This is a proper old-fashioned dark sticky ginger cake. Most of the moisture comes from the steamed, mashed squash but you’d never know (good for those people who hate the idea of vegetables in cake).

I’ve got two versions, one vegan, one not. I actually think the vegan one is better usually.

I wanted to use a hot water crust pastry to make a Christmas main course. Given that we don’t eat meat, raised pork pies weren’t going to work. I’ve made a Christmas pie before that used butter beans, cheese, garlic and herbs so I decided to work from that and a raised pork pie and create a new recipe.

This always feels like cheating because there’s baking soda and powder as well as sourdough but it makes really tasty pancakes.

This recipe is so easy. I think I originally got it from a cookbook that I ordered from Carnation. The condensed milk makes the cookies softer. You can use almost any nuts. I’ve used pecans, hazelnuts, almonds and walnuts in the past.

I love pavlova. There seem to be so many different recipe variations for the meringue. I’ve tried loads but I always come back to this one. My mum gave this one to me about twenty years ago. This recipe has never let me down. I’ve tried ones from cookbooks and the meringue just hasn’t worked as well. This works.

The raspberry and passion fruit is our addition; you can use any fruit you like.