herbs de provence and rose olive oil cake

do you remember in the seventies when carrot cakes were all the rage? no..weren't even born then! well..believe me when i say they were de rigueur and cutting edge gastronomy back then..what? a vegetable in a cake? oil instead of butter? wow!

i got on the carrot cake bandwagon with great enthusiasm..come on..i'd just returned to australia after having lived in a small town in the mountains of northern greece for a few years..i was easily excited.. 

one day i thought i was being clever when, instead of using a flavourless oil, i used extra virgin olive oil to make my usual carrot cake..no surprise then that it tasted strongly of olive oil but my taste buds just weren't up to the flavour in a cake even though they were olive oil inured so i reverted to the flavourless stuff..now fast forward to yesterday when i put all of my decades old extra virgin olive oil in cake prejudices aside to make this recipe..the cake has herbs de provence in it too..what? herb de provence in a cake? wow!

i found the recipe for this herbs de provence and rose olive oil cake here when i was looking for ways to use all the grapefruit my girl kat gave me..the flavours in this cake intrigued me but i wasn't sure how i would like them but i think they're wonderful..i thought the rose water* would dominate but it's quite subtle and goes really well with the grapefruit..and the herbs de provence* add intriguing and delightful notes that complement the delicious fruity flavours of the olive oil..not being one to waste much i made candied peel from the juiced grapefruit skins..that was the only thing i did differently..oh..hang on..i did cut down on the sugar a bit..

note: * i used a french rose water concentrate imported by the essential ingredient purchased from here and herbs de provence, brought back from france by my dear friend robyn, that included rosemary, thyme, basil, marjoram and summer savoury..

have you come across any flavours that have intrigued and surprised you lately?

blackberry season

i find it surprising that greek people don't eat blackberries*..they eat dandelions, frogs, snails, intestines..but not blackberries? and they don't eat mushrooms either*! i made a blackberry pie one autumn in edessa for eleftheria my landlady to try..she tasted it suspiciously and reported liking it but she never wanted to go foraging with me and she never accepted any on offer either..

i love them though and last week i was lucky enough to have a foraging day with my daughter alexandra..we didn't get many and the ones we did find were crunchy with seeds and a little past their best flavourwise..

my preserves cupboard is groaning with jam so i didn't want to make jam or jelly with them..instead i made an almond and blackberry cake and meringue nests filled with blackberry puree and cream and garnished with fig leaf dust** and blackberry syrup..that's it for this year's blackberries unfortunately..i had planned to go again with a friend but a daughter's wedding is taking priority over blackberries this year!

almond and blackberry cake

meringue nests with blackberry puree and cream garnished
with fig leaf dust** and blackberry syrup

note

*   my comments are based on the experiences i had while living in greece several decades ago
** i've recently discovered that fig leaves are edible so i dried fig leaves and crushed them to a very fine powder to use as a garnish

further reading

http://www.naturalcuresnotmedicine.com/2013/03/fig-leaves-just-as-healthy-as-figs.html (health benefits)
http://kimberlyshaw.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/08/fig-.html (fig leaf tea)

comments

~ i thought the almond and blackberry cake was a great recipe in which to use my precious blackberries because there were no other competing flavours to eclipse their beautiful autumn flavour..i think it's a versatile recipe that would work with other berries too and it would easily convert to gluten free by substituting the very small amount (40 gms) of plain flour with rice flour or any other gluten free flour


~ i like the flavour of the fig leaf dust..it tastes and smells just like a warm summer day under a fig tree

do you like blackberries or do you they're best left for the birds?

almond cinnamon cake

i'm always on the lookout for interesting recipes using egg white only rather than whole eggs because i often have several left over from making custard, creme patisserie or ice cream..yesterday i came across a recipe for an almond cinnamon cake in the book 'nigellisima', that i'd borrowed from the library, that piqued my interest..this morning i made it with the four egg whites i had languishing..and..hey.. it's extra versatile because it's gluten and dairy product free..

almond cinnamon cake

'nigellissima' nigella lawson

serves about 8

ingredients (i halved the recipe)

4 egg whites

75 gms castor sugar

75 gms almond meal

60 mls light olive oil

1/2 teaspoon (tsp) baking powder

finely grated zest of small orange

2-3 drops almond essence

50 gms flaked almonds

1/2 tsp cinnamon

icing sugar

method

~ beat the egg whites until opaque and starting to hold their shape

~ add sugar in small increments whisking and until it's incorporated and the mixture is thick and shiny

