Today I am offering some suggestions for that most satisfying of kitchen exercises, the baking of cakes

You have the choice of making  some simple cookies – always popular with that casual cup of coffee – the luxury of fruit, cream and cake all brought together as a wonderfully decadent monument to "afternoon tea", a luscious moist orange cake-like dessert, or that ultimate masterpiece, the all important Christmas cake.

If you have never made a Christmas cake before, now is the time to start.

Cooks have been messing around with Christmas cakes for years, resulting in all kinds of strange concoctions - the latest being an extraordinary mess of chocolate, minced dried apple, carrot and crushed Tim Tams. Why?

I much prefer the traditional rich fruit cake laden with raisins, sultanas, currants, glace fruits and candied peel, and the best one I know is the one below, handed down from generation to generation by the great Margaret Fulton.

Make it now so that it will have a chance to develop in flavour over the coming weeks.

This cake is not iced. I prefer it topped with nuts. If you wish to have a sweet decoration, put the cake in the oven without the almonds on top, then store when cooked, as suggested. Closer to using, remove the paper, roll out some purchased marzipan and cover the cake or make some icing of your own. This cake is also perfect for weddings and other such important occasions.

250g raisins, finely chopped

250g sultanas

250g currants

185g mixed candied peel, finely chopped

 60g glace cherries, diced

60g glace apricots, diced

60g dried cranberries, diced

6 tablespoons brandy or rum

3 tablespoons sherry

For the cake mixture:

250g butter

1 1/3 cups firmly packed brown sugar

Grated rind 1 lemon

2 tablespoons marmalade

5 eggs

2½ cups plain flour

1 teaspoon mixed spice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon salt

125g blanched almonds, chopped

Extra whole blanched almonds for topping

Extra brandy

Put all the fruit in a bowl and sprinkle with brandy or rum and sherry. Leave overnight.

To make the cake mixture: In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar with the lemon rind until light and creamy. Add the marmalade and beat well.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add 1 tablespoon of flour with the last egg. Sift together the remaining flour, mixed spice, cinnamon and salt, and stir into the creamed mixture alternately with the fruit and chopped almonds.

Turn the mixture into a 20cm round or square deep cake tin lined with one layer of brown paper and two layers of greased greaseproof paper.

Decorate with whole almonds arranged in a pattern to completely cover the top. Bake in a preheated 150C oven  for 3 to 3½ hours or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle with 1 to 2 tablespoons of extra brandy. Remove the cake from the tin, leaving the paper on the cake.

Wrap in a clean tea towel and leave on a wire rack to cool. Store, still wrapped in the paper in an airtight tin. Remove the paper on Christmas Day and perhaps add a sprig of holly to the top.  

 Serves 12. This is what I call a sumptuous cake - one to drool over.

Melted butter or margarine, for greasing

270ml can coconut milk

1½ cups desiccated coconut

200g butter at room temperature

1½ cups caster sugar

4 eggs

1 2/3 cup self-raising flour, sifted

For the filling:

½ cup strawberry jam

½ cup sour cream

For the topping:

1 punnet small strawberries, hulled

icing sugar, to decorate

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Brush two round 20cm shallow cake pans with the melted butter to grease. Line the base of each pan with non-stick baking paper.

Combine the coconut milk and the coconut in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from the heat, transfer to a bowl and cool to room temperature.

Use an electric beater, beat the butter and caster sugar in a large mixing bowl until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each addition until combined.

Use a large metal spoon to fold a large spoonful of flour into the butter mixture. Fold in the cooled coconut mixture and then the remaining flour until combined.

Divide the mixture evenly between the two pans and smooth the surfaces. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden and cooked when  a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Stand in the pans for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the cakes and then turn them onto wire racks to cool.

To assemble, place one layer of cake on a serving plate and spread evenly with the strawberry jam and the sour cream. Top with the remaining cake layer. Decorate with strawberries and dust liberally with icing sugar.

Makes about 40. These crunchy biscuits will hit the spot with peanut butter lovers. You can keep them in an airtight jar for up to seven days. If you prefer a soft fudge centre, cook each batch for 10 to 12 minutes.

125g butter, at room

1 cup crunchy peanut butter

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 egg

1¾ cups plain flour

1½ teaspoon baking powder

¾ cup unsalted roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.

Use an electric beater to beat the butter and peanut butter in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Add the brown sugar and beat until pale. Add the egg and beat until combined.

Sift together the plain flour and baking powder. Use a wooden spoon to mix the dry ingredients and peanuts into the peanut butter mixture.

Lightly flour your hands then roll tablespoonfuls of the biscuit mixture into balls and place about 4cm apart on the lined baking tray.

Flatten each ball to about 5cm in diameter and 1cm thick. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

Stand on the baking tray for about 5 minutes before transferring the cookies to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with the remaining mixture. 

Serves 6. No, it's not a mistake; the whole orange does go into this deliciously moist cake, literally oozing with orange syrup. It is best to use a thin-skinned navel orange, as it has no seeds and very little bitter pith. Serve as a special desert.

Melted butter for greasing

1 orange, quartered and cored, any seeds removed

1 cup caster sugar

125g butter, melted and cooled

2 eggs, at room temperature

1½ cups self-raising flour

Vanilla ice cream or thickened cream, to serve

For the orange syrup:

1 cup strained orange juice

½ cup orange marmalade

1/3 cup sugar

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Brush a round 18cm cake pan with melted butter, to lightly grease. Line the base and side of the pan with non-stick baking paper.

Place the orange, sugar, butter and eggs in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the orange is finely chopped. Add the flour and process until just combined. 

Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared pan and use the back of the spoon to smooth the surface. Bake for one hour or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and set aside for two to three minutes before turning onto a wire rack.

Meanwhile, to make the syrup, place the orange juice, marmalade and sugar in a medium saucepan. Stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat to high and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to medium and boil gently, uncovered, without stirring, for five minutes, or until the syrup reduces slightly.

Serve warm or at room temperature, cut into wedges and drizzle with the warm syrup. Serve with ice cream or cream, for a truly delicious dessert.