Cobnut blackberry cake and my John Lewis gift guide

I am painfully aware of my tendency to wax lyrical about how much I love autumn. What can I say? This season of changing hues, dappled light and cold sunshine is just so special. I'm a creature of habit and September marks the start of the school year (a ridiculous justification I know, given that I am now 25 and my school days are little more than an increasingly foggy blur of anxiety and bad hair days). I'm an October baby and - despite nursing a futile fear of getting older - the child within me does still rather look forward to all the excitement and attention that birthdays bring.

Autumn also sees the hedgerows weigh heavy with produce, which ignites new ideas and brings new recipes to my kitchen every year. I can wear my favourite thick jumpers and cashmere socks without bursting into flames and, at the risk of losing readers for jumping the gun a little here, the C word starts to slip into day-to-day dialogue which fills me with that wonderfully warm feeling of the familiar and the delicious. Yes, I went there - I can only apologise.

On the subject of Christmas, I often get asked for gift recommendations for bakers. I am quite picky about baking-ware. I only want to have things in my kitchen which I like to look at. As I've grown older, I've consciously moved away from the pastel pinks, polka dots and bunting prints that you so often see used in baking designs. Instead, I am slowly building up a selection of ceramic tableware and good quality, beautifully designed cookware. Neither of these things come cheap, but I think it's worth playing the long game. And so, let me present my gift guide for bakers, which I'm delighted to be partnering with John Lewis to bring you!

John Lewis is where my Mum bought our school shoes. It's where my granny bought my sewing machine, and the dress patterns which she used to teach me to sew. It's where I have bought all of my kitchenware, and where I seem to find myself when I've had a tough day and just want to feel happier. I can't put my finger on it, but John Lewis seems to do just that.

John Lewis have an extensive baking range (take a look here), so are a good place to start when buying for bakers. I find that most shops seem to either have style or substance - John Lewis really does have both.

John Lewis Craft Collection
Copper has certainly had a renaissance in the kitchen. Copper and rose gold are two of my favourite tones in kitchenware - I love the peachy, warm notes they bring without being overly girly. These Craft Collection measuring spoons and measuring cups make a great practical present - and look picture perfect hanging from display rails or pegs in the kitchen.

Meri Meri for Liberty 
Perfect for stylish cake bakers. I am obsessed with the gorgeous range of cupcake cases, toppers and flags by Meri Meri. They are cute without being cutesy, which I find a delicate line to walk and one that few brands quite get right. The party pick toppers are playful yet stylish, the neon tones keep the palette current and the limited edition Liberty range is - let's be honest - to die for.

Robert Welch Radford 'Time For Tea' Collection
Essential kitchenware for everyone: a cake slicer and a set of cake forks. And I mean essential. These stainless steel sets are worth the investment for the perfect tea time spread.

And on that note - cake! This cake is so easy to whip up and is perfect for teatime. Cobnuts are one of my favourite autumnal ingredients. They have a wonderfully intense flavour which works beautifully in sweet and savoury recipes alike. Swap the blackberries for raspberries, currants or slices of mirabelles, greengages or early season pears.

THE INGREDIENTS

100g cobnuts, dehusked

120g unsalted butter

60g caster sugar

60g dark brown sugar

2 eggs

120g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp fine salt

100g blackberries

THE RECIPE

Heat the oven to 170°C and line the base of a 7" cake tin with a disc of baking paper. Butter the sides of the tin. 

Roughly chop the cobnuts, then set aside. Place the butter, caster sugar and dark brown sugar in a bowl and cream together until pale a fluffy. Beat in the eggs, mixing well after each addition. Sieve in the flour, baking powder and salt, and fold to combine. Add the blackberries and stir through.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin, and level with the palette knife. Top with the cobnuts, then baking in the centre of the oven for 20-25 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

This post was written in affiliation with John Lewis, but all views are - as always - entirely my own.

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Honey, black cherry and almond cake {gluten free}

Every year I write about my love for stone fruits. Peaches, cherries, apricots and plums are my absolute favourite to eat and to bake with. Juices dripping down wrists as we messily ate these as children remain the epitome of summer to me. The summery, light and floral notes of a perfectly ripe peach have excited writers and lyricists for hundreds of years - and who am I to disagree with such an amorous heritage? 