~ mix in zest and almond essence and then add the oil and almond meal mixed with the baking powder in three batches

~ pour the mixture into a 20 cm baking paper lined tin, smooth the top and sprinkle with the faked almonds mixed with the cinnamon

~ bake at 180 deg c for 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean

~ cool in the tin on a wire rack

~ sprinkle with icing sugar to serve

comments

~ i think this is a particularly lovely cake..it's not very sweet so it could be served with a citrus compote or a citrus glace such as the glaced cumquats i've been wanting to make..and i think rhubarb would go nicely with it too

~ the almond essence flavour was not particularly discernible so i'd consider increasing the amount of  essence to 3-4 drops next time i make it

if you made this cake what flavours do you think would complement it?

jubilee cake

this is a cake that my mother used to make when i was a child and it's been one that i've wanted to make for ages..i have fond memories of my mother making it to take on the picnics that we went on regularly..i can make heavy weather of packing for a picnic but in no time my mother would throw together a few chops or sausages, bread, butter and sometimes a jubilee cake and off we'd go..

the jubilee cake or loaf was created in 1936 for south australia's 100th jubilee year and the recipe* was published in the 1936 edition of the 'green and gold cookery book'..i'm not overly fond of using the baking recipes in this book because i find the measurements inexact and the instructions unclear so i used the jubilee cake recipe* in 'the blue ribbon cookbook' by liz harfull..it's a book of recipes and anecdotes from south australian prizewinning country show cooks..

after making the jubilee cake for the first time i can say that it's a winner..the flavour and texture belie the simplicity of the ingredients and how quickly and easily it's made..in a way it's a bit like scones in the sense that it can be made and served in no time and with staple pantry items..it's the sort of cake i'd now make for impromptu guests or if i wanted something with a cup of tea after a day in the garden..

best eaten slightly warm with butter

note: * for copyright reasons i'm unable to post the jubilee cake recipe from 'the blue ribbon cookbook' but the recipes from the 'green and gold' are quite similar but this recipe from the cwa (country women's association) offers a different method..

porter cake

for as long as i've been cooking i've been interested in feast day foods from different cultures..the two cultures that i have had the most association with though are british and greek since my ancestral background is a mix of english and scottish (and french way back) and i've lived in greece, i married a greek man and i have three half greek children..as a result i tend to recognise the feast days from these two cultures a lot more than others..

just this last sunday 17 march was st patrick's day..st patrick, the patron saint of ireland, was the son of a roman tax collector who lived in wales and was captured at the age of sixteen and sold into irish slavery..he escaped though and entered the priesthood, returned to ireland and converted his capturers to christianity..

even though i don't have any irish blood the australian psyche is awash with irish narrative because of the large numbers of irish who came to australia during the early period of settlement and later on and the subsequent contribution they made to the australian way of life..

up until this week i was only aware of a few well known st patrick's day culinary traditions such as soda bread, beef and guiness, corned beef and cabbage and shepherd's pie..but while looking for other more obscure traditional foods i came across a cake called a porter cake that i'd not heard of before and so i made it out of interest and to celebrate the day..

porter is a type of dark beer that got it's name from its popularity with london's river and street porters.. it began being brewed in england and ireland in the 1700's and porter cake evolved sometime in the 1800's when it started being added to fruit cake..guinness seems to be the most common substitution for the harder to find porter which makes sense given that guinness was originally marketed as porter..

porter cake

from here

ingredients cake batter

175 gms butter

190 gms muscovado sugar

320 gms flour

100 gms sultanas

100 gms currants

100 gms raisons
100 gms dates chopped
300 mls guinness

3 eggs beaten

60 gms mixed peel

grated rind and juice of an orange

1 teaspoon (tsp) baking powder

2 tsp mixed spice

ingredients topping

20 gms muscovado sugar
almonds of choice (whole almonds, blanched, slivered or flaked)

method

~ line a deep 20 cm cm cake tin with 2 layers of brown paper and one of baking paper
~ place butter, dried fruit, guinness and orange juice and rind in a saucepan and slowly bring to the boil stirring
~ once boiling reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes then take off the heat and cool for 10 minutes
~ sift dry ingredients together
~ add a little of the still hot mix to the beaten eggs while stirring* well then slowly add the egg/hot mix to the saucepan mixing constantly to prevent curdling of the egg
~ fold in flour mix
~ spoon into cake tin, sprinkle with topping sugar and decorate with almonds as desired
~ bake at 160 deg centigrade for 1 1/2 hours covering the top after an hour to prevent the top burning
~ remove from oven and cool in the tin for 20 minutes and then remove the papers and cool on a wire rack

an interesting aspect of this cake which i'd not come across before was in the method where the heated mix was not completely cooled before the remaining ingredients were added..i've included an additional step (see *) not included in the recipe i used because there's a danger that unwary cooks could curdle the mix if all the egg is added at once..  

