My best northern friend is turning 26 this weekend,  and as she set the bar so high with everything she did for me for my birthday I had a lot to live up to.

Meg came up with the great idea to get a few of us to chip in and buy her something really special. Firstly, she had remembered that Emma mentioned her purse was becoming a bit 'worse for wear'. So that was a great start. Then, after a little more digging, we found out she was also after a new handbag.

After we found the perfect set, we also decided to treat her to a lovely silver bunting necklace and a box of Jaffa cakes, as they are her favourite. She was chuffed to bits!

And as she knows how much of a baker I am, I couldn't miss the opportunity to make her an erray of delicious delights. I donned my favourite apron, headed to the kitchen and prrpared her a lemon and poppyseed loaf from the Hummingbird bakery cookbook, and a jar full of tea bag shaped biscuits dipped in lemon icing. This recipe was adapted from one in the Women's Institute tea time cookbook. I even tied little branding tags to each biscuit to really make them look like tea bags.

And as I wouldn't be seeing my best friend on her birthday (because she was lucky enough to be flying off to sunny Portugal), I decided to rush over to the Trafford centre and surprise her on their way to the airport with lunch at Selfridges - just like when she surprised me on my birthday!