Cherries can often be hit and miss, especially as so many of them are commercially grown every summer. A truly delicious cherry - heady, sharp and deep in colour - is something to be cherished. This cake, rich with honey and toasty almonds, was my answer to that challenge. A modern version (I hope!) of the traditional Bakewell. 

 THE INGREDIENTS

6 eggs

75g runny honey

75g light brown sugar

200g ground almonds

60g buckwheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp fine salt

2 tsp vanilla extract

150g butter, melted

150g cherries, stoned and halved

75g flaked almonds

THE RECIPE

Heat the oven to 160°C and line a 9" cake tin with baking parchment. 

Separate the eggs, and place the whites in a large, clean bowl. Whisk the whites into soft peaks.

While the whites are whisking, weigh the honey, light brown sugar, ground almonds, buckwheat flour, baking powder, salt and vanilla extract into a separate bowl. Whisk to combine. Add the egg yolks and melted butter, and mix until well combined.

Add one large spoon of the whites to the second mixture. Beat in to loosen the mixture. Next, add the remaining egg whites and carefully fold until combined, working to retain as much air as possible. Transfer the mixture to the prepared tin.

Stone and half the cherries, and arrange on top of the cake. Sprinkle over the flaked almonds. Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. Test the cake and, if not completely baked, cook for a further 10-15 minutes. 

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Serve with lightly whipped cream and an extra drizzle of honey.

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Eggnog Layer Cake

For many of us, Christmas is a season of gastronomic abundance and celebration. Be it the turkey, the pudding or in my case, the endless supply of mince pies that seem to have materialised in our flat, the food that we cook and share at this time of year is steeped with tradition and ritual.

The warmth and familiarity of these festive flavours brings so much joy and tranquility to my kitchen each December. While I treasure those trusted recipes that draw me back each year, I also love the opportunity to cook with new ingredients, and to lay the foundations for new traditions. And my, this cake might just be one of them.

Eggnog tends to divide opinion, which may well have more to do with the less-than-appetising name than the drink itself. Thick with cream, nutmeg, vanilla and bourbon, a good eggnog is near transcendent.

When I was developing this recipe, I read that eggnog - now championed in the United States and Canada - is actually thought to have originated in England as early as the 14th century, when it was likely made of milk, eggs and ale. Thankfully, the recipe has been refined over the centuries, and the ingredients and flavours of eggnog as we know it today are equally at home in baking.

Spiked with nutmeg, vanilla and bourbon, this cake would be the perfect alternative pudding to serve over Christmas.

THE INGREDIENTS

for the cake

180g unsalted butter

150g caster sugar

3 eggs

25ml milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

180g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg 

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

for the soak

50ml bourbon or rum

1 tsp vanilla extract

for the cream

250g double cream

25ml bourbon or rum

25g icing sugar

for the buttercream

120g unsalted butter

375g icing sugar

25ml bourbon or rum

2 tsp vanilla extract

Heat the oven to 170°C / 150°C fan. Line two tall 4" cake tins with baking parchment.

For the sponge, beat the softened butter and caster sugar until creamy and pale. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the milk and vanilla extract. Sieve in the flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt. Mix until the wet and dry ingredients are just incorporated. Divide the cake mixture between the lined tins, then place in the centre of the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes.

While the cakes are baking, make the bourbon soak by mixing the ingredients together.

The cakes are baked when they are golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool out of their tins for 10 minutes, then carefully use a serrated knife to divide each cake into two. Use a pastry brush to glaze each cake with the soak.

For the cream filling, mix the ingredients together then whip the cream until it is just short of soft peaks. It will continue to thicken after you have stopped whipping.

To make the buttercream, beat the butter for a minute or two until it is creamy and pale. Add the icing sugar, and mix on a slow speed until the mixture is sandy. Add the vanilla and bourbon and half of the milk, and mix slowly. Add the remaining milk if the texture is too thick. Whisk on a high speed for 7 minutes. Transfer to a piping bag.

