Simple and in Season September: cakes, bakes and sweet things

I had no idea quite the volume of entries i’d get when I volunteered to host September’s round of Simple and in Season, so apologies for how long it’s taken me to get round to doing my round-up. For those of you not familiar with the event, it was a concept thought up by the very talented Ren Behan over at Fabulicious Food where everyone is encouraged to share their recipes using seasonal produce.

Due to the wonderful array of entries, I’ve decided to split them into two round-up posts – one sweet and one savoury, kicking off with all things sweet.

Blackberries and figs dominated September’s recipes, but the bountiful crop of courgettes also made an impact, with two recipes for cakes springing up:

Sally over at Recipe Junkie used some of her courgette crop to make this courgette and coconut cake – which looks perfect to scoff with a steaming cuppa on a chilly autumn afternoon. Sally rationed herself to growing one courgette plant this year… it’s amazing how many green torpedoes just keep on firing out of those plants…

Laura from How To Cook Good Food knocked out a batch of deliciously fruity looking mini courgette loaf cakes to get into gear for the start of term and all those lunchboxes. It’s almost half term now so I hope everyone’s well into the swing of it and no doubt ready for a break from the school run for a week!

Simple and in Season creator Ren at Fabulicious Food gave us this eye popping late summer fruit salad – drizzled with yoghurt and scattered with pistachios and pomegranates it makes a wonderfully healthy and vibrant seasonal breakfast.

I was hugely impressed with Camilla’s strawberry choux buns over on Fab Food 4 All. A recipe inspired by a childhood memory of her mother making them, I was particularly taken with the idea of the whipped cream and crushed strawberry filling – yum!

My Little Italian Kitchen welcomes in the autumn with this beautiful refreshing plum tart, using fruit kindly given to her by a friend with a plum tree. The plums didn’t do very well in my part of town this year, so I’m well jealous!

Fab Food 4 All came up trumps with this seasonal sweet treat, a lovely warming apple meringue – I’ve got a real soft spot for puds like this as it’s the kind of thing my granny would make for a Sunday dinner.

Check out this vibrant blackberry cake from Cake Of The Week! She made it for her elderly grandparents who really appreciate home cooked food as they get most of their meals bought in by their carers. I reckon I could demolish a slice of that no bother…

Ros, The More Than Occasional Baker, made these wonderful bite-size pistachio and pomegranate pitstops after being inspired by Choclette over at Chocolate Log Blog who wrote a review on Honeybuns gluten-free baking.

Helen at The Crazy Kitchen got her slow cooker out to make this steamed fig pudding which looks utterly glorious – what a great photograph.

Chocolate Log Blog came up with these wonderful looking Indian sweets. The blackberry, coconut and rose barfi were inspired by a recipe in Indian-Inspired Desserts by Roopa Rawal and look dangerously good.

Kitchen Delights gave Jamie Oliver’s recipe for Plum sorbet a whirl with fabulous results. I’ve never ventured into sorbet making, having only done ice cream, but this dessert looks really really good.

You know it’s autumn when the pie recipes get dusted off. Mummy Mishaps bakes a fig, honey, apple and blackberry pie – what a fab combination of flavours.

Lancashire Food’s simple seasonal blackberry cake makes for a classic autumnal afternoon tea treat, or better still serve it up with steaming custard for pudding.

Lancashire Food had so many blackberries on the go that we were also treated to this recipe for autumnal blackberry and lavender cobbler – and not even a hint of old lady’s handbag! Looks very inviting… If I made this my kids would steal all the cobblers i’m sure.

Next up is a tempting breakfast treat of nectarine and blackberry muffins from Blue Kitchen Bakes – along with the fruit they’re made with porridge oats and buttermilk so I imagine keep you fuelled all morning.

Sally from Recipe Junkie was back with more seasonal delights with her blackberry cupcakes. She went to quite some lengths to gather the fruit for this recipe – but it was clearly worth it as these semolina based bakes look divine.

I adore this fig jam from Made By Jayne. The tiny seeds and red flesh make it such an attractive preserve and with a bit of vanilla and cinnamon in there for good measure I bet it tastes unbelievably good on warm buttered crusty bread

Helen from The Crazy Kitchen came back to join the throng of fig recipes with her rum baked figs. An excellent example of why some of the best dishes only need a few ingredients to be amazing.

Cake, Crumbs and Cooking came up with this lush looking fig and vanilla demerara crunch cake – you just know the sticky, crunchy texture of this bake will be a winner with a cup of tea on a blustery autumn afternoon.

Another fabulous seasonal bake, this time an Italian inspired apple and walnut cake from Katharine at Leeks and Limoni who says it’s beautifully moist and flavoured with cinnamon – heaven!

Look at this beauty! A golden kiwifruit pavlova from Sharky Oven Gloves over in New Zealand – home of the pavlova! Well that’s if you’re not Australian… they also claim to be the home of this glorious dessert.

And finally…. how about these plum and almond crumble slices from Laura Loves Cakes?! I just love filling tins with bakes like these, ready to whip out if friends come over for a cuppa.

I hope you’ve enjoyed indulging in these wonderful recipes and have come away with a bit of inspiration for autumnal sweet treats. Thanks to everyone who took part and I’ll be rounding up the savoury recipes in the next week so watch this space…