when i first cut this cake i didn't think i was going to like it because it looked too moist for my taste..you see, from what i've noticed, there seem to be two types of fruit cakes..the very moist solid ones and then the dryer lighter variety..and then there are the people who favour one more than the other..well, i'm definitely a dry cake aficionado..but i was surprised to find that even though it looked heavy and moist it was really good..and i wondered about the sugar on top..i thought it would just add to the overall sweetness of the cake but it added more in the way of a surprising and gentle crunch..overall it thought it had a lovely treacly flavour and it wasn't sickly sweet like i find some fruit cakes to be..

tea cake

today i caught up with my friend robyn whom i've known for 44 years..we met at the age of 17 years when we started nursing at the royal melbourne hospital (rmh) together..in those days nurses in australia typically did 3 months preliminary training before starting work on the wards..for those first 3 months we lived in trawalla mansion in toorak and each day we were taken by bus to classrooms on the grounds of the rmh..as i'd only been in melbourne a few months i was unaware of the significance of the suburb we were living in..for the remainder of our training we lived in the nurses home on the grounds of the hospital..

i went overseas almost immediately upon completion of my nursing training but robyn and i caught up again a couple of years later when when she came to stay with me in athens..we didn't see each other again though until i returned to australia another 4 years later..it was then that we became a lot closer as we discovered mutual interests such as vegetable gardening, eating and cooking seasonally, cooking generally and foraging for blackberries and so on..we started to make our christmas cakes and puddings together way back then too and it's a tradition that we continue to uphold..

in the last 5-6 years we've caught up quite regularly..we tend to take it in turns to go the others' house for lunch and to have a day sewing or drawing (robyn) with lots of cups of tea and talking..we enjoy cooking for each other because we know that the effort we make and the ingredients we use are appreciated..home grown and home made produce is always talked about a lot and given due respect..

i've made this tea cake many many times over the years especially when my children were little because it was an easy cake to make when i was really busy..i loved bathing the children, putting them in their warm pyjamas, sitting them next to a warm fire and giving them a warm piece of tea cake and a hot chocolate..it made them and me happy..today i made this recipe for robyn because she'd had invasive dental work yesterday and i particularly wanted to provide her with warming cake to have with our morning cup of tea.. 

tea cake

adapted from the victoria sandwich recipe in

magimix recipe book (circa approx 1982)

first

~preheat oven to 175 deg c

~butter and line a 24 cm x 11 cm loaf tin

ingredients

150 gms butter ( i used myrtleford butter)

150 gms castor sugar

150 gms self raising flour (srf)

1/2 teaspoon (tsp) baking powder

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

3 large eggs (i use spring plains biodynamic eggs)

additional 1/4 cup of castor sugar mixed with 2-3 tsp powdered cinnamon

extra 15 gms butter

method

~cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy

~add vanilla

~add eggs one at a time beating well between each addition

~add flour and beat until the batter is smooth

~evenly distribute the batter in the tin and bake for 35-40 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer

~remove cake from the tin to a cake rack

~dot the extra butter evenly over the top surface of the still hot cake and sprinkle thickly with the cinnamon and sugar mix 

serve warm or at room temperature 

robyn gave me the serviettes earlier this year..i love them!

do you have any cakes that you and your family love that you've made for years.. 

chocaroon cake

ever since i saw this cake in the cookbook, 'a second helping: more from ladies a plate', that i bought in new zealand a few weeks ago i've wanted to make it..i even started getting the ingredients out to make it a while back only to find i didn't have any desiccated coconut..anyway today i had everything on hand and also it was time for a little treat after two five hour gardening days..

i love this book because the author alexa johnston has compiled the recipes from community cookbooks, hand written recipes that she's borrowed and from family and friends..and she's tested them all too..i've also been collecting old recipe books so it's no coincidence that i'm enamoured of the style of this recipe book..i love the idea of dusting off neglected recipes and giving them an airing..having said that it's time to test out the chocaroon cake with a cup of tea!