Brush the cakes with a pastry brush to remove any excess crumbs. Use a small scoop of buttercream to secure one cake layer to the plate, then pipe a circle of buttercream around the edge of the cake to form a damn. Spoon a third of the cream into the middle, then top with a second cake layer. Repeat this twice, until you have four layers of sponge with three layers of cream and buttercream inside.

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ELDERFLOWER DRIZZLE CAKE

For eleven months of the year, elder trees languish quietly and inconspicuously in our hedgerows, gardens, woodlands and wastelands. But June brings with it elderflower season and, quite suddenly, these sweet  scented white flowers bloom in abundance. Filled with aromatic pollen, elderflower has a strong and fresh flavour which can hold its own in baking. While elderflower is just finishing, I wanted to share a recipe to make use of delicious elderflower cordial.

Elderflower is easy to identify, but as trees differ it takes time to get to know the good ones. Elderflower is best picked on a dry day, when the flowers are newly opened. While most trees bloom copiously, it's important to leave some flowers on each tree for elderberries later in the season.

Elderflower wilts quickly, so it's best to preserve it as a cordial. Once bottled, the cordial will last for a couple of months, and can be used in a plethora of sweet recipes. You can find my recipe for homemade elderflower cordial here, although you can use shop bought too if you're short for time.

THE INGREDIENTS

125g unsalted butter

125g caster sugar

2 large eggs

50g ground almonds

75g plain flour

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

1 tsp baking powder

Zest of 1 lemon

100ml elderflower cordial

125g icing sugar

THE RECIPE

Preheat your oven to 180C, and line a 7" round cake time with baking parchment.

Beat the butter and caster sugar until pale and creamy. Beat in the eggs, mixing after each addition. Separately sieve together the ground almonds, plain flour, salt and baking powder, then fold into the cake mixture. Stir through the lemon zest.

Spoon the cake mixture into the lined tin and level with a palette knife. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until the top is golden and a toothpick comes out clean from the centre of the cake. While the cake is still hot, brush over half of the elderflower cordial.

To make the glaze, beat the remaining 50ml elderflower with the icing sugar. Once the cake has cooled, remove it from the tin onto a serving plate. Pour the glaze over the top, and decorate with extra elderflower.

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Rhubarb Spelt Upside Down Cake

This year, I have been completely and utterly enchanted by bedazzling forced rhubarb. Raised on an (often overwhelming) abundance of homegrown summer rhubarb, the delicate, paler variety of rhubarb that comes to market in these winter months slipped our notice. Perhaps we were still recovering from a summer of getting through our own wild rhubarb, or perhaps the locally supplied greengrocers in Rutland didn't stretch to this Northern export.

Grown in darkness then 'forced' out of the ground by candlelight, forced rhubarb traditionally hales from Yorkshire, and is the elegant cousin of its wild relation. Its stems are thinner, softer, and dazzlingly pink when poached or roasted. The flavour, while a little sweeter, still packs the perfect punch for fruit-based puddings.

Upside-down cakes are a wonderful way to make use of seasonal bounty. The warm, soft baked fruit calls for a nutty, textured sponge, and while you could stick with white flour, alternative grains such as spelt or buckwheat work wonderfully in sweet bakes. While not gluten free, these grains are naturally lower in gluten, and are higher in natural nutrients that refined flours. 

You can find the full recipe for Kitchen Garden Magazine here.

THE INGREDIENTS

For the rhubarb

400g forced rhubarb

100g caster sugar

1 lemon, juiced

1 vanilla pod

For the cake

125g butter, softened

100g golden caster sugar

2 eggs

25g ground almonds

100g spelt flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp fine salt

Line the base of a 7" cake tin (not loose-bottomed) with baking parchment, and grease the sides. Preheat your oven to 180C / 160C fan.

Wash and trim the ends from the rhubarb, then cut into neat, 3-4cm batons. Place the rhubarb in a saucepan along with the lemon juice and 50g of the sugar. Slice the vanilla pod in half, scrape out the seeds, and add to the pan. Cook the rhubarb over a gentle heat for 5-10 minutes, until the rhubarb is just soft but still holding it's shape. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Sprinkle the remaining 50g of caster sugar over the base of the lined tin, and add the vanilla pod from the poaching liquor.

