I spotted the first cobnuts of the season in Waitrose the other day and couldn’t resist bringing some home. Like conkers, nature packages them beautifully and my first instinct is to sit and draw them. No time for that, though - if I am to have enough to bake a cake, I’d better get going before my hero eats them all.

What recipe shall I make?

Whatever I decide to bake with them, first job is to get the nutcrackers out.

When I finish cracking all the nuts open, the bowl is as full of shells as it was when I started. Will I have enough nuts for a cake?

I find a recipe which needs just 10g less than I have - and I decide that, if the quantity is critical, I can put in a couple of almonds and no one will know. When I look closely, it’s the perfect recipe for the ingredients I have on hand - just 10g short on nuts, there are two apples in the fridge and I have everything else I need, including exactly the right size loaf tin.

I set to and get the loaf in the oven and the kitchen is filled with the scent of baking.

The result was yummy - nothing to do with the crunchy dulce de leche topping, of course!