I made this cake last week for my granddaughter Emily’s fifth birthday. 

Emily is a little different as children go in in that she is not a big fan of sweet things, but this went down well with everyone present.  

I just hope I haven’t corrupted her taste buds! 

She loves fruit though and this cake, though pretty sweet, is unusual in that it’s made with fresh fruit and plums are in season at the moment. 

We used greengages from our own tree — which has produced massively this year — but you can use any kind of plums that come to hand.

It’s a deliciously moist cake that keeps very well in the cool and dark. 

This recipe makes a decent size cake, so you need either a 23cm(9in) square tin or a round one a little larger in circumference.

180cl/6fl oz walnut oil (ideally, or any good vegetable oil will do)

330g/12oz light brown sugar/12oz

3 eggs

220g/9oz plain (or fine wholemeal) flour

1 tsp bicarb 

1 tsp cinnamon

330g/12oz plums, stoned and coarsely chopped

100g/scant 4oz walnuts, broken into pieces (not too small)

Preheat the oven to 350?F/175?C/mark 4. 

Grease the baking tin, or (much, much better) line it with cooking parchment. 

Mix together the oil, sugar, and eggs. Do this is a food processor if you have one, but the next stage has to be done by hand. 

The flour, bicarb and cinnamon should be sifted together then folded into the oily mixture. 

Mix it well, but gently, then very gently fold in the fruit and nuts. 

Bake for 90 minutes, then test with a skewer. If it’s not cooked through, be patient. 

Mine took two hours but was well worth the wait. 

Once it’s out of the oven stand it on a wire rack and cover with a cloth until cool.