Recipe | Fig & Thyme Sponge

Photograph by Emma Croman

There’s always room for pud – especially when it’s as light and as lovely as this is

Serves 6

250g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
250g caster sugar
6 medium eggs
2 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
250g self-raising flour
2-3 tbsp milk
120g honey
8 figs
5 sprigs thyme, plus extra for garnish
200g vanilla natural yogurt

1 Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan 160C/ Gas 4. Meanwhile, grease and line a 1kg loaf tin with butter and greaseproof paper.

2 For the sponge, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

3 Add the eggs, one by one, before adding the thyme and vanilla. Then sift in the flour, folding it into the mix.

4 Finally, add the milk, a splash at a time, and fold in gently.

5 Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 50-60 mins – it’s ready once the top is golden and a skewer comes out clean. Remove the cake to cool completely, but leave the oven on.

6 Meanwhile, butter a 20 x 22cm ovenproof dish and pour in the honey.

7 Chop 4 of the figs into halves and 4 into quarters, then add to the honey along with the 5 sprigs of thyme. Stir to coat, then bake for 15-20 mins, or until the figs caramelise slightly.

6 Serve the cake topped with yogurt, baked figs, and a drizzle of honey.

This recipe is taken from our October ‘gathering’ pages, a menu for a harvest roast, which also includes recipes for Blackberry Fizz, Apple & Pear Roasted Pork, Roasted Garlic Mash with Crispy Sage Browned Butter, Autumn Veg Traybake and Loaded Cauliflower Cheese. The recipes are by Rebecca Finley and the photography by Emma Croman.

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Project | Whittle a Butter Spreader

A wooden butter spreader is a pleasingly tactile piece of Scandinavian tableware and a fun project to begin your whittling journey. 

You will need: 

Fresh round of hardwood, a minimum of 10cm in diameter and roughly 20cm in length 

Axe  

Wooden club 

Pencil 

Sharp carving knife. 

1 Split the log into thin billets, splitting the wood along the grain and into halves each time. The billets for most spreaders need to be roughly 3.5cm at their thickest width on the bark edge. Providing it splits cleanly, you can get up to eight butter spreader billets from a straight piece of 10cm diameter wood. 

2 Choose your favourite billet. With the axe, use the relief cut to carve away the sharp pith edge, removing 1cm of material.  

3 Use the carving knife to flatten the surfaces on both of the cleft faces of the billet. The chest lever grip reducing the material to create a smooth plane. 

4 Draw on your chosen design incorporating the grain. The spreader must be able to stand the stress of everyday use so, for strength, the grain should run through the shape from the handle to the tip. The main stress of the utensil is where the blade meets the handle. Leaving a portion of material behind here will give the spreader longevity. Most butter spreader designs have a handle length of about 10cm before they flow into the blade. If this is your first spreader, keep the shape simple and keep the spine relatively straight to ease yourself in. 

5 Form a taper with the axe along the underside of the spreader from the blade to the end of the handle. Hold the billet at the blade end and, starting from the bottom use the relief cut to break up the fibres before removing. Apply the same method on the spine. 

6 Draw a centreline along the back of the spine and mark with a cross the point where the handle becomes the blade. With the axe, thin the billet on either side of the blade, leaving about 0.5cm either side of the centreline. Redraw the shape of the blade where you have cut it away. 

7 Now use the end grain chop technique to round the tip of the spreader blade, gradually arching the blank away from the axe to increase the angle. 

8 With a carving knife, use the power grip to refine the spreader’s blade, thinning it towards the spreading edge to a width no smaller than 2mm. 

9 Using the chest lever grip, flow the underside of the knife into the handle. Now carve and refine the spreader’s spine using the drawing grip, slowly peeling back long shavings to a desired handle thickness. 

10 With a combination of the thumb push and the pull grip begin to enhance the spreader with smooth facets. To round the tip of the spreader, use the apple peeler grip. 

11 Lastly, combine the thumb push and the apple peeler grips to chamfer the edges on the handle’s end and along the length of the spreader’s blade. 

Maker’s note: As many butter spreader billets can be harvested from one piece of wood, you can play with a variety of shapes and forms. Could you make the perfect jam smearer? How can you get into the corners of the jar? This is a fantastic opportunity to loosen up into fun shapes and let the imagination flow. 

Cutting grips 

Here’s how to make all the cuts you need to complete your butter spreader.

