best to do this whilst the tin is on a large plate, otherwise you’ll make a real mess. Leave to harden and cool.

Eat with a cup of tea (I have never managed more than 4 slices in 1 sitting).

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Will returned last Thursday after a touch-and-go journey involving a stay in a dodgy Athens Youth Hostel and a flight into Heathrow via Dusseldorf. I took Friday off work to spend some quality time with him, which involved a trip to the garden centre for a strimmer, working on the nursery and me coming down with another cold. The cold is awful, but nothing puts a downer on being back together.