Naughty Nibbles

I mentioned in the introduction that my mother was a great home cook. Homemade food was the order of the day when I was growing up and nothing stays in my mind as clearly as the sweets and cakes that were always on offer in our kitchen. I can remember making coconut ice for the church summer fêtes, chocolate-dipped honeycomb, marshmallows and cookies.

Mum used to make a cake aptly named a rummage cake (because you had to rummage through the cupboard for whatever ingredients you could find!). We had this cake whenever we had guests, and I can still remember the texture of the chocolate and squashy raisins with crunchy digestives.