mmm..it's really really good..

chocaroon cake

from 'a second helping: more from ladies a plate' 

alexa johnson

the recipe is from a community cookbook called 'our recipe book' published in 1967 by the karitane public hall building committee

 before making the cake

~lightly grease a 22 cm x 11 cm loaf tin and line the bottom with baking paper

~pre heat the oven to 180 deg c

ingredients

for the cake

85 gms butter

115 gms sugar

1 teaspoon (tsp) lemon zest

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 egg yolks

170 gms self raising flour

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons (tbs) apricot jam

for the chocaroon layer

2 egg whites

30 gms sugar

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

1 tbs cocoa sieved 

method

chocaroon layer

~whisk egg whites until they are stiff and then continue beating and gradually add sugar

~fold in the coconut and cocoa

~put aside

cake layer

~beat the butter and sugar until pale and creamy

~beat in vanilla and lemon zest

~add yolks and beat well

~gently fold in flour and milk

assemble

~spoon half of the cake mixture into the tim

~add half of the chocaroon mix spreading it as evenly as possible

~top with the remaining cake mix

~spread with the jam (it helps the topping adhere)

~top with the remaining chocaroon mix

then

~bake for 45-50 minutes

~cool in the tin

~dust the top with icing sugar before serving

i hope you've had an enjoyable weekend..x

poor soldier's cake..

this is a cake i started making when my husband was in the army in greece..i'd make a couple of loaves when i knew he was staying overnight in the barracks or when he went on bivouac..he used to share slices of it with the soldiers doing sentry duty who like most of the others in the barracks were away from home for many many months and they relished a piece of home made cake particularly in winter when the temperature would get to minus 15 deg c..

as a novice cook i started making the cake as per the instructions in the iconic 'green and gold cookery book'*..it's a funny little book that was first published in 1923..the copy i own is a 34th edition and there have been several editions published since..the recipes in the book were put together to raise funds for king's college in adelaide by a group of four women..apparently some of the recipes were obtained through members of the school community but many must have been sourced through some other means because many of the recipes have the name of the person who contributed the recipe and the town/city where they lived and some like my maternal grandmother lived in ardrossan 150 kms away from adelaide and many others lived in other states..

i haven't made this cake for years but my daughter is coming over tomorrow to do some renovation work with me and i thought, for old times sake, it would be really nice to have this cake with our morning and afternoon tea..over time i have tweaked the recipe a lot..fairly soon after i started making it i added an egg to the batter and then i decided walnuts would be a nice addition and i used to vary the spices according to my mood..today's alterations mean the cake is not quite as poor these days..

poor soldier's cake..poor photo!

poor soldier's cake

ingredients

1 cup raw sugar

1 cup of strong tea

115 gms butter

250 gms chopped dried figs

1/2 cup walnuts cut medium

2 tbs cumquat marmalade

150 gms plain flour

150 gms self raising flour

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp sodium bicarbonate

1 egg beaten

method

~put sugar, tea, butter, figs, marmalade, and spices on to heat and let it just come to the boil

~take off the heat and add the sodium bicarbonate

~allow to cool and add egg and vanilla 

~heat oven to 175 deg c

~add sieved flours and walnuts and mix well

~bake for 60 mins or until browned and cooked when tested with a cake skewer

note

* recipe for original 'poor soldier's cake'

ingredients 

one cup sugar

one cup water

half cup butter

1/2 pound raisons

one teaspoon carbonate soda

one teaspoon ground cloves or other spice.

method

~put all ingredients into a saucepan and let just come to the boil

~allow to cool and add sufficient flour to make a thin batter (about a cup and a half flour)

~bake in a moderate oven for one hour

                                                              

i hope your week is happy, productive and safe..x 

chocolate cupcakes with morello cherry custard and almond praline cream

a dear friend of mine came for dinner last night so i decided to make cupcakes for sweets with some flavours that have been lingering at the back of my mind for a while..even as i put the different elements of chocolate cake, morello cherry custard, morello cherries and almond praline cream together i wasn't sure whether it would be a harmonious combination or a disaster..happily they were deemed a success..

chocolate cupcakes with morello cherry custard and almond praline cream
an original tea with hazel recipe

ingredients

cupcakes*

125 gms unsalted butter

125 gms castor sugar

80 gms srf (self raising flour)