For the cake, cream together the softened butter and golden caster sugar, then add the eggs one at a time, beating until smooth with each addition. Separately, combine the ground almonds, spelt flour, salt and baking powder, then sieve into the butter mixture. Mix until just combined.

To assemble the cake, carefully arrange the rhubarb batons over the sprinkled sugar in the base of the tin. Pack them as neatly and as tightly as you can, as it is more likely to hold it's shape if it does not have room to spread out while baking. Reserve the rhubarb syrup.

Spread the cake batter over the rhubarb, using a palette knife to carefully level the surface. Do this gently, so as not to disturb the rhubarb pattern you have created. Transfer the cake to the oven, and bake for 25-35 minutes. The cake is done when a cocktail stick plunged into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Leave the cake to cool for 15 minutes, then carefully run a knife around the edge of the tin to loosen it. Carefully turn the cake out onto a serving plate, removing the tin slowly in case any of the fruit has stuck. Peel back the paper, and brush with the reserved rhubarb syrup before serving.

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LEMON AND THYME MADELEINES

Citrus season is in full swing. The grocers and corner shops of Goldhawk road, laden as they are with box upon box of sunny, glossy fruits, continue to bring some warmth to these cold walks home from the tube every evening. From tiny kumquats to great, glittering grapefruit, citrus fruits never fail to delight me.

This years' book of the winter, 'The Land Where Lemons Grow', is the perfect escape for anyone else enchanted by winter citrus. Aside from glimmering fantasies of Tuscan orange groves and giant, monstrous citron, I have learnt that there are lemons, and lemons. The tiny, green fleshed variety are a world away from the succulent, juicy kind grown on the coast of Amalfi.

Interesting as this is, I rarely have the time or inclination to spend my evenings hunting for a certain kind of lemon. These little madeleines, rich with butter and best eaten warm out of the oven, can be made with any citrus you have to hand - although always buy unwaxed if you can. Thyme, which is becoming increasingly popular in sweet recipes, is rich and earthy - the perfect match for fragrant citrus.

 THE INGREDIENTS

2 eggs

100g caster sugar

100g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

100g butter, plus extra for greasing

1 lemon

1 tbsp fresh thyme, finely chopped

100g icing sugar

THE RECIPE

Melt a little butter, then brush a clean madeleine tin with it. Dust with flour, shake away any excess then put the tin in the freezer for 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 200C.

Melt 100g butter, then set aside to cool a little. Separately, whisk your eggs and sugar together for 3-4 minutes, until pale, fluffy and thick. When you drag the whisk across the surface, ribbons should form. Add the cooled butter, the zest of the lemon and half of the thyme, and fold to mix. Sieve in the flour and baking powder, folding once more to combine. Leave the batter to stand for 20 minutes.

Spoon 2 tsp of mixture into the frozen moulds, ensuring they are no more than half-full. Bake for 9-11 minutes - the madeleines need to rise a little in the middle, and be golden around the edges. Transfer the madeleines to a wire rack to cool.

For the glaze, mix the icing sugar with enough lemon juice to form a thin icing. Dip the cooled madeleines into the icing, then sprinkle with a little fresh thyme. Madeleines are best eaten on the day they are baked.

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SUNKEN HONEY PEAR CAKE

 I am often asked whether I eat everything that I bake. It's a question that continues to amuse me, and I remain undecided as to whether I should be offended or deeply flattered by the suggestion that I physically ingest several large cakes by myself on a weekly basis. Ego massaging aside, it's a question that should come as no surprise: we as readers crave resolve to a story, and love few things more that the reassurance that our protagonists (whether they be human or food stuff) will live happily ever after.

Free to a good home, my cut-into creations tend to take their leave with friends, family, boyfriend and on occasion, the sweet lady who lives downstairs and was really very understanding that time our boiler leaked and her ceiling fell in.

