A moreish cake dessert: Yoghurt, fig, pine nut and rosewater cake

This is foolproof. Make it with any seasonal soft fruit and play around with different syrup preparations.

Citrus cakes are good with a lemon or orange syrup as are plums. If using plums think about adding flaked almonds in place of the pine nuts.

This cake is delicious on the day, but probably even more so the day after.

Makes 1 x 22cm cake
175g butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
175g caster sugar
175g plain yoghurt
175g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
50g pine nuts
2 fresh figs, each cut into quarters
50ml water & 50ml rosewater & 1 tbsp caster sugar
or 2tbsp rosehip jam, melted with 1 tbsp water

1 Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Grease and line a 22cm round cake tin. Melt the butter in a saucepan and leave it to cool slightly.

2 In a mixing bowl, add the eggs, sugar, yoghurt and the melted butter, and mix to combine.

3 Add the flour, baking powder and pine nuts, and stir to combine.

4 Pour the mix into the cake tin and arrange the fig quarters on the top. Scatter some additional pine nuts, if you like. Bake for about 40 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.

5 Meanwhile, make the rosewater syrup. Either put the rosewater, sugar and water into a saucepan and bring to a boil or add the jam and water into thecsaucepan and bring to the bubble. Simmer until the liquid becomes a syrup.

6 Stud the top of the cooked cake with a skewer, pour the hot rosewater syrup over the cake and leave it to cool.