I was given some nectarines and had a can of peach slices so decided to make a cake for my neighbours who are having a rough time with serious illness. They are lovely people who are very kind to me so it seemed like the very least I could do.

I went through a whole faff of making a spiced syrup to flavour the fruit but, to be honest, I am not sure it is really worth the effort. Instead, I will use dried spices in the mixture next time and this is the recipe I will use.

Stone fruit are very fleshy and moist so use far more sparingly than you would, say, apples. I am a cinnamon fiend but do reduce the amount of cinnamon in the recipe if you are not as obsessed with it as I am.

Once you have chopped the fruit, drain for a while (15 mins is probably enough) to get rid of some of the juice. Otherwise the cake may end up just too wet.