Preheat the oven to 160°C fan/180°C/gas 4 and butter and line a 26cm round pie dish or similarly volumed rectangular roasting tin with non-stick baking or greaseproof paper.

Beat the sugar, butter and chopped sage leaves together, then whisk in the eggs. Stir in the flour, baking powder and ½ teaspoon of sea salt flakes until evenly incorporated, then quickly stir through the chocolate chips.

Alternatively, put everything into a food processor except the chocolate chips and blitz quickly until smooth. Remove the blade, then stir the chips through.

Flatten the cookie dough into the prepared tin, then scatter over the remaining sage leaves and sea salt flakes. Transfer to the oven and bake for 20–25 minutes, until just firm on top – the inside should still be soft. (Check after 15 minutes if you’ve used a very large roasting tin and the cookie dough has gone in thinly.)

Serve warm, ice cream optional. This reheats very well in slices.

Preheat the oven to 160°C fan/180°C/gas 4, and line and butter a 28 × 22cm roasting or baking tin with non-stick baking or greaseproof paper. Blitz the pistachios in a food processor, spice grinder or Nutribullet until very finely ground (but don’t over-blitz, or they’ll get oily).

Beat the butter and sugar together until smooth, then whisk in the eggs. Stir in the ground pistachios, flour and baking powder and mix briefly until combined.

Tip the cake batter into the prepared tin and dot with the blackberries. Transfer to the oven and bake for 25 minutes, until the cake is risen, firm to the touch, and a skewer inserted into a non-blackberry bit comes out clean. Do not panic if the cake has risen like a glossy quilted blanket to hide all your blackberries – this will particularly happen with small berries – they’re still there and the cake will taste delicious.

Let the cake cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring it, with its paper, to a wire rack to cool down. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

CHANGE IT UP: For a gluten-free version of the cake, leave out the flour and increase the amount of ground pistachios by 20g, to 170g in total. Make sure your baking powder is gluten-free.

Preheat the oven to 160°C fan/180°C/gas 4. Whisk the olive oil, yogurt, pomegranate molasses and eggs together, then beat in the sugar. Stir in the cinnamon, flour and baking powder, then spoon into to an 28 × 22cm lined roasting or baking tin lined with non-stick baking or greaseproof paper.

Scatter over half the pomegranate seeds, then transfer to the oven and bake for 20–25 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Let it cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Mix the icing sugar and water together for the icing, then drizzle this all over the cooled cake. Scatter over the remaining pomegranate seeds before serving.

NOTE: As this cake has fresh fruit in and on it, it’s best eaten on the day you make it.

Preheat the oven to 160°C fan/180°C/gas 4, and oil and line a 30 × 37cm roasting or baking tin with non-stick baking or greaseproof paper. Melt the olive oil, dark brown sugar and chocolate together in a saucepan. Let it cool down for a minute, then whisk in the flour, cocoa, 100ml of the milk and all of the eggs until smooth.

Stir through three-quarters of the salted peanuts, then transfer to the lined tin. Beat the crunchy peanut butter with the remaining 40ml of milk – it should be the consistency of double cream – then drop spoonfuls over the chocolate batter and swirl them in with the wrong end of a teaspoon. Scatter over the remaining peanuts, then bake for 15–20 minutes until just set on top, but still a little soft inside.

Let the brownie cool in the tin, then cut into squares when cool enough to handle. This will keep well in an airtight box for up to a week – if you can resist that long.

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/gas 6. Tip the apricots into a roasting tin or baking dish large enough to hold all the fruit in a single layer, then toss with the 2 tablespoons of soft light brown sugar and set aside while you sort out the crumble topping.

Beat the butter and 30g of sugar together until soft, then stir in the oats, flour, roughly chopped hazelnuts and rosemary. Work together with your fingers until you have a rough crumble texture, then scatter this over the apricots.

Transfer to the oven and roast for 25 minutes, until the crumble topping is golden brown and the apricots are cooked (they should yield when you prod them with a fork).

Serve hot, with any of the suggested accompaniments. Cold clotted cream is particularly nice, or Greek yogurt for breakfast the next day.

TIP: You can easily make this in advance, cool and refrigerate it, then warm it through in the oven for 10–15 minutes or so in an oven preheated to 150°C fan/170°C/gas 3 before serving.

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/gas 6. You’ll need a roasting tin or ceramic baking dish (round, oval, doesn’t matter) just large enough to hold all the cherries in a single layer. Check, remove the cherries, butter the dish, then return the cherries to it.

Mix the caster sugar with the melted butter in a large bowl until just incorporated, then beat in the eggs. Add the flour and ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, whisk until smooth, then whisk in the milk and lemon zest. Pour this mixture over the cherries, then transfer to the top shelf of the oven and bake for 30 minutes, until the custard is just set and the edges are lightly brown and risen.

Meanwhile, mix the demerara sugar and the rest of the cinnamon together.

