This can be served hot an a pudding with custard or cold as a cake.

Ingredients

• 125g butter
• 1 cup diced apple
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1¼ cups flour
• 2 teaspoons mixed spice
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cup sultanas

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160°C and grease a 20cm cake tin.
2. Melt butter in a large bowl in the microwave.
3. Add diced apple and microwave for another minute. (skip this step if using canned or cooked apples.)
4. Mix in sugar then egg and sultanas.
5. Sift dry ingredients into the apple mix and stir just enough to blend ingredients evenly.
6. Spread the mixture into prepared tin and bake for 45 minutes or so.
7. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the tin.
8. Dust with icing sugar and serve.

With Winter approaching in the southern hemisphere, simple soup recipes are a must.

Ingredients

• ½ tablespoon olive oil
• 15g butter
• 1 onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• About 1-1¼ kg pumpkin, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped
• 1 litre (4 cups) stock (chicken or vegetable)

Method

1. Heat oil and butter in saucepan then cook onions for about 5 minutes, or until golden. (I like to make soups in my Dutch Oven, but any heavy saucepan will do.)
2. Add cumin and cook for 1 minute or until aromatic.
3. Add pumpkin pieces and stir to coat.
4. Add stock and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until pumpkin is cooked and soft.
5. Purée everything. (I use a stick blender for this, and have less dishes to clean up.)

Add a dollop of cream, sour cream, or yoghurt, and serve with your favourite warmed bread.

This is the first cake I seen that uses an entire orange. Most use only the zest and maybe some juice. It comes from my friend Colin Hopcroft.

I overcooked this the first time I made it (see photo). The original recipe said to bake it for 40-45 minutes in a ring tin, so I was surprised to find it overdone when I checked it at 35 minutes.

Ingredients

• 1 whole orange, skin and all
• 180g melted butter
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1½ cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder

You can use self-raising flour instead of the flour and baking powder.

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Grease and flour a baking tin.
3. Process the whole orange until well puréed.
4. Add eggs, sugar, and butter, mixing well. This can be done in the processor.
5. Sift flour and baking powder, and fold into orange mixture.
6. Bake 30-45 minutes, or until a cake-tester shows it is cooked.
7. Cool, and either ice with Orange Icing, or dust with icing sugar when serving.

An orange cake deserves an orange icing.

Ingredients

• 75g butter, softened
• Zest of 1 orange
• 3½ cups icing sugar, sifted
• 2 tablespoons orange juice (or more if you want a softer icing)

Method

1. Cream the butter.
2. Add zest and beat well.
3. Add icing sugar, orange juice, and beat well, adding more orange juice if required.
4. Spread onto cooled cake and enjoy.