I’m fairly sure I’m losing my mind. Things keep getting done without me doing them. In a not very reassuring way. I was thinking I should take the pineapple out of the fridge and then the next time I’m in the kitchen, the pineapple is out. I don’t think there are any mildly helpful poltergeist in my house and so I must assume it’s my mind dissolving with exhaustion.

Baby No. 2 has regressed slightly in the sleeping stakes. I’m not going to moan too deeply about it, I know my two boys are unnervingly good at sleep related things but for about a week he’s been waking more than I appreciate. Pair that with some blushes of unwellness and an impossibly active toddler and you end up with a very heavy set of eyelids and leaden limbs.

All that joy aside my little mother found herself ill last Sunday. I thought, being such a stellar daughter and because I had a surplus of eggs, that I’d bake her something nice to make her feel better.

I decided to test out my new mini silicone bundt moulds that I had to buy when I was in Lidl this week.

So anyway, here we are. Egg free spiced mini bundts. Egg free? What? yes. Egg free. They didn’t improve mum’s sickness either so not an overwhelming success but the cakes tasted lovely.

I want my mind back.

Despite their accidental egg-freeness these bundts manage to remain moist and with a perfectly respectable texture.

Oven temperature 180 Celsius

Dates                                            85g

Boiling water                             100ml

Light muscavado sugar          60g

Stem ginger – 2 lumps and 1 tablespoon of the syrup

Butter                                           170g

Orange – zest of one and juice of a third

Plain flour                                   170g

Baking powder                          1 teaspoon

Ground ginger                           1 teaspoon

Mixed spice                                1.5 teaspoon

Icing sugar                                 2 very big tablespoons

Preheat the oven and find yourself twelve mini silicone bundt moulds. Failing that, find twelve bun cases or something like that.

Boil the kettle and measure out 100ml of the boiling water into a jug.

Roughly chop in the dates – it’s easiest to use scissors for this – and add them to the boiling water.

Measure in your muscavado as well.

The stem ginger is the stuff you buy in a jar with all the gingery syrup. Pick out two big pieces and chop them into the jug and add two tablespoons of the syrup.

Using a stick blender, blend everything in the jug together to make a sticky slurry.

Now, in a large mixing bowl beat the butter till soft with the orange zest.

Weigh out the flour and add to it the baking powder, ground ginger and mixed spice.

Pour the date slurry into the butter in two stages, beating well after each time.

Then throw in the floury mix and stir it all together.

Divide the batter between the moulds/ cases and into the oven with them.

I baked mine for 13mins, after which I turned off the oven and let them sit in there for another 5mins.

Let them cool down and then take them out of their confines. When they are completely cool you can make the icing.

Put the icing sugar into a bowl and add the orange juice. Add more sugar if it’s too liquidy and more juice if it’s too thick. You need it thin enough that it drips off a spoon but thick enough that it doesn’t run straight off your buns. Harhar.

Line up all the buns in neat little rows then scoop up a big spoonful of the icing onto a dessert spoon and let it begin to drip before you drizzle it back and forth.

Eat with tea. I might add, they keep very well. I ate one today and it was just lovely.