As I write this, I fear no one is going to feel like baking if the temperature and humidity has not begun to drop by the time you read this. On the other hand, they are such useful recipes that I hope you will want to keep them for your autumn entertaining.

The savouries can be made in miniature form to serve as appetisers, or, as here, you can make them for a substantial first course, even a main course served with salad and chutney.

Duck confit is one of those useful kitchen cupboard items, either in a can or a preserving jar, or indeed, in the freezer if you do as I do and use some of the Christmas poultry to make confit.

So time to remove it and make room for your next batch of holiday cooking, I tell myself. These little pastry parcels are very handy and can also be made with plain shortcrust pastry or the rough puff pastry used for the best lampuki pies. And by the way, who ate all the lampuki this year?

The main dessert recipe is rather a centrepiece, not cheap to make, but well worth it for a special occasion. It is based on the Galician tarta de Santiago, with the cross of St James outlined in icing sugar on top.

The savouries can be made in miniature form to serve as appetisers

My recipe, with less sugar, makes for a firmer tart. If you want to make the filling richer and softer, aim for 200 grams of sugar. This is best served when completely cooled, as it cuts better. And it will keep in an airtight container for two or three days, as long as you keep it in a cool place. You will find the icing sugar will have ‘melted’, so mop off any moisture and sift on some more sugar.

The last recipe is one of the most versatile I know and one of the easiest, as no pastry making is required, for a quick Sunday lunch bake. You can serve it warm as a pudding or cold later in the afternoon with a cup of tea. And it is perfect with coffee the next morning. A lovely moist cake, this really needs no cream or custard when served warm.

One version is to use seedless grapes and flavour the cake with rum.

The most recent one I made had grated apple and prunes soaked (for a very long time; they had been in the back of my fridge for ages) in Armagnac, which I used for the measured liquid in the cake.

For my next baking, I plan to replace one tablespoon of flour with cocoa powder and make it with fresh pears, grating some for the cake batter and slicing some for the top. You can also make this as an upside-down cake, as I did with the apple and prune cake.

Duck confit parcels

(Makes 4)

250g puff pastry
2 confit duck legs
2 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
4 soft prunes
1 dessertspoon Cognac or Armagnac – optional
4 tbsps chopped parsley
1 or 2 tbsps egg yolk mixed with a little water

Preheat the oven to 180˚C/350˚F, Gas Mark 6.

Fry the shallots in a tablespoon or two of the duck fat in which the legs were preserved.

Reserve the rest for another occasion when you want perfect roast potatoes. Skin the duck legs and shred the meat. Chop the prunes and moisten with spirit if using it.

Stir the meat and prunes into the shallots and cook for five minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, add the parsley and any seasoning, pepper rather than salt. A hint of nutmeg is nice here.

Roll out the pastry to a large square about 36cm. Cut into four squares.

Divide the duck mixture and heap in the centre of each square. Moisten the edges and draw them together to form an envelope. Pinch the edges together to seal them.

Brush with egg yolk beaten with a little water and bake for about 20 minutes.

Serve with a crisp green salad or an orange and olive salad.

Prune and apple cake

(Serves 6)

250g prepared fruit – see recipe description above
125g unsalted butter, softened plus extra for greasing, optional
175g caster or light muscovado sugar
3 eggs
150g self-raising flour
50ml liquid – see recipe description above
¼tsp freshly grated nutmeg or ground cinnamon or crushed seeds of four green cardamom pods

Generously butter an 18 to 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin or line with baking parchment and pre-heat the oven to 180˚C/Gas Mark 4.

Beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy and add the eggs one at a time alternating with the flour. Take half the fruit and chop, grate or thinly slice and mix into the cake batter. Add the spices and stir in your chosen spirit. You can also perfectly well use milk if you prefer.

If making an upside down cake, carefully arrange your chosen fruit over the base of the cake tin and spoon the batter on top. Alternatively, spoon the batter into the tin and place the fruit on top.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a skewer poked into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for five minutes or so, before turning out onto a wire rack. Serve warm or cold.

Almond tart

(Serves 8)

For the pastry:
200g flour
100g butter
2 tbsps caster sugar
1 small egg
Iced water, if required

Rub the flour and butter together until well combined and crumbly, but do not overwork. Stir in the salt and sugar and then the egg and enough iced water to bind. Wrap and cool in the refrigerator for 20 minutes before using.

Roll out the pastry, and line a greased tart tin (20 to 25cm in diameter). Prick the pastry all over, line with greaseproof paper, weight down with ceramic baking beans (dried beans will do and can be stored and reused for the same purpose) and bake blind, that is, empty, for about 12 minutes in a preheated oven at 200˚C, Gas Mark 6.

Remove from the oven, take out the beans and paper and let the pastry case cool on a rack while you make the filling.

For the filling:
250g ground almonds
125g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 tbsp orange flower water
100ml semi-skimmed milk
Icing sugar and ground cinnamon, to serve

Preheat the oven to 200˚C. Place the baked pie crust on a baking sheet. Beat the ingredients for the filling together and pour into the crust. Bake for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 180˚C and bake for a further 40 to 45 minutes. A skewer inserted in the centre will come out clean when the filling is baked.

As soon as the tart is cool enough to handle, carefully remove it from the tin and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

If you like to use cinnamon, add a little of it to some icing sugar in a fine sieve and sift generously over the cake before serving.

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