Here’s a lovely bake that’s easy, quick and tasty. It can be varied too – with other fruits, or nuts or just about anything you fancy. My blueberry version is an adaptation of a terrific recipe by Jamie Oliver.

Makes: At least 16 “reasonably sized “ pieces.

Level: Easy

Time: Prep: 30 min. Bake: 30 min.

Need: A deep sided 30 x 20cm baking tray. The original method used a food processor, but I think a wooden spoon and/or spatula work as well and are a lot easier to wash up. Take your pick.

Basic Ingredients

200g/7oz unsalted butter, softened
200g/7oz sugar (golden caster or light brown or a mixture)
4 large eggs
200g/7oz self raising flour
Pinch of salt
200g/7oz white chocolate chips*

Extras for a swirl

100g/3.5oz – 150g/5.5oz frozen* blueberries (or fresh)
A few blobs of blueberry jam*
A few blobs of lemon curd (optional)

* If you chop bars of chocolate rather than use chips, make sure there are no large lumps.

* I used frozen blueberries, hence my bake time is longer than the original. If you use fresh blueberries you may need to bring it out of the oven earlier.

* If you don’t have any blueberry jam you could mash a few blueberries with a little sugar into a puree.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C / fan 160°C / 350°F / Gas 4. Line the baking tray with baking parchment.

2. With a wooden spoon beat the butter and sugar together then break in the eggs one by one with a tsp of the flour. (Or blitz in a food processor or use an electric hand whisk.)

3. Mix in the rest of the flour with the salt. Stir or beat until smooth then stir in the chocolate chips and most of the blueberries.

4. Tip and scrape the mixture into the tin and spread evenly with a spatula.

5. Spoon or blob on the blueberry jam and lemon curd then ripple into the mixture. Don’t over mix. Gently add on the remaining blueberries.

6. Bake for 35 – 40 minutes if using frozen fruit or 30 if not.

Gallery

For my prototype test bake I swirled in a whole tin of caramel. Wow, it was wonderfully rich and yummy. It went so quickly when I shared it with friends that I didn’t have time for photos. Below however on the right is the baked “slab”. I’ll be making it again soon as well as several other swirly versions: hazelnut & milk chocolate; ginger; coconut & raspberry.

As so often happens when I produce a new recipe that I like, I make other versions. So here’s my latest:

Ginger and White Chocolate Tray bake

Ingredients

200g/7oz unsalted butter, softened
200g/7oz golden caster sugar
4 large eggs
200g/7oz self raising flour
Pinch of salt
1 – 2 tsp ground ginger
200g/7oz white chocolate chips or small chunks
About 125g/4½oz of stem ginger, chopped + more if decorating
About 50ml/1¾fl oz syrup from stem ginger jar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C / fan 160°C / 350°F / Gas 4. Line the baking tray with baking parchment.

2. With a wooden spoon beat the butter and sugar together then break in the eggs one by one with a tsp of the flour and beat some more. (Or blitz in a food processor or use an electric hand whisk.)

3. Fold in the rest of the flour with the salt and ground ginger. Mix until smooth then stir in the chocolate, the chopped stem ginger and the ginger syrup. If it’s really thick and stodgy stir in more syrup or a little milk, just to loosen the mixture

4. Tip the mixture into the tin and spread evenly with a spatula. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes. (When baked it will be pulling away from the side of the tin and a skewer inserted in the middle will come out clean & dry.)

5. If you have any left over syrup you could brush it over the tops and one decorating option is to add a thin slice of reserved ginger to each piece. (I used a mini-cutter to produce stem ginger stars.)