This is very definitely called winging it.

I had meant to make a rhubarb and strawberry compote, and bake an upside down cake.

Said compote turned into more of a sauce.

Hmm, says I. My mantra is ‘if it goes wrong, call it by another name and pretend you meant it’ so it turned into a fruit sauce topped with what was meant to be a plain sponge.

Ah.

I had run out of light sugar. It’s actually a dark brown sugar and ginger sponge instead.

1lb rhubarb chopped (I suspect I chopped mine too small.)
1lb strawberries, hulled and cut in half
3/4 cup of golden caster sugar (you can see why I ran out now can’t you?)
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon extract (optional)

Mix the fruit with the sugar, add the lemon juice, then put on to simmer.
Once all the sugar has dissolved, and the fruit has let out its liquid, turn the heat up slightly, add the extracts and let it cook until the fruit has cooked down.

3 tbsp breadcrumbs
200g butter , softened
90g golden caster sugar
110g dark muscovado sugar
3 medium eggs
200g self-raising flour
5 tbsp milk

Sprinkle the crumbs over the base of a large cake tin or casserole dish. DO NOT USE A LOOSE BOTTOMED TIN because there will be leakage.
Pour in your warmed jam or compote or even drained tinned fruit if you like.
Whisk the sugars and the butter until fluffy and well mixed in. If there are lumps of sugar, don’t worry, they’ll just be added texture and pockets of caramel.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Do not worry if the mix curdles.
Whisk in the ground ginger and the vanilla.
Then whisk in the flour.
Use a spatula to scrape the edges down, and continue to mix.
Add 5 tbs milk, and fold that in.
Dollop on top of the jam/compote/fruit
Bake for 35-40 minutes until risen and golden brown.
You may need to bake it for longer, mine ended up needing 50 minutes.

Now to see if it survives the journey to Nottingham.