Bitter Sweet Recipes

I am the first to admit that I don’t like eating bananas once they get to that brown spotted stage. Usually when my bunch of bananas start to ‘turn’ they are immediately peeled and chopped into small bits to be frozen and used in smoothies. This time I got to them a bit late and they were already quite brown and beginning to go soft, perfect for banana bread.

Because the weather is starting to warm up I wanted to make a summery banana bread, I was searching around for a recipe and came across Janelle Bloom’s Banana and Coconut bread (as featured in Super Food Ideas magazine), which intrigued me because it used coconut milk as the ‘wet’ ingredient.

So now I am writing this waiting for my banana bread to bake and enjoying the delicious scents wafting from the oven. My teapot is waiting and the water is boiled so I can have a nice cup of tea with that first slice hot from the oven…

An hour later the banana coconut loaf is ready, it has a nice sweet chewy crust and a very moist spongy texture. Definitely my new favourite recipe for banana bread, this is going into my permanent collection, nice one Janelle!

Two days later and the banana loaf is still moist and delicious, it has a wonderful texture with lots of little bits of banana and the coconut flavour complements it wonderfully.

This recipe makes a large loaf… don’t do what I did and put it in a small tin! Janelle’s recipe states that it will keep well in an airtight container for about a week.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup desiccated coconut
1 cup castor sugar
1 1/2 cup self raising flour
1 cup mashed banana
1 cup coconut milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

METHOD

Grease and Line a large loaf tin, and preheat your oven to 170 degrees Celcius.

In a large bowl combine dry ingredients.

Mash your banana and combine with the rest of the wet ingredients in a separate bowl.

Pour wet mixture over dry mixture and mix until combined. (it will look a little lumpy due to the chunks of banana and the coconut)

Place batter in your prepared pan and cook for about one hour until your loaf is lightly browned and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

I love anything Apple and Cinnamon flavoured, it’s just one of those great flavour combinations which manage to make me feel warm and cozy every time I eat or smell it. So on this very cold night I decided it would be nice to make my version of an apple and cinnamon tea cake (to enjoy in bed with a cup of tea while reading my latest library book).

This cake has quite a fluffy spongy texture with a nice crust around the edges. The sugar and cinnamon sprinkled on top also gives the apples a yummy sweet crunch that goes very well with the sweet brown sugar cake below. Perfect to enjoy with a cup of tea in the cold weather!

This cake can be stored in an airtight container for around two days after cooking, but it is best enjoyed on the day of baking. I like to cook it in my pyrex pie plate instead of a traditional cake tin, I prefer the ratio of apple to cake because I dont like tea cake that is 3 inches thick, but if you dont have a pie plate a medium cake tin is also ok.

INGREDIENTS

190 grams Self Raising Flour
Pinch of Salt
80 grams Cold Butter
120 grams of Brown Sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

2 small Green apples

1 1/2 tablespoons of White sugar
3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
METHOD

Grease and line a medium cake tin or a pie plate (I use a pyrex pie plate for this cake), Preheat your fan forced oven to 160 degrees celcius.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour and salt. Cube your cold butter and rub it into the flour using your fingertips. (You can also do this in a food processor, just pulse it until you get the right texture)

Stir in the brown sugar making sure to crush any lumps with the back of a wooden spoon.

Make a well and add the egg, milk and vanilla. Whisk well to a smooth batter.

Pour your batter into the prepared tin. Peel, core and slice your apples, and arrange the slices on top of the batter. Sprinkle with your mixture of cinnamon sugar.

Bake in the oven at 160 degrees celcuis for 20 minutes, until the apples are caramelised and golden and the cake beneath is cooked.

Allow it to cool before slicing and serve with a dollop of whipped cream and a steaming cup of tea.

This is my man’s newest favourite dessert cake, he’s not big on decadent chocolate desserts or fancy desserts with spun toffee and chocolate strawberries, but he LOVES anything citrus from lemon meringue pie to key lime pie and souffle of the orange persuasion.

This orange cake has a strangely satisfying chewy and moist texture, which, when warmed is almost pudding like. It is not  a cake that you would serve for afternoon tea but it is a simple classic dessert to finish off any meal. With every slice of the cake you will see the pressure of the knife push out the sweet orange syrup and then get sucked back into the cake like a sponge. This dessert absolutely must be served warmed with pouring cream, whipped cream or a decadent dollop of heavy cream.

This cake contains no extra fat (except from the egg yolks) so I found that it keeps really well for up to a week refrigerated. I just heat each slice till it is warm in the microwave before serving. The extra syrup poured over the cake after cooking will keep it very moist and delicious.