20 gms plain flour

20 gms dutch cocoa
2 eggs

2 tbs milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp mahlepi (optional)**

pinch salt

icing sugar

morello cherry custard

1 jar of morello cherries drained and juice reserved

2 tbs corn flour

2 tbs castor sugar

3 tbs kirsch

praline cream

1/2 cup castor sugar

2-3 tbs water

1 tsp lemon juice

1/3 cup almonds

double cream

method

~place the almonds for the praline cream on a tray and cook on 180 deg c until roasted

~set aside to cool
~place cooled almonds on a baking paper lined tray

~lower oven temperature to 170 deg c

~line a 12 hole 100 ml capacity muffin tray with paper cases 

~sift the srf, plain flour, cocoa and mahlepi

~beat the butter, salt and castor sugar until pale

~add eggs one at a time beating well between each addition

~add flour and cocoa mix and milk and vanilla in two batches beating gently between each addition 

~divide batter between muffin cases 

~bake for 20 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer
~set aside to cool

~place 1 cup of the reserved cherry juice on to heat
~add 2 tbs castor sugar (or extra to taste)
~mix 2 tbs corn flour with a further 1/4 cup of cherry juice
~add a little of the warm cherry juice to the corn flour mix
~then add the corn flour to the saucepan and cook until thickened and just coming to the boil
~remove from the heat and add the kirsch
~set aside to cool

~in another saucepan put the sugar on to heat
~add the water and lemon juice and stir until the sugar crystals dissolve brushing down the sides of the pan with a brush dipped in boiling water
~increase heat and cook until the sugar turns a medium caramel colour
~remove from heat and immediately pour over the almonds
~once cooled process the almond praline finely leaving a few small pieces of toffee

to assemble***

~mix the half of the praline with 100 mls cream
~cut a deep cone shape circle from each cupcake
~cut the cone segment in half horizontally and put the cupcake top part aside
~spoon a large teaspoon of the cherry custard in the cupcake
~press four morello cherries gently into the custard
~top with a large teaspoon of praline cream
~place cupcake tops on the cream pressing them gently to secure
~dust with icing sugar

notes:
* this is a recipe that i've adapted over the years..replacing some of the srf with plain makes the cake a bit denser which is what i wanted here
**adding the mahlepi to this recipe was another one of my attempts to experiment with a less well known greek ingredient..i thought the bitter almond and cherry flavour of the mahlepi would compliment the morello cherry custard with the kirsch and the almond in the praline but i couldn't really detect it at all in the cake..next time i will double it..i was more cautious this time after my masticha disaster
***the praline cream and cake assembly are best done close to serving time..

it's a 'happy st patrick's day' coincidence that the cake is on a green plate..x

chilli chocolate zucchini cake

every summer i plant zucchini seeds rotating their position to minimise disease and pestilence..this year i planted them where i had just dug up my garlic on the premise that garlic acts a soil tonic..at the time of planting i also dug in a large bag of pigeon poo..there's a pigeon person living near me and i've been lucky enough a couple of times to be driving past when he has been putting free bags of it out onto his nature strip..anyway when the innocent first leaves emerged i let the plants know who was going to be boss this year..me..but i'm not sure whether they just didn't take heed or whether maybe..just maybe..all my preventive care and fertility rites have back fired on me..

as any zucchini grower knows this vegetable is particularly prolific..but mine are beyond prolific..they are positively fecund..for instance, on several occasions i have noticed premature zucchinis too small to pick grow overnight into monsters..you'd think i'd learn..

anyway..all these zucchinis i'm producing have to be used..every summer i make at least one huge tray of moussaka in which i add zucchini along with potato and eggplant..and i also make the ubiquitous zucchini slice..but because i have been wanting to expand my zucchini repertoire, over the last few months, i've been keeping an eye out for other zucchini recipes..and one that piqued my interest recently was for a chocolate and zucchini cake by the 'shady baker'..and today i decided to make it..i've included the recipe here because i've changed it a little..

chilli chocolate zucchini cake

ingredients

185 gms softened butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups self raising flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp salt

method

grease and line a 30 cm x 20 cm sandwich tin

preheat oven to 190 deg c

sift dry ingredients

cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy

add eggs one at a time beating well between each addition

add half of the sifted dry ingredients and half of the milk and mix gently

add remaining flour mix and milk and mix until flour just incorporated

mix in grated zucchini by hand

spoon into tin and bake for approximately 40 minutes or until cooked when tested

allow to cool for 15 minutes and then carefully remove from the tin onto a cooling rack


when cool serve in squares dusted with icing sugar and a spoon of mascarpone


note: cake may be iced as desired

comments: the cake has a moist not overly sweet crumb and it cuts into well formed squares..the chilli is discernible with a pleasant slight heat..the sweetness of the mascarpone works well because the cake is not very sweet..

