Sue quinn writes to florence white

Cooking apples

THIS MONTH Christmas cake

SERVES 4 Ingredients 125g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing120g dark chocolate, broken into small piecesPinch of sea salt100g Amarena cherries, roughly chopped, plus3 tbsp of the cherry syrup10

SERVES 8-10 PREP 20 mins plus cooling and 1 hr macerating COOK 45 mins EASY 200g butter, softened, plus extrafor the tin200g golden caster sugar4 eggs200g self-raising flour1 tsp baking powder2 tbsp m

A slight adjustment from the classics, these are stuffed with pine nuts and sesame seeds for a nutty sweetness that reminds me of the little yellow packets of sesame snaps we had while growing up. If

For those who think they don’t like trifle, forget rubbery jelly, soggy fruit, mushy sponge and sickly sweetness. We’ve omitted the jelly and used florentine between the layers for chewy crunch. Poach