While I adore the abundance and indulgence that characterise baking, the propensity for waste continues to trouble me. Consistent recipe development, testing and tweaking results in a lot of baked goods, and it can be tempting - crazy as this may sound - to chuck anything in the bin that isn't quite perfect. I have to remind myself that baked goods, perfect or not, should be enjoyed and treasured. Otherwise, what is the point in all of this?

And I'll admit - I give things away because it's lovely, but also because I know my willpower is only so strong, and that one day I will succumb to my much-nurtured fantasy of eating chocolate souffle in the bath. It's a beautiful image, but one that I'm not quite ready for just yet.

Were I to be caught on at a weak moment, however, this sunken pear and honey cake would go rather well with the large glass of Prosecco, scented candles and whale sounds that populate the aforementioned fantasy. Drizzle with extra honey or reduced poaching syrup if you're planning a particularly long soak.

 THE INGREDIENTS

2 poached pears (recipe here)

125g butter

75g soft light brown sugar

50g clear honey

2 eggs

50g ground almonds

75g wholewheat flour, plus extra for dusting

1 tsp baking powder

THE RECIPE

Poach the pears according to the recipe. Preheat your oven to 180C fan, and line a small loaf tin with baking parchment. Lay the pear halves onto kitchen paper to dry them out ahead of baking.

For the cake, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then drizzle in the honey with the mixer running. Add the eggs one at a time, beating to combine before each additional. Sieve in the almonds, flour and baking powder, and fold into the mixture. Pour into the prepared tin, and level the surface with a palette knife. 

Dust the rounded side of each pear half with flour, leaving the flat side clean. Gently arrange on top of the cake. Try not to push them down while you arrange them, as you don't want them to sink beneath the batter in the oven. 

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the surface is risen around the pears, golden, and a knife comes out clean from the centre of the cake.

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PLUM, ALMOND AND SLOE GIN CAKE

As seems to happen every year, November has really crept up on me. Suddenly bonfire night has been and gone, and I'm starting to think seriously about making a break from tradition and doing my Christmas shopping before Christmas Eve. I'm spending my working days comparing enamel pudding basins and ordering bay garlands, so you'll need to forgive me the premature festivity.

A few busy weeks have scuppered good intentions to share my teeth-sticking cinder toffee and some kind of gorgeous winter pomegranate recipe. Instead, I bring you a cake that is simply perfect for late-autumn plums. In September I struggled back to London armed with half my bodyweight in foraged plums from my grandparent's farm and, a quick spell in the freezer later, this cake is the reward. 

While sloe gin has crept onto our supermarket shelves of late, British hedgerows are bursting with these delicate navy berries in late Autumn. While sloes are not much to write home about on their own they are truly wonderful with gin, so fill your boots and make as much sloe gin as you can store. The tipple in this recipe hails from my mother's drinks cupboard in Rutland which, I hardly need add, is always well stocked.

I was lucky enough to have this recipe published in my latest article for The Telegraph, 'Baking with booze.' The full feature is available to peruse here.

THE INGREDIENTS

4-6 ripe plums

125g unsalted butter

125g caster sugar

2 large eggs

50g ground almonds

75g plain flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

100ml sloe gin

50g icing sugar

Dried rose petals and bee pollen, to decorate

THE RECIPE

 Slice the plums thinly and discard the stones. Place the plum slices in a bowl, and pour over half the sloe gin. Leave to marinade for an hour or two, or overnight if you have time.

Once the plums have soaked, remove from the gin and arrange in a baking dish. Bake for 300-45 minutes at 160C, keeping an eye on them to ensure they don’t catch.

For the cake, preheat your oven to 180C, and line a 7 inch round cake tin with baking parchment.

Beat the butter and caster sugar until pale and creamy, then add the eggs, ground almonds, flour, salt and baking powder. Beat until light and airy. Using a metal spoon, fold in the baked plum slices.

Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared tin, and level with a palette knife. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-35 minutes, until golden and cooked through. Brush the cake with most of the remaining sloe gin, reserving a little for the icing. Allow to cool.

Mix the icing sugar with a little sloe gin, and drizzle over the cake. Decorate with rose petals and bee pollen.