INGREDIENTS

4 large fresh eggs, seperated
1 cup of sugar
1 cup plain flour
1 cup self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tablespoon of orange zest, grated
1 cup fresh orange juice

1 cup fresh orange juice, extra
1/4 cup sugar, extra

METHOD

Preheat your oven to 160 degrees celcius, and prepare a large round spring form cake tin by greasing , flouring and lining the bottom with greaseproof paper.

In a large, clean, dry bowl beat your egg white to stiff peaks.

In a small bowl combine the egg yolks and the sugar.

In a separate large bowl sift the flours and the baking powder. Make a well and add the orange juice, orange zest and the egg yolk mixture.

Slowly combine until you have a smooth thick batter.

Fold the egg whites in to the batter in two batches and pour into prepared tin.

Bake for 30 minutes until firm and toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Make your orange syrup with the extra orange juice and sugar, boil until it is thick (about 5 minutes)

While the cake is still warm poke about 20 holes in the surface with a tooth pick, and pour half of the orange syrup over the cake. When this has absorbed, turn the cake out onto a large plate, pour the other half of the syrup onto the bottom of the cake.

Slice and serve warm, dusted in icing sugar with pouring cream on the side.

Just out of the oven... my golden knot loaf made with wholegrain flour and sprinkled with white and black sesame seeds

This is my recipe for homemade bread. There is nothing better than getting a golden loaf of freshly baked bread out of the oven and slathering a warm slice with butter and devouring it. There is a misconception that making bread is a difficult and laborious  job but it’s not! True, it takes around 2 hours to produce a loaf but 90% of that time is spent with the bread sitting in a warm spot doing its own thing. Your loaf will only really require attention for 10 -15 minutes and the results are really worth it. So if you have a day at home, or a lazy weekend, how about trying to make your own loaf of homemade bread? and before you think its too hard just remember they have been making bread since 25BC… its not that hard.

This recipe will make one small loaf enough for around 6-8 slices or 6 rolls. It doubles well but just keep an eye on the texture of the dough and add extra flour if it is sticky or extra warm water if it is dry. Because this is a homemade bread free of preservatives, it will not keep well so it is best if you eat it on the day of baking, however it will make great toast the next morning.

INGREDIENTS
300g bread flour (I like to use a seedy bread mix, but white flour is fine too)
190ml of lukewarm water
1 heaped teaspoon of active dry yeast
1/2 a teaspoon of sugar
1/2 a teaspoon of salt

METHOD

In a small bowl combine the water, sugar and yeast. Mix well and set aside for 5 minutes until the yeast is frothed and activated.

mixture of active dry yeast, water and sugar

5 minutes later, the yeast has frothed up to show that it is active and is ready to be used

In a Large bowl combine the flour and salt, add the yeast mixture to a well in the middle and stir until you have a ball of dough.

Seedy bread flour with a well full of the yeast and water mixture, ready for mixing

mixed dough on a floured surface ready for kneading

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured benchtop and knead for 6-8 minutes until you have a smooth elastic ball of dough that is not sticky.

smooth elastic ball of dough after kneading

Depending on the flour you use, you may need to add some more water or flour to your dough to achieve the right consistency. Ideally your dough should be soft and smooth but not sticky.

Place your ball of dough into a lightly oiled bowl cover with a plastic bag and a clean tea towel and sit in a warm spot for 45 minutes until it is doubled in size.

dough that has doubled in size after a sucessful first rise

Gently punch your dough down and knead for another 2 minutes.

Shape into the desired shape and place on a greased tray, or bread tin, and allow to rise covered in a warm place for a further 30 minutes.

Bread in the shape of a knotted loaf

During this time preheat your oven to 160 degrees celcius.
After the bread has risen spray with a fine mist of water and sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds if desired.

ready to go in the oven

Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown and a hollow sound is made when you tap on the base.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes before slicing… if you can wait that long.

VARIATIONS

You can get fancy and add cheese and herbs to the dough after the first rising, or sprinkle different nuts and seeds on top. You can also make your dough into any shape you desire from rolls to knots, french sticks to sandwich loaves. Use your imagination or google images of bread shapes for some ideas and tips of shaping your bread.

These special little cupcakes are a mixture of two recipes from The Australian Women’s Weekly book “cupcakes”.
They are a great alternative to traditional lemon meringue pie and they deliver just the right amount of coconut and lemon flavours for an indulgent treat. The pretty decoration and unusual frosting and really easy to do, and they look great arranged on a platter for a birthday party or get together.

