Fruit bowl buns

Caroline Marson: Food writer

These will make use of any slightly soft fruits from the fruit bowl, such as apples, pears, apricots, plums etc. I've used apples as they are always hanging about in my fruit bowl, but experiment with other fruits such as apricots, rhubarb, gooseberries, plums, nectarines, bananas or blackberries, raspberries or strawberries.

Ingredients: serves makes 12 buns

175 g margarine (or soft butter)
175 g soft brown sugar
125 g self raising flour
50 g coconut (or ground almond)
2 apples (grated or other fruit (roughly chop if soft fruit))
1 zest orange
2 large eggs (lightly beaten)
icing sugar (to dust)

Method:

Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until smooth. Gradually add the eggs beating between each addition.
Sieve the flour and fold into the mixture with the coconut or ground almonds, orange zest and chopped fruit.
Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Put the sweetie paper cups into a 'cocktail' tin. Fill them two-thirds full with the cake mixture. Place a few chopped fruits on the top. Dust with icing sugar and cook for 10-15 minutes.
Put onto a wire rack to cool.

Recipe tips:

To freeze ahead: Complete this recipe up to the end of step 3. Cool, pack, label and freeze for up to 3 months. To use: Defrost overnight and warm in a low oven for a few minutes to freshen up.