Once cooked, scatter the clafoutis with the cinnamon sugar, then let it cool for a good half an hour before serving warm. Sift over the icing sugar and serve with ice cream, crème fraîche or extra-thick double cream.

NOTE: Some recipes for clafoutis call for the stones to be removed, but this is both time-consuming and unnecessary, as they add flavour as it cooks. Just warn your guests that there are stones in ‘because it’s authentic’ and they can neatly line them up on the sides of their plates.

Preheat the oven to 160°C fan/180°C/gas 4, and line a medium roasting tin or baking dish with non-stick baking or greaseproof paper.

Whisk the mashed bananas with the olive oil, sugar and clementine zest and juice until fairly smooth, then stir in the flour and baking powder. When they just start to combine, stir through three-quarters of both the dark chocolate and the pecan nuts.

Smooth the batter into the prepared tin (don’t worry, it should look pretty doughy), then scatter with the remaining dark chocolate and nuts. Transfer to the oven and bake for 20 minutes, until well risen and a cake tester or skewer inserted in a non-chocolatey area comes out clean.

Let it cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. This is best eaten warm, but will keep in an airtight tin for a two or three days.

NOTE: If you don’t already have a preferred vegan dark chocolate, many good-quality dark chocolate bars with 70% or higher cocoa solids are vegan as they don’t contain any milk – just check the label if unsure.

Preheat the oven to 160°C fan/180°C/gas 4 and line and butter a 28 × 22cm roasting or baking tin with non-stick or greaseproof paper.

Beat the butter and sugar together until smooth, then whisk in the fresh ginger, egg and milk. Stir in the flour, ground ginger, ground cardamom and baking powder and mix briefly until combined.

Tip the gingerbread batter into the lined tin, then arrange the halved pears across the cake as shown here. Scatter a pinch of dark brown sugar and a few bits of chopped stem ginger over each pear, then transfer to the oven and bake for 25–30 minutes, until the cake is risen and firm to the touch.

Let the cake cool down in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring it, with its paper, to a wire rack to cool a little. Serve the gingerbread warm or at room temperature.

NOTE: As it has fresh fruit in it, you’ll have to store any leftover gingerbread in the fridge. Warm slices through briefly in the oven or microwave before serving.

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/gas 6, and line and butter a 30 × 37cm roasting or baking tin with non-stick or greaseproof paper. Slice the apples and dress them with a little lemon juice to stop them going brown.

Beat the butter and sugar together until smooth, then whisk in the eggs, one by one. Gently stir in the flour, baking powder and spices until just combined.

Transfer the cake batter into the lined tin, and top with the sliced apples in a design of your choice. I like to make them slightly overlapping, as here.

Beat the demerara sugar and butter together, then stir in the flour and oats and work with your fingertips into a rough crumble. Scatter this over the cake, then transfer to the oven and bake for 30 minutes, until the topping is golden brown and a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Let the cake cool in the tin for 5 minutes before lifting it out with its paper on to a wire rack to cool down. Serve warm with crème fraîche, or at room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/gas 6. Lay the pastry in a roasting tin (you can leave it on the baking paper that it comes wrapped in), ideally one just the right size for the pastry to start coming up the sides of the tin. Prick the base all over with a fork, then scatter over half the brown sugar, leaving a 1cm border around the edges.

Arrange the sliced banana coins on top as close together as you can (they’ll shrink on cooking), then scatter thickly with the remaining dark brown sugar and the sprigs of lemon thyme.

Transfer the tart to the oven and bake for 25 minutes, until the pastry is crisp and golden brown. Don’t panic if the tart has risen in the middle, just prod it with a fork until it subsides, then gently tip the tin from side to side so the caramel is evenly distributed. Let it cool down for 10 minutes – it’ll help set the caramel for a crisp base – then serve with vegan ice cream on the side.

Preheat the oven to 160°C fan/180°C/gas 4 and line and butter a 28 × 22cm roasting or baking tin, with non-stick baking or greaseproof paper.

Beat the butter and sugar together until smooth, then whisk in the eggs, one by one. Stir in the flour and baking powder, then make up the coffee with the boiling water and stir in the Baileys. Tip this into the cake batter and gently stir until the mixture is smooth.

Transfer the cake batter into the lined tin, then bake for 25 minutes until the cake is risen, firm to the touch and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Let it cool in the tin for 5 minutes before gently lifting it out, with its paper, to cool.

Once the cake is cool, mix the icing sugar and Baileys together to make a thin, pourable icing. Drizzle it over the cake and let the icing set before serving.

NOTE: For Mamie’s coffee, take 2 mugs of full-fat milk and heat in the microwave for 3 minutes. Carefully remove, then stir 2 teaspoons of good coffee powder into each mug. Add a splash of Baileys, stir, then serve. It will be too hot to drink for quite a while, so there’s lots of time to have a nice chat with your coffee-companion in the meantime.