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HONEYCOMB GINGERBREAD CAKE

Today I read an article dedicated to the pains of commuting in London. It was not short. The tube at rush hour is no picnic, but I'd underestimated how much it bugs this city.

While I take no more pleasure than the next person in being pressed up against strangers before caffeinating, commuting has given me the perfect opportunity to rekindle my bumpy relationship with reading. 

Reading was something I really cherished as a child. Begging for one more chapter at bedtime, long car-journeys narrated by audio-books, regular warnings that i'd damage my eyesight by reading with a torch under my duvet. I could not get enough of the worlds, characters and stories that my books admitted me to. An English degree later however, and I was ready to go on a break. 

My new commute has given me the time to reconnect with a love that got a little lost in the throws of London life. I've grown to feel pretty protective of my little timelapse each morning. 

A love of reading has characterised some of the literary greats of our world. Elizabeth Bennet, Jo March, Lisa Simpson - I could easily go on. But the little girl whos' story I never tired of as a child was that of Matilda Wormwood. 

Reading offered Matilda a salvation from her mindless and loveless family, and reminded her that she was not alone. She also took herself off to the library while her mother played bingo, an initiative which I rather admired even in my early years.

Roald Dahl's remarkable creation may be pushing thirty these days, but the little girl continues to entertain audiences night after night at the Cambridge Theatre in London's Covent Garden. In a celebration of Mathilda's love of cookies and chocolates, Matilda the Musical have launched the Matilda Bake Off, and are inviting you to create a truly extraordinary Matilda-inspired cake to mark the occasion. The winner will be treated to tickets to the show and afternoon tea for two - take a peek at the full details here. You can also enter your bakes via Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #MatildaBakeOff. 

As a child, I always had a bit of a soft spot for Miss Honey. She was kind, clever, and totally pulled off the tortoiseshell specs. My honeycomb cake is a little bit of Miss Honey's sweetness and light, but stodgy and syruppy with ginger too.

THE INGREDIENTS 

cake

100g self raising flour

50g treacle 

50g golden syrup 

100g butter

50g milk

1 egg

2 tsp ground ginger

100g light brown sugar

buttercream

250g icing sugar 

80g butter 

1 orange 

honeycomb

50g caster sugar

1 tbsp golden syrup

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 

THE RECIPE 

Begin by lining x3 4 inch cake tins with baking parchment. Preheat your oven to 180C. 

In a small saucepan, melt the butter, brown sugar, treacle, golden syrup and milk. Once melted and glossy, remove from the heat. Crack in the egg and beat to combine. 

Seperately, whisk together the flour and ginger. Add to the butter mix, and whisk. Pour into your prepared tins, and bake for 20-25 minutes until the cakes are golden and pass the knife test. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool. The cake is quite sticky, so you may wish to cover your wire rack with baking parchment before turning your cakes out.

To make the honeycomb, grease a piece of baking parchment and set this over a wooden board. Mix the sugar and syrup on a pan. Once mixed, place over a medium heat and cook for 5-7 minutes until the sugar has dissolved and the caramel is a deep golden. Carefully and quickly, tip in the baking powder, whisk, then transfer the foaming mixture to the prepared paper. Leave to cool and harden, then crack into pieces. 

For the buttercream icing, slowly whisk the icing sugar, orange zest and butter until the mixture is sandy. Add a tablespoon of juice at a time until the mixture comes together, then beat at high speed for ten minutes. Chill for 15 minutes before using. 

Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag, then use to sandwich the cakes and ice. Top with homemade honeycomb. 

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BANANA COCONUT LOAF {DAIRY FREE}

It has been a strange few weeks. A surreal blur of keeping the wheels in motion. Finding yourself in London's only late night post office at 9pm on a Thursday night in Belsize Park kind of weird. Another story for another day - although there's not much more to it than that really.

It can seem crazy to stop everything and whip up a cake when things are busy, but I'm constantly reminded of how important it is to make some time for yourself every now and then. There is so much buzz around mindfulness at the moment, and it's worth listening to - everyone needs downtime occasionally.

