When your neighbour gives you a whole lot of super ripe figs (too many to eat!) or if you find some less than perfect figs at the fruit shop, make some jam! This one is not too sweet and totally delicious poured on yoghurt, as the filling for a fig crostata or simply on bread.

If you have a glut of zucchini in the garden at the moment (or a neighbour with some!) and you sick of making savoury dishes, then why not try something sweet? Zucchini are bland enough to work really well in cake batter. I think zucchini cake was a real thing in the 1980s or 90s. I love a bit of retro baking, and if you do too, then this recipe may be right up your alley.

Figs seem terribly decadent to me. It must be all those luscious red filaments when you cut one open, eating the soft sweet inner flesh directly off the skin. Such a short season for this heady delight that nature has created with such perfection.

These are rather delicious and simple biscuits/cookies that make the perfect Christmas gift. That said, it is perfectly acceptable to not give them away, you probably won’t want to! They marry some gently warming spices with orange, making the most delicious combination. Use any cookie cutter shape you have to make them - stars would be very pretty.

I adore blood oranges; it feels like I always have. It started in the 1970s when I lived in Italy with my parents and sister. I couldn’t quite believe that in Italy they had red oranges (I mean, weren’t they meant to be orange hence the name?). We didn’t have any in Australia. Now we do, though it hasn’t been that many years, and in late winter, we can find blood oranges at most fruit shops.

I have many many cookbooks but only occasionally dig them out. And when I do, I wonder why it took me so long. The Essentials of Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan was one of the first cookbooks I owned. It was published in 1992 and has no photos, but is one of my go-to books for savoury dishes. There is only a small section on sweets and desserts.

There are several certainties when you visit the Salento: you will see fields dotted with gnarly trunked olive trees that are over a thousand years old; you will meet passionate and uncomplicated locals who will generously share their shop/home with you, should you stop and talk to them and you will taste some of the best olive oil in the world. And there is a high probability that you will eat superb food. My love for the Salento, a place that is tremendously rich in its simplicity, is strong.

Winter heralds citrus fruit season. Although you can find oranges most of the year (as they store well in cold rooms) and lemons, mandarins are usually missing in action. The Imperial varieties are my favourites and it is a bonus when there are no pips. This deliciously moist cake is made with whole boiled mandarins and almonds, so happens to be gluten free. I love the combination of chocolate and orange, I add chocolate pieces to this cake – though you could easily omit these if you like.