Nigel Slater's autumn recipes for baked sweet potatoes, and a fig and hazelnut cake

Now we're truly in the season of home-baking, it's time to turn the oven on for a cosy Halloween supper There are hazelnuts toasting in a cast-iron pan on the hob. They rattle as I shake the black pan back and forth in an attempt to get them to colour evenly. The only other sound in the kitchen is the purring of the food mixer bringing butter and sugar to soft peaks for a cake that will, I hope, taste and smell of autumn. I spend a good 10 minutes cutting dried figs into small nuggets, then lett...