A simple supermarket dessert

When we first moved in together, Tony and I would go grocery shopping after work and had a habit of buying marked down donuts ($1 for six!) for a weekday treat. We're a bit more health-conscious now, and fruit platters have become my go-to lazy dessert.

They're colourful and quick to make, which is great if it's too hot to bake or you're having a busy day. I made one the other night when a friend came round for a midweek meal.

Here's what works:

• Pick fruits with a variety of colours and shapes. Once I was helping to cater an event and accidentally made up a plate of honeydew, celery sticks, dip and grapes and got in trouble because it looked so bland!

• Cut the fruit and make sure there's at least once piece of each fruit per person, so one slice of watermelon, half a passionfruit and so on. It's best if it can be eaten without cutlery.

• A tiny ramekin to stop runaway blueberries.

• Finally, chocolate. I've been buying the organic dark sea salt variety at Aldi and one packet per platter seems to be the perfect amount :)

P.S If I was having friends round for dinner around during the week, I'd make this simple vegetarian pasta and have the fruit platter to end. The leftovers make super easy weekday snacks - yay!

Sophie's fruit cake

This might be my favourite cake of the season, a buttery loaf that's generously dotted with dried fruit. To me, it's more comforting than banana bread.

The recipe comes from my friend Sophie, and it's actually the very first cake she gave me. I'd never been given an entire cake before, with the exception of a birthday cake, so it felt pretty special. Tony and I found this same loaf and a small vase of homegrown flowers on our doorstep the other month, after we'd returned home from an overnight trip to Sydney to attend the funeral of a friend.

The original recipe comes from Sophie's grandmother and you can read its story here. Thank you for sharing the recipe Sophie, and for knowing the special comfort a homemade cake can bring :)

Sophie's fruit cake

You'll need:

250 grams self raising flour

150 grams brown sugar

1/2 tbsp mixed spice

75 grams dried figs, chopped

75 grams dried dates, chopped

75 grams dried apricots, chopped 

75 grams sultanas

125 grams butter

2 eggs

3/4 cup of milk

Here's how:

Set your oven to 180 degrees celsius and grease and line a loaf tin. Melt the butter on the stove and set aside to cool. Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then add the wet ingredients. I used my KitchenAid and mixed it on high for a few minutes until totally combined but Sophie says you can also do it by hand and mix like you've never mixed before. Pour the mixture into a cake tin and bake for approximately 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

And just a tip:

This recipe is easily doubled, I've actually halved the original recipe and regretted it less than a week later when all our cake was gone. You can also substitute the dried fruits and use things like dried cranberries. It's delicious on its own or you can serve it with a bit of butter and jam for afternoon tea, or ice cream for dessert. Sophie also decorates heres with raw almonds pre-bake.

Find more Sentimental Cake recipes here.