British web surfers were having their cake and eating it last year, according to a UK recipe website.

Good Food Magazine’s website bbcgoodfood.com, discovered that the word ‘cake’ has replaced the word ‘chicken’ as the most searched-for food term on its website during 2011, with pizza moving up six places from tenth to fourth position since 2010.

Gillian Carter, editor of Good Food Magazine, said: “It’s not surprising that, in tough times, we reach for comforting food. One of the ways we keep calm and carry on is with cake and a cuppa – or our imported national favourites – pasta and pizza.”

Featured in its top 10 most searched for recipes, the food website found four to be cakes, including malt chocolate cheesecake, strawberry & white chocolate mousse cake, summer fruit drizzle cake and chocolate & banana cake.

Dropping out of the top 10 most-searched food terms were couscous, courgette and canapés.

The website, which had 5.2 million unique visitors in December, hosts nearly 8,000 tried and tested recipes.

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