HERE S some food for thought, and I hope you will not mind me dwelling a while on the subject for it is one close to my heart or thereabouts. I talk, without my mouth full unfortunately, of cakes, those delicious concoctions which tempt the eye and challe

HERE'S some food for thought, and I hope you will not mind me dwelling a while on the subject for it is one close to my heart or thereabouts.

I talk, without my mouth full unfortunately, of cakes, those delicious concoctions which tempt the eye and challenge the waistline.

I cannot imagine that anyone could possibly dislike cakes. That would not be in the natural order of things.

What is your favourite? There must be a couple of dozen that I would categorise as such.

Choosing a favourite favourite is difficult but I have put my taste buds through a virtual tour of my yummy memory banks and come up with one - and encountered a coincidence.

I have plumped for lemon drizzle cake - just the name of it makes me salivate - and a survey out this week reveals that it is not only the favourite among 31 to 45-year-olds - sadly, I have not fitted into that age bracket for quite a while - but it is also the one most popular with Hertfordshire residents so I am in good company.

But lemon drizzle only figures at No. 4 in the top ten of cakes.

Standing proud at No. 1 is chocolate fudge which is said to be the favourite of women.

Runner-up is cheesecake, the most popular choice among 18 to 30-year-olds.

Just pipping lemon drizzle to No. 3 spot is carrot cake which is said to be favourite among men, Londoners and prime minister Tony Blair but he only partakes of it occasionally.

Is that what they serve up to guests at 10 Downing Street? I can't imagine the visitors are only offered wife Cherie's favourite which is Christmas cake - a bit much to digest in high summer.

The survey of the nation's favourite teatime treats was commissioned by the Hertfordshire-based Willow Foundation ahead of its Piece of Cake fundraising fortnight which starts on Monday.

This admirable charity was started by former Arsenal and Scotland goalkeeper Bob Wilson (fruitcake is his favourite) and his wife Megs in memory of their daughter Anne who was known as Willow and sadly died of cancer at the age of 31.

The foundation raises money to provide special days out for seriously ill young adults.

Celebrity chef Gary Rhodes is supporting Piece of Cake by providing Willow with six mouth-watering afternoon tea recipes.

I'm more than happy to pass on the information that the recipes, together with a Gift Aid form, tips and instructions and a guide to afternoon tea etiquette are available in a fundraising pack which can be had by logging on to www.willowfoundation.org.uk or calling 01707 259777.

It irks me when public relations people with no knowledge of the area they are writing about send out material which is so inaccurate that it is laughable.

It happens a lot. This week came a press release from a major company looking to publicise its new homes development in "Old Stevenage".

In fact, the site appears to be off Hertford Road which is about as far away from the Old Town as you can get without leaving Stevenage.

And it is "just a few miles" from the town centre - an exaggeration which would put most potential purchasers off, I reckon.