unfortunately the cake didn't really make much of a dent in my zucchini supply because i still have four quite large ones to deal with..

philosophical questions about two over ripe bananas

the trouble is that when something is very expensive one minute and then it's suddenly very cheap it's hard for me to always stay rational..for instance last week i bought a 1.5 kilo bag of bananas for $2..snaffled it up i did with a slightly heightened sense of accomplishment..come on..they were around $14/k a few weeks ago..up there on the stock exchange as listed commodities..

i'm aware that bargains are usually bargains for a reason especially when it comes to big bags of things in green grocery shops..but i had a bit of a cursory feel of the bananas through the plastic bag and they seemed fine enough for eating and freezing for smoothies..but..and you knew a but was coming..when i opened the bag up at home there were two bananas that had eluded my soft banana detection strategy..and they weren't just a bit soft they were squishy soft..

they sat on my kitchen bench for a day or two while i pondered their demise..and it was then that i started to ask myself the big questions and i had conversations with myself that went along these lines..


question 1 :should i just eat them and get over the repulse factor?

i am being precious in being so turned off by something as inoffensive as a mushy banana..if i was really hungry i would walk on my knees to a banana plantation for an over ripe banana..it's an insult to the really hungry people in the world to not eat them..

question 2 ..should i throw them on the compost heap?

apparently bananas make good compost..they are full of wonderful nutrients that do good things to the soil and if my soil is good then my vegetable crops will be good and then i'll be good..or at least nutritionally good..

question 3 ..should i throw them in the bin?

now this question didn't really come up for me because i haven't thrown anything compostable in the bin for decades but nevertheless if i am going to debate the bananas' demise then i need to make sure i've covered every contingency..

question 4..should i give them away?

this is another question that didn't come up..i don't know anyone i don't like enough to wrap two squishy bananas up in quality paper with a matching gift card and give them to them..i could give them away as a joke but..well..it just wouldn't be funny..

question 5..should i make a banana cake?

this is usually the default demise for the soft banana..but question 5 opened up a whole lot of other questions for me..for instance..
question 5a..what is the sense in turning two bananas worth $0.40 into a cake..there are other ingredients to be taken into consideration that cost a lot more than those two bananas..
question 5b..is it a saving to make a cake? this question seems the same as question 5a..except saving here means saving them from the other demises listed in questions 1-4..
question 5c..do i want to eat banana cake? yes i do because i want to make a recipe i saw with banana and coconut the other day somewhere if only i can find the recipe again..and i love eating cake especially with a cup of tea in the afternoon after a day in the garden and i love the fact that i am rescuing two forlorn bananas..it's an emotional issue that has no relationship to economics..and no i don't want to eat cake because nutritionists tell us it's not that good for us..although they also say we can eat everything in moderation..

well what happened to those bananas i hear you ask? it wouldn't be much of a photo opportunity if i had composted them..imagine a photo of two forlorn bananas sitting on top of my rotting compost heap..not a bad photo if i'd eaten them..that's if you like ugly grimaces..so what's left? cake? yes..i made cake..i know you guessed that anyway..i found the recipe i mentioned in 5c..it's from a blog called 'technicolour kitchen'..but as usual i made a few changes, this time, because i was short of or missing ingredients..for that reason i have included the recipe..i've put asterisks where i've made changes to the recipe and noted the changes underneath the method section..

breakfast!

banana and coconut cake with lemon* icing  

ingredients

cake

280 gms plain flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
100 gms unsalted butter softened and 1 tbs olive oil*
175 gms castor* sugar*
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla essence
2 mashed over ripe bananas*
3 tbs milk with a squeeze of lemon juice*
3/4 cup desiccated coconut*

icing

icing sugar*
lemon juice*
coconut*

method
preheat oven to 180 deg c..grease and/or line a 21 cm x 8 cm x 7.5 cm loaf tin*..

sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt..

cream butter, oil and sugar until well creamed..add eggs one at a time beating for 1 minute after adding each egg..

add vanilla and mix well..

add half of the flour mix, the banana and the milk and mix on a low speed briefly..add the remaining flour and mix until just  incorporated..

