There's something undeniably appealing about a good loaf cake. They might lose out on a middle layer of jam or cream, but only a fool would hold that against them. Indeed, not having a filling to worry about leaves more room to go all out on the top – Karen Burns Booth uses edible flowers to spruce up her Lemon drizzle cake recipe, while Kate Doran tops her Simnel-spiced carrot cake with orange zest and a mascarpone frosting.

Loaf cakes keep well in a tin and, often, their taste will improve over the course of a few days. Martin Wishart's rich Gingerbread makes a sophisticated tea time treat, while Victoria Glass' Vegan banana bread is perfect served any time of day and, made with ground almonds and rice flour, is a fantastic gluten free cake recipe to have up your sleeve.