one bowl seasonal fruit cake

When you need a crowd-pleasing cake fast. This simple one bowl summer fruit cake recipe is a great one to make when you don’t want to use any brain power or equipment. It also works with whatever fruit is in season.

Think of it like a little black dress – you can keep bringing it out but change the topping each time to make it feel different. Have it with custard in the winter, chilled crème Anglaise in summer, with a cup of tea after the school run or with ice cream, toasted almonds and berries in the summer. It is pretty delicious with homemade grapefruit curd too. It isn’t massively sweet so judge if you want to add a drizzle of icing to the top to sweeten things up.

Make a wintery syrup sponge by spooning 5-6 tablespoons of golden syrup into the base of an unlined, buttered cake tin. Then top with the cake mixture and bake.