remove bowl from mixer and mix in coconut by hand..

put the batter into the tin and bake for an hour or until cooked when tested with a skewer..i placed brown paper over the top of the cake at about the 45 minute mark because it was well browned but not cooked when tested with a skewer..it was cooked after an hour..

remove from oven when cooked and cool on a cake rack in the tin for 10 or so minutes..

remove from tin and allow to cool..

mix enough icing sugar and lemon juice to make the icing to the desired consistency

ice cake and sprinkle with extra coconut*


notes: the original recipe called for:

a 22 cm x 12 cm x 7 cm tin..my tin was fine

113 gms butter.. i didn't have enough so i used a little olive oil to make up the deficit to no ill effect

200 gms  granulated sugar..i used castor sugar and i used less because i don't like overly sweet cakes etc

1 cup mashed banana..i didn't measure but my two bananas mashed was not a cup

3 tbs yoghurt..i didn't have yoghurt so i substituted it with the milk and lemon juice

3/4 cup sweetened coconut..i've never seen this product in melbourne..but even so i would prefer to use desiccated coconut..

1 cup of sifted icing sugar and lime juice..i didn't measure my icing ingredients and i sprinkled the icing with desiccated coconut..

going..going..

i liked this recipe a lot..visually it's appealing because the slices are nice and high and as you can see it slices well.. texture wise it has an appealing moist density..and it tastes good too..although i'm looking forward to a stronger banana flavour when i make it again with the 1 cup of banana stated in the original recipe..i can't comment on it's keeping quality because there won't be any left at the end of 24 hours post baking..

happy week everyone..x

lemon and yoghurt cake

i needed a short reprieve today from the hand quilting i'd been doing so i decided to make a cake..my recipe choice was influenced by a large past it's use by date container of yoghurt sitting idle in my fridge and which i felt could only now be used in cooking..

i settled on this recipe after looking at several lemon and yoghurt cake recipes because i liked the sound of the ingredients..a lot of the recipes i looked at had a lemon and sugar syrup poured on the cake after cooking but, as much as i like that type of cake, i wanted to avoid a very sweet cake..

i didn't make any changes to the recipe but i did process my own almond meal from unblanched almonds and i left some pieces unprocessed so occasionally when eating a slice there's a nice little almond surprise..i cooked the cake in a slightly bigger tin than specified too so mine isn't quite as high as the one in the site photo but it cooked in the specified time given in the recipe..

after a few cups of tea and a slice of what turned out to be a delicious cake i returned to quilting my daughter's patchwork quilt..

the backing fabric

cupcake anyone?

on tuesday i was hanging washing on the line when my newish neighbour whom i hadn't met before called out to ask me if i wanted some lemons from her tree which i surely did thankyou very much indeed..i wanted to ask her if she had psychic powers when she gave them to me because i'd had my lustful eye on that burgeoning tree so full of delicious looking lemony goldenness for a while..it's not as if i can't buy lemons but for me a home grown lemon is so much better and these home grown lemons are truly beautiful..they are large with bright yellow unblemished flesh with just the right amount of pith and juice..

i never tire of cupcakes even though i've been making them since my children were little and 

despite the fact that they are in danger of taking over the world..and because i wanted to use those luscious lemons and because i needed to make a sweet for dinner last night i decided to make lemon curd cupcakes..i make all sorts of different cupcake batters and the one that gets an airing depends on my mood at the time..but yesterday i decided to try a new cake batter and it's success means that the other batters are in serious danger of being served with a recipe folder eviction notice..

cupcake batter

ingredients

155 gms self raising flour sifted

155 gms castor sugar

155 gms unsalted butter

2 eggs

75 mls milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

method

cream butter and castor sugar until pale and fluffy

beat in eggs one at a time 

add flour, milk and vanilla and beat until mixture is smooth

place in 12 cupcake cases and bake at 180 deg c for approximately 15 minutes or until golden and cooked in the centre 

lemon curd*

ingredients
2/3 cup castor sugar
60 gms unsalted butter
yolks 4 eggs
100 mls lemon juice
2 tsp grated lemon zest
method 
beat sugar and egg yolks until well incorporated
place in saucepan with other ingredients and cook over medium heat stirring constantly until just simmering and thickened
cool before use

once the cupcakes are cooled cut a large deep circle from the top of each cake, fill with a teaspoon or so of organic double cream and a generous teaspoon of lemon curd, put the circle back on and then dust with icing sugar..

and then eat one..or two..

