It’s time to show some selfie respect

TABLE FOR TWO Does this former MOT garage pass our test?

Stop taking selfies in the street with me, says David Bowie’s wife. In a recent interview, Iman revealed that Bowie fans often approach her for a quick snap, presumably for Instagram (#Bowie4eva), while simultaneously saying, “I’m so sorry for your loss.” It’s so macabre, this urge to hang off the coat-tails of death via social media photos. Again and again, when a celebrity sadly dies, various journalists scrabble to find a grainy picture of themselves with said person to post online. They weren’t friends in most cases, it’s just an attempt to say, “Look ook at me, look at me with th this famous dead celebrity!” Or, in poor Iman’s case, “Look at me with the wife of this famous s dead celebrity!” Pack it in, everyone.

the cakes are still raw, bake for five to 10 minutes more. Leave the sponges to cool in the tins for five minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

While the oven is still on, caramelise the pumpkin seeds for the icing. Rinse them in a sieve, then toss them in one heaped tablespoon of the icing sugar until lightly coated. Spread out on a baking sheet and pop into the oven for 10 minutes, until caramelised and crunchy. Remove and leave to one side to cool completely.

While the cakes are cooling, make your icing. Cut the butter into cubes and put them into a free-standing mixer with a paddle attachment (or just use a large mixing bowl and hand-held mixer if you don’t have one). Beat for three to four minutes, until pale and light. Drain any excess liquid from the cream cheese and beat into the butter, only just enough to mix the two together – too much and it becomes runny. Sift half the remaining icing sugar into the mix, and when fully combined sift and beat in the remaining half. Keep beating for around four minutes, until pale and smooth. Finely chop the stem ginger and add it with a little of the syrup from the jar. Place the bowl of icing in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.

When the sponges have cooled, carefully cut them in half horizontally and layer them up on your serving board or cake stand with the cream cheese frosting, brushing the layers with a little spiced rum as you go. You can leave the cake like that, or use the last bit of frosting to give your cake a scant frosting around the sides and top. Decorate with the caramelised seeds, and pop back into the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving – just to give the icing time to firm up again.

First make the pastry. Put the flour, sugar and butter into a food processor and blitz until combined. Add the egg and pulse until you have a dough; you might not need quite all the egg, so hold a little back at first. The pastry should not be sticky. Shape into a flat

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease and line three 18cm round cake pans. You can use larger pans, but your cake will be wider and not as tall. Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add the milk and saffron and set aside to infuse. Whisk the eggs and sugar together until thick and fluffy. Mix the dry ingredients together, then