Monthly Archives: October 2014

BLUEBERRY POLENTA CAKE

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Adapted from: ‘Huckleberry’ by Zoe Nathan

 Yield: 25cm / 10-inch Cake

Can you stop at just one slice?

Can you stop at just one slice?

As you may have already realised, I love all things to do with blueberries. Therefore, when I came across a cake in one of my new cookbooks – ‘Huckleberry’ by Zoe Nathan – I knew that I just had to try it. I have had to rework the receipe as it originally used cornmeal, an ingredient that is not readily available in Australia.

Instead of the cornmeal I used polenta and it adds a great texture to the cake, making it wonderfully chewy with little ‘pops’ of tart blueberry juiciness. The cake is not overly sweet, rather buttery with a great crunch from the raw sugar topping. I think it makes an ideal afternoon teacake as it is also very easy to whip up.

Please don’t use frozen blueberries, however should you not be able to get fresh blueberries try using another type of fresh berry such as raspberries, strawberries, blackberries etc.

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GLUTEN FREE LIME & COCONUT MACAROONS

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Adapted from: ‘Wintersweet’ by Tammy Donroe Inman

Yield: 24 Cookies

Ready to Eat!

Ready to Eat!

One of the wonderful ladies I work with came in with a case of limes the other day, and after restraining myself from greedily taking them all I am very proud to tell you I restricted myself to just 10. However then came the next problem… what to do with the limes! I have so many receipes, both sweet and savoury it was really hard to decide what to do with them.

My original intention was to make some Lime, Coconut and Rum cupcakes however after having a rather long day at work I decided to postpone my original intention and make these quick and easy cookies instead. They are an absolute cinch to make and drizzling them with a bit of white chocolate gives them a lovely flourish.

Just a note to be very careful to only zest the green part of the lime, the pith (or white part of the skin) is very bitter and will ruin the flavour of the cookie if included in the batter.

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ORANGE & POPPY SEED CAKE w/ CANDIED ORANGE PEEL

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Adapted from: ‘Lick the Bowl Good’ by Monica Holland

 Yield: 23cm / 9-inch Cake

Orange & Poppy Seed Cake with Candied Orange Peel

Orange & Poppy Seed Cake with Candied Orange Peel

I made this cake on a bit of a whim after noticing some forlorn looking oranges sitting neglected in the fruit bowl at home. Whilst I love orange juice, I’m not a fan of eating oranges. Mainly because I find the whole process too messy and sticky. I mean, why is it that even if you are really careful when eating oranges you still end up with some spot that hours later is sticking to everything?

The cake is moist and dense and distinctly ‘orange-y’, perfect for afternoon tea. I have topped it with an orange glaze and candied orange peel which gives a great distinction between the soft cake and chewy orange peel.

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SALTED CARAMEL & NUT BUNDT CAKE

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Salted Caramel adapted from: http://sallysbakingaddiction.com

 Yield: 1 Bundt Cake

Gorgeous cake with a wonderful crown of salted caramel and nuts

Gorgeous cake with a wonderful crown of salted caramel and nuts

You may call me crazy but I actually love caramel more than chocolate! I was introduced to salted caramel several years ago by one of my wonderful sister’s and became instantly addicted. There is something about salty and sweet that I can’t get enough of! Maple syrup and bacon, apple and cheese, watermelon and feta, chocolate and pretzels… the list goes on!

Combining the salted caramel with some toasted hazelnuts and slivered almonds onto of a tender, buttery cake just seemed like a natural step with my obsession. However, the salted caramel is amazing on a good quality vanilla ice-cream, or pancakes, or for any receipe you may have that you think could use a dollop of awesomeness!

Make sure that you don’t wait more than 5-10 minutes after you finish baking to flip the cake over to remove the pan or the caramel will set and stick to the sides of the pan and make a mess to remove. Yes, I do speak from experience… may have gotten a little distracted looking at cookbooks on Amazon… oops! No matter what this cake is a keeper!

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WHITE CHOCOLATE & MACADAMIA COOKIES

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Yield: Approx. 60 Cookies

Better be quick before my boyfriend eats them all =)

Better be quick before my boyfriend eats them all =)

These are my boyfriend’s favourite cookies! I don’t make them very often but when I do I have to stand guard over the cooling cookies so he doesn’t eat them all at once. Once cooled I like to drizzle a little white chocolate over the cookies to finish them off, however they are fantastic even without this step.

I prefer to chop my white chocolate rather than use chocolate chips. I find it makes the cookies chunky and the slivers of white chocolate that you get whilst chopping melt into the batter and make the cookies extremely more-ish. The same goes for chopping up the macadamia’s. If you’re allergic to nuts you can omit the macadamia’s, try substituting dried cherries or cranberries. They give the cookies a lovely tart note.

Feel free to also substitute milk chocolate chips and pecans for the white chocolate and macadamia, the recipe works well either way!

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BLUEBERRY BRAN MUFFINS

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Adapted From: Huckleberry from Zoe Nathan

Yield: 12 Muffins

Delicious!

Delicious!

I have spoken before about my love of all things blueberry so when I got my latest cookbook haul from Amazon I was immediately drawn to this receipe in ‘Huckleberry’. I have never tried bran in my muffins, partly because that sounded way too healthy for me and partly because it’s not something I keep readily handy in my pantry. However this receipe makes it well worth the effort!

I reduced the honey content and added more maple syrup from the original receipe as I found the honey overwhelmed the taste of the muffin. A few more tinkers with the receipe and here is a lovely muffin, very dense and moist with a great crunchy blueberry topping due to the sprinkled sugar. The texture is wonderful, not cakey at all.

Just remember, when making muffins you want to barely combine the mixture. Do not under any circumstances use a mixmaster or any type of electric appliance when mixing. A bowl and wooden spoon is your friend for any muffin receipe.

NOTE: Due to how dense the batter is the blueberries do not sink into the mixture like other muffin receipe’s. Instead they bake on top of the cupcake and release their juices creating lovely splotches of purple on the cupcake liners.

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