When my alarm went off at 6.45am on Saturday - on Saturday - I wasn't convinced. But by lunchtime I was sat at my Granny's sewing machine, pattern pieces carefully cut out, the first pieces of a dress coming together. It may have taken a weekend and several stiff drinks for both of us, but I had my first homemade garment packed in my bag for the train journey home. I feel very lucky that my grandparents are still in my life and passing on everything they've learnt to us.

Perhaps it was the sewing - perhaps it was the fact that my grandparents life in a wi-fi blackspot - but this weekend was the first time I felt able to really switch off from life. It was fun, and I hope I'll have the mental energy to put my sewing lessons to use again one day.

For now, I'm sticking to baking. This banana coconut loaf is naturally dairy free, and low in sugar too. It's so easy to make and, if the remainder I polished off yesterday is anything to go by, actually gets better for being kept for a few days.

  THE INGREDIENTS (all at room temperature)

75g coconut oil

100g coconut cream

75g caster sugar

1 tbsp treacle 

1 egg

3 small ripe bananas

100g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt 

1 tbsp Malibu rum (optional, but delicious) 

THE RECIPE

Line a 1 lb loaf tin with parchment, and preheat the oven to 180C. Beat the coconut oil, coconut cream, sugar, treacle and egg to combine. Mash the bananas separately, then mix through.

Sieve in the flour, baking powder and salt, mix, then pour into the lined tin. Bake in your preheated oven for 25-35 minutes, until it is golden and passes the knife test. While the cake is still hot, brush with the malibu. Allow to cool before slicing.  

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PEACH MELBA UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

  

This weekend, my boyfriend and I were lucky enough to have lunch at The Hand & Flowers in Marlow. The brainchild of the scandalously talented Tom Kerridge, the food was delicious and clever in equal measure.

I forgot my modesty as soon as I saw the pudding menu. Forgive me for whoring out my pud on social media, but the white peach souffle with tea sorbet and rosemary custard was - with no word of a lie - the best pudding I have ever eaten. That alone would have been worth the one year waiting list.

I can't get enough of ripe rosy peaches, and yesterday's pudding inspired me to buy a huge bag-full of soft flat white peaches from the local market this morning. Sweet, juicy and full of summer, white peaches are the perfect match for the tangy punch of British raspberries.

Upside down cakes are a great way to cook with seasonal fruits, and are really simple to make too. A quick caramel, sliced fruit and almond sponge can be thrown together in no time, and make a perfect pudding for a dappled al fresco supper, or a drizzly indoor one if today's weather is anything to go by.
 
I've been particularly drawn to quick bakes recently. More than ever I feel like I don't have the time in my life to be rising billowing piles of bread dough, or folding and resting and folding pastry all day long. There are so many other things that need to get done, and it can be hard to justify hours on end in the kitchen.

While my Kitchenaid and I remain happily married and just as in love as ever, I recently invested in a Tesco Basic TBHM14 hand mixer for those times that I just can't face washing up an extra set of bowls and mixers. It was just a couple of pounds, and comes with five speed settings so that you can adapt the speed to your recipe. A hand mixer is perfect for quickly beating together a sponge mixture such as this one.

 THE INGREDIENTS

caramel

200g caster sugar

1 tsp salt

4 flat white peaches

100g raspberries

cake

200g butter

200g caster sugar

3 large eggs

75g ground almonds

125g flour

3 tsp baking powder

THE RECIPE

Preheat your oven to 180C and line the base of an 8 inch springform tin with baking parchment. 

For the caramel, add the sugar and salt to a large heavy-based pan with a few tablespoons of water. Cook, without stirring, until the sugar has melted and turned a deep amber colour. Carefully pour this into the base of the lined tin and set aside. Half lengthways and destone the peaches, then arrange cut side down on top of the caramel. Surround with the raspberries.

For the sponge, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the eggs and ground almonds, beat, then finish with the flour and baking powder. Once the mixture is smooth, pour over the fruit and caramel. Level, then bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until risen, golden, and a knife comes out clean.

Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10-15 minutes, then carefully turn out onto a plate. Beware of hot caramel.

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