Relief cut 

Start at the bottom of the billet, tilting the material away from the axe slightly, and create 

a series of incisions at about an inch in between each other up the length of the cutting face to the halfway point. Working from the halfway point, chase the material down to the axe block to remove it, forming a taper.  

Chest lever grip 

1 Begin by sitting comfortably with your back straight, hands open on your lap, palms facing upwards. Hold the knife in your dominant hand, with the blade ahead of the index finger, its cutting edge pointing away from the centre of your body. Hold the stick in your other palm, with the end you want to carve ahead of your hand. From here, close your hands, gripping the two objects from underneath. You should be able to see all of your fingernails. 

2 Cross the knife on top of the wood to form an ‘X’ shape. Bring the whole grip into your chest so that the knuckles of your little fingers are touching your ribs. Stick your arms out like wings, making a straight line from elbow to elbow. Use your chest as a lever for your hands, stemming from the articulation of your shoulders. 

3 Bring your elbows forward slightly and dig the blade into the top of the wood until you feel resistance. Stiffen your wrists by squeezing the knife and the wood at the same time. Bring your elbows back and puff your chest out to lever a shaving away. 

4 Engage your elbows and shoulders to pivot against your chest. Rotate the piece in your hand to expose a new area to the knife. 

The end grain chop 

1 Hold the billet at its very end, fairly upright, tilting just slightly away from the axe. Cautiously raise the axe just a small amount beneath the level of your hand, then swing the axe firmly into the axe block, aiming to remove the very end corner of the billet. 

2 Once you have removed the initial chop, drop the hand holding the billet slowly, gradually arcing it further from the axe to increase the angle of the incision, and repeat the same axe chop. Like a second hand on a clock, continue to arc the billet away to round the end. The more chopping intervals you add to the arc, the more fluid the rounding will be. 

The power grip 

1 In a seated position, place your knees and feet together, closing the legs. You will be carving the wood off to one side of your lap. Hold the knife in your dominant hand. In your non-dominant hand, hold the wood at one end and tilt it down towards the ground, across your lap. It is important that the wood is below the thigh for safety. Hold the knife in a full grip, forming a clenched fist. The blade should be facing towards the ground when held to your side, to meet the wood. 

2 The power from this grip comes from the movement of the shoulder. To engage it fully, 

keep your dominant arm straight, with your elbow locked, squeezing the fist lightly so that the only moving part of the body is your shoulder. 

3 Introduce the bevel edge to the side of the wood and find the knife’s ‘bite point’ where it 

wants to begin cutting. Once you have found the bite, tilt the tip of the knife slightly up towards the sky to encourage a slice and, with a shrug, drop the shoulder to begin slowly driving the knife through the bark, revealing a shaving. 

4 Once your shaving has been made, retract your shoulder towards your ear, twisting the piece of wood in your non-dominant hand to expose a new, untouched section. Repeat. 

5 To remove material within the portion that you’re holding, simply spin the stick around, hold the other end, and repeat the grip steps. 

Thumb Push Grip 

Hold the stick in your non-dominant hand in a position where you can reach the spiked end to push the knife away with your thumb. Now, as if you are sharpening a pencil, use your thumb to guide the back of the knife onto the wood. For safety and comfort, push the knife at the end of the handle. For safety, the thumb push grip should always be directed pushing away from you, and not towards. 

Apple peeler grip 

Firmly hold the stick upright in your nondominant hand, exposing the blunt end. The focus here is on your dominant, knife hand moving the knife back and forth as if to peel an apple. This motion should free up your thumb, which can serve as an anchor, safely latching on to the side of the stick, providing purchase for the knife to carve through the wood. 

Pull grip 

1 In your non-dominant hand, bring the wood to a comfortable point at your sternum, pinching the end firmly with the fingertips for support. In your dominant hand, form a closed fist around the knife handle, blade pointing upwards with the cutting edge facing towards you, as if you're looking directly down the barrel of the knife. 

2 Transfer your thumb to the other side of the knife handle. Position the knife upright to the outward facing side, beneath your fingertips. Your nondominant hand should always be the farthest point away and the knife shouldn’t ever be positioned ahead of your fingers. Angle the knife so that the tip is directed away. 

3 Draw the knife back gradually, revealing a gentle spiral like a ribbon shaving. The knife’s pace is regulated, being naturally slowed by your body, with the tip always upright and angled away, all while the wood shields your non-dominant hand. Focus on applying a steady, consistent movement, drawing back from the elbow, brushing your forearm against your hip. Look down the knife’s edge. Focus on the angle with which the bevel is being introduced to the wood.  

