Two rather different apple cakes, and a verrry delicious batch of potato, goat's cheese and silverbeet fritters

Rough month! Still getting back on my feet. I hope you’ve all missed me.

I’ve pulled out some lovely wee treats for Autumn.

We weren’t able to agree on which cake was more delicious. But both disappeared fairly quickly. So so good.

They’re about as opposite to one another as apple cakes come. Lumberjack cake, rich, dense, almost gooey deliciousness, with apple, date, honey and coconut. Superb with a blob of cream.

And then we have a szarlotka, a verrrrry popular Polish treat, with delicately spiced caramelised apple hidden beneath a lattice topping of lemony sweet shortcrust pastry. Rather like a shortcake. But oh what a shortcake.

The fritters we used to have on the brunch menu and couldn’t be easier. Crisp, roasted buttery, rosemary scented spuds - smushed together with some silverbeet and a wodge of chèvre. Damn delicious, as a wee snackette (aioli or mayo for dipping) or with a poached egg for breakfast or a lazy supper.

I do hope you enjoy. And happy cooking, always.

S xx

POTATO, SILVERBEET AND GOAT’S CHEESE FRITTERS

Fritter. It’s an amusing word. Growing up, the word fritter was as much a term of endearment as it was something you could eat. I’ll never forget the deep mortification in my brother’s eyes as mum called him fritter in front of his boarding school mates. If I ever have children, I can’t wait to do the same. Fritters (giggle again), have a rich history around the world. The Italians have frittata, the Spanish are fond of tortilla, the Iranians have kuku which is rather like a frittata but much more delicious in my opinion, often cooked with pine nuts, walnuts, lots of spinach, parsley, cumin and other delectables.

I can’t stand a floury fritter, hence this recipe. It is the egg and the potato that keeps everything bound together, so you may want to use your hands to squish everything as it will bind better.

By all means, use a soft, fresh goat’s cheese, but I prefer one with a soft rind as it will hold better when fried.