Summer Berry & Cream Cheese Ring Cake

This cake is rather large, but don't worry, it won't last long if you invite the family over. This is a really easy, really delicious and tasty cake made with a moist cream cheese sponge, and iced with cream cheese icing. It's not too sickly sweet; the Summer berries inside and on top balance the cake beautifully with a bit of tartness; they of course make it look extra special and rustically appealing to any cake lover. Ooooh please try this one - you won't regret it and your family will love you forever (they didn't even give me time to photograph the inside of the cake which is laced with pockets of gooey berries).

Here's an alternative way to decorate this cake. Meadow grass and flowers with pre-bought little iced roses and pansies. I made this for my daughter's 1st birthday party and it was the easiest cake decoration I ever did, with just one piping bag required! It was really popular and got lots of compliments.

Blackberry & Apple Cakes

These yummy little squishy cakes are a great way of using up summer hedgerow fruits and also a really easy way to get fruit into kids. Made with Bramley apples and blackberries, orange zest, a delightful vanilla batter, and toasted hazelnut crumble on top. Best eaten still warm from the oven, but trust me, if you're anything like me they wont last long enough to cool down anyway.

Mmmmm Pie

I'm bored of putting pastry leaf decorations on pies. So I thought really hard about what else I could put on a pie... then I thought about eating pie... and then I thought "mmmmm pie".

I do love Apple and Blackberry pie, but sometimes I think fruit pies are a little bland. Try adding a few knobs of stem ginger to your fruit pies. Just chop it up finely and chuck it in for a bit of added spice and flavour. Delicious.

Blackberry Crumble Cake

Now I don't usually like to bake cakes that involve washing up more than 1 or 2 bowls. Unfortunately this cake involves 3 bowls... but it's worth it. I love September, not for the massive spiders but for the huge amounts of blackberries you can find out and about in fields. There's nothing more satisfying than suiting up with long sleeves and gloves to brave the brambles and coming home with sacks of free blackberries.

Lemon & Blackberry Slices

A layer of lemon pastry, a layer of jam, a layer of frangipane with seasonal blackberries stuffed all over it, not forgetting a generous sprinkling of delicious crunchy almonds.

These slices are light yet have just the right amount of decadence to fill that "I need cake" hole. They'll also fill your house with a wonderful lemony scent.

...Now my husband always complains that I put too many nuts on my cakes, but I just can't get enough of them! You can make it as nutty or as un-nutty as your taste buds require.