* lemon curd recipe from 'the cook's companion' by stephanie alexander

edit note 17 october 2011: since my original post i've made these cupcakes again and i increased the sugar in the lemon curd from 2/3 to 3/4 of a cup (unusual for me because i usually find i need to decrease the sugar in recipes) and i cooked the curd in a double boiler to prevent it catching on the bottom which it did last time..

violet cupcakes

the idea behind the flavourings for these cupcakes comes from a chocolate called a 'violet cream' made by a south australian company called haighs..while i grew up loving haighs chocolates i was never very fond of their violet creams nor any other sweets or food that had a perfumed flavour..however violet creams were a particular favourite of my mother..

on sunday i had a family lunch where for the first time since my mother died 2 years ago i cooked a chicken pie that was a specialty of hers and that was a favourite of my brother for whom the farewell lunch was organised..and for sweets i decided to interpret her favourite chocolate.. 

violet creams are a dark chocolate with a violet flavoured creamy centre and with a candied violet on top.. so in order to interpret the chocolate i made chocolate cupcakes iced with a violet coloured and flavoured butter cream..i wanted the violet flavour to stand out over the chocolate flavour but at the same time not eclipse it so i added the flavouring in stages and tasted as i went..and on top i popped one of my own candied violets..

i think i got the balance of flavours right because my guests seemed to enjoy them and when i tried one i was surprised by how much i liked the combination of flavours..in fact i loved the violet flavour which suggests that my palate has changed..

and i've since been wondering whether others have experienced such a distinct change in their palate..jane

frugal friday..

preserved pears

i bought four kilos of pears this week for $0.80 cents a kilo..i peeled them, cut them into medium dice and poached the dice for 2 minutes in a light sugar syrup with a vanilla bean, a couple of cloves, a small piece of cinnamon stick and an allspice..then i bottled them adding the poaching liquid and processed them in my fowler's preserver..

pear vinegar

inspired by 'old days old ways' recipe for fruit scrap vinegar i kept the pear peelings from the pears i bottled and added 1/4 cup of sugar dissolved in 1200 mls water to the peelings..i'm really looking forward to seeing what happens over the next few days..will i be having a lovely pear, walnut and rocket salad with my own pear vinegar this summer?..if it works i am going to celebrate with the purchase of some roquefort to go with that salad!

crabapple butter

on wednesday i made a little jar of crabapple jelly and i was left with the pulp after draining the liquor and today i was left with some pear poaching liquid..so i put the pulp through a sieve and added it to the poaching liquid and cooked it down into a crabapple butter..

tofu, vegetable and brown rice soup

this week i made a large pot of stock after roasting some bones and meat trimmings with a few aromatic vegetables..this was all then boiled gently with celery, parsley, a strip of lemon, a fresh chilli and salt and pepper..today i removed the fat and strained it through muslin and made a simple soup with onion, celery, carrot, more fresh chilli, home bottled tomato puree and half of the stock..at the last minute i added batons of organic tofu, that i had bought at half price last week, and celery leaves cut fine..i cooked brown rice separately and added a few spoons to the soup bowl before adding the soup (i do this with pasta and rice)..i then grated myzithra over the soup..

sultana cupcakes

i was left with an egg yolk and half an egg white after making the candied violets earlier this week so today i made half a dozen sultana cupcakes..the bit of missing egg white means they are not quite as perky as usual but i'm eating one as i write this and taste wise they are the same as usual.. 

an accidental tea rescue

i was given a packet of english breakfast tea by a dear friend for christmas and because i don't like to have lots of packets of similar teas on the go i poured the gifted tea into my very large tea canister to join a couple of packets of a similar blend..i didn't notice though that the tea i had added was flavoured with vanilla until the next day when i made a pot of tea..now i love vanilla but not vanilla flavoured tea and the vanilla had permeated all the tea in the canister..so for quite a while now that large quantity of tea has been languishing in the canister..i can't drink it and i can't throw it out..anyway this morning the only tea i had left was a packet of earl grey tea and the vanilla tea and i'm not a huge fan of earl grey either but i do like a little mixed with a less aromatic tea occasionally..but today if i wanted to have a cup of tea and i didn't want to mission to the shops at 6.30 am i had no choice..so i popped a bit of 'earl' in the pot and in a rash moment added an equal quantity of 'vanilla'.. to my great surprise the combination works well..especially with the sultana cupcakes..jane