Taken from The Green-Wood Carver: Slow Woodcraft for Beginners by Samuel Alexander (Skittledog). Photography: Charles Emerson 

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Playlist | Herbs & Spices

Full of tasty tunes, our latest playlist is inspired by our November 2025 issue, SPICE.

Have a listen on Spotify here.
You can browse all our playlists now.

Competition | Win Derwent Art Materials

Satisfying and mindful, drawing is a great pastime. Have a go at our step-by-step sketch and you could win prizes

With plenty of warm, cosy evenings ahead, it’s natural to want to turn to cherished hobbies to see you through the hibernation months, or perhaps you fancy trying your hand at something new. If you’ve been inspired to give drawing a go, or would simply like to improve your skills, then scroll down for a step-by-step guide on how to sketch a bumblebee, created by our friends at Derwent.

Remember, there’s no expectation to produce any artistic masterpieces, this is simply an exercise in putting coloured pencil – or whatever materials you have to hand – to paper and giving it a go.
You may be surprised with the outcome, or you might find that it’s the ideal way to fill a quiet afternoon with something mindful and creative.

If find you are inspired by sketching and would like to share your bumblebee drawing when it’s finished, then Derwent are offering incredible art prizes for their favourites.

Simply upload your artwork or send in your original drawing* and you could win Derwent art products, including the new Drawing Pencils 72 tin, featuring pencils with a beautifully soft core and nature inspired colours – including 48 brand new shades. Great for keeping you creative over winter.

For more info, visit: derwentart.com or follow on Insta: @derwentartofficial

What you could win

First Prize: Drawing pencils 72 tin; Inktense pencils 72 tin; Sketching & drawing A3 paper pad; Pencil wrap; Battery-operated eraser; Twin hole sharpener; Derwent push button waterbrush assorted set – worth £450

Second prize: Drawing pencils 72 tin; Graphic pencils 24 tin; Sketching & drawing A3 paper pad; Battery-operated eraser; Twin hole sharpener – worth £270

Third prize: Drawing pencils 72 tin; Sketching & drawing A4 paper pad, Twin hole sharpener – worth £205

How to draw a bumblebee

You will need:

Paper

Coloured pencils – we used Derwent Drawing pencils in shades Mist, Sunflower, Apricot, Sepia Red
and Ivory Black

1 Using the template above, lightly sketch the outline of your bumblebee. Using a gentle circular motion, lay down a light base layer of grey (Mist) on the wings and bottom.

2 Next, use yellow (Sunflower) to fill in the stripes and edges of the legs. Overlap the yellow onto the grey at the bottom, and where the yellow meets the edges of the body. Create a fluffy look by moving your pencil from the inside to the outside in flicking motions. Add a few strokes of yellow to the wings where they overlap the body to suggest transparency.

3 Add flicks of orange (Apricot) and red (Sepia Red) along the edges of the yellow where it’ll meet the black stripes to give the appearance of fur. You can overlap into where the black will be to give an extra fluffy look.

4 Cover the remaining body and legs in grey, using a circular motion to give an even layer. Then add flicks at the edges of the body for a fluffy look. This creates a stronger, deeper tone when you add the black and helps to lessen the white of the paper beneath.

5 Using black (Ivory Black), add flick motions on top of the grey for the fur. If you’re nervous, start off gently, then apply stronger pressure as you get into your stride. You could leave a few lighter areas showing the grey to give the impression of sunlight catching the fur.

6 With a freshly-sharpened black pencil, draw in the antennas and lightly outline the wings and add
in veins. You can retrace over these veins to give a darker tone. You could also try adding a few strokes along the edges of the veins to add a little shading.

7 Share your sketch (see How to Enter, below, and you could win one of the art prizes above.

How to enter

For your chance to win Derwent art materials, upload a copy of your drawing by clicking the button below by the closing date of 7 January 2026. Alternatively, you can post physical artwork* to:
FAO Derwent, Millennium House, 65 Walton Street, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire HP21 7QG.

Terms & conditions

The competition closes at 11.59pm on 7 January 2026. One winner and two runners up will be selected from all entries received and notified soon after. *All postal entries will become the property
of Derwent upon receipt and will not be returned. Subject to availability. The winners cannot transfer the prizes or swap them for cash. Details of our full terms and conditions are on p125 and online at icebergpress.co.uk/comprules. Competition Sponsor is ACCO UK Limited t/a Derwent.