Abby's Mug Cake - a fuss free fruity fruit cake

I have a confession to make - it's not really my Mug Cake - it's my Auntie Pam's recipe and she gifted it to me a while ago. Thank you Auntie Pam, who is currently holidaying in Santorini (I hope you're having a lovely time and don't forget to bring me back a tea towel). I digress. I like Mug Cake because it's simple to make and in a complicated world that requires a lot of mental gymnastics, exotic ingredients from foreign lands and a cookology degree - it just makes sense, well, to me, to have at least one fuss-free recipe. A mug to measure ingredients, a pan and a wooden spoon - throw everything together into pan, stir vigorously while singing your favourite Kate Bush song (mine: Wuthering Heights complete with crazy arm movements) and hey presto - fruity fruit cake for tea. After a busy day answering enquiries about eye examinations, booking appointments and replacing silicon nose pads that have fallen off wonky spectacles - a slice of Mug Cake with a liberal spread of butter is a yummy treat. Talking of work - I have to say a BIG thank you to N - a lovely customer who lives on a croft with 7 ducks. She likes to take them for walks of an evening and I mentioned that I like to take Mo, my cat, for walks in my back yard. We bonded over pet walking. Subsequently she offered, on her next visit to town, to bring in duck eggs for me as I have never tried them before. I know, you're shocked. But it's true. I'm now hooked on duck eggs - what a wonderfully rich flavour. My cake turned out sunshine yellow and tasted so much better than previous Mug Cake incarnations.

After my Mug Cake had baked I didn't leave it to cool. No. It was a sunny day and I wanted to go for a cake picnic in one of my favourite spots located just behind my house. I made a flask of tea and off I went.... Now, the thing I love about Shetland and living in the countryside is that I don't need to drive anywhere to find an idyllic and secluded place to relax. I just hop over my gate, amble down the track and then follow the bubbling burn. Even after six years of living here and doing this walk almost every day, the scenery still takes my breath away and I never tire of the ever changing elemental landscape...