This recipe makes 12 standard cupcakes, or 6 texas muffins, or 1 medium cake. It needs to be eaten on the same day of cooking however you can prepare the lemon curd a day in advance for faster assembly on the day. This recipe is not suitable for freezing, and will be affected negatively by prolonged refrigeration. This recipe can be doubled.

INGREDIENTS

Coconut Cake
125 grams softened butter
2 teaspoons of finely grated lemon zest
150 grams White sugar
2 whole fresh eggs
80 ml Milk
60 grams Desiccated Coconut
185 grams Self Raising Flour

Lemon Curd Filling
4 egg yolks
75 grams White sugar
2 teaspoons of finely grated lemon zest
60 ml Lemon Juice
40 grams Butter

Marshmallow Meringue Frosting
220 grams White sugar
80 ml Water
2 egg whites

Coloured Sugar
White sugar
1 drop of yellow food colouring

METHOD

Make the Lemon Curd:
Combine all ingredients in a clean bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Whisk constantly until mixture is thickened and will coat the back of a metal spoon. Cover the surface of the lemon curd with cling wrap and refrigerate until cold.

Make the Coconut Cakes:
Preheat your oven to 160 degrees celcius and prepare a 12 hole standard muffin pan or a 6 hold texas muffin pan by lining them with paper cases.

Beat the Butter, zest and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the milk and coconut, then fold in the flour.

folding in the coconut and flour

Divide the mixture amongst your prepared muffin cases and bake in your preheated oven for 20-30 minutes or until they are golden brown and spring back to the touch.

Place on a rack to cool.

Make the frosting:
When the cupcakes and curd are cold, prepare the frosting. Combine the water and sugar in a small saucepan and boil without stirring, until mixture thickens but does not colour. This should take about 5 minutes.

boilling sugar syrup

In a large clean bowl, whip your 2 egg whites to soft peaks with electric beaters. With the beaters still running slowly start adding the hot sugar syrup in a small stream to the egg whites, continue to mix well until all syrup is added and your egg whites are volumous, white, glossy and very fluffy.

Hot sugar syrup being beaten into the egg whites

Assemble:
Scoop out about a tablespoon of cake from the top of the cupcakes.

Cupckaes with holes ready to be filled with curd

Fill the hole with a tablespoon of curd

Cupcake Filled with Lemon Curd

Ice the cupcakes with the marshmallow meringue frosting. You can pipe it on or spoon it on and create peaks with the back of a spoon.

Make the coloured sugar by combining the sugar and food colouring in a small zip lock baggie and shake till all the sugar crystals are evenly coloured.

Sugar coloured Yellow

Sprinkle it over the tops of the cupcakes.

VARIATIONS
If you like you can use a blowtorch to lightly brown the meringue frosting. It is already technically cooked due to the use of hot sugar syrup but this will give it a nice appearance and a slight crunch.

If you like you can also make this recipe into a full sized cake. Just bake the cake mix in a medium round cake pan, slice in half and fill with lemon curd and then ice with the frosting.

I love bread… all that carbohydratey goodness that you know you really shouldn’t be eating a second helping of but do anyway. Well this is a super easy, super fast, super tasty bread that you wont be able to resist. It uses beer and baking powder as its leavening agents so there is no need to fuss around with dried yeast or prooving time, rising temperature and whatnot.

I think its best if you use a reasonably nice beer (one that you like to drink), in this recipe. While the bread doesn’t taste overly beery when its cooked there will be undertones of the yeasty, hoppy, caramelly beer flavour.

I also like to add some flavourings such as cheese and herb to make it super tasty, but you can change these to suit your tastes. You can also substitute half of the plain flour for rye flour, soy and linseed breadmix flour, or wholemeal flour.

This will make a loaf suitable for 4 people (or 2 people if you are a greedy bread muncher like me). As with any home made breads, due to the lack of preserving agents it wont keep well so you will need to eat it on the day of baking

INGREDIENTS

2 cups of plain flour
1/2 Tablespoon of white sugar
1/2 – 1 Teaspoon Salt
2/3 tablespoon of Baking powder
1 teaspoon thyme (dried or fresh)
1/2 teaspoon oregano (dried or fresh)
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
240ml Beer of your choice

Ingredients (clockwise); Grated Cheese, Plain Flour, Salt, Pepper, Sugar, James Boag Beer, Baking Powder, Thyme, Oregano, Basil, Garlic, Olive Oil.

METHOD

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celcius and prepare a bread tin or baking tray lined with baking paper.

In a medium mixing bowl stir all dry ingredients together until well combined.

Pour in the beer and wet ingredients, mix with a spoon (it will foam up) while you are mixing.

It will come together to form a very sticky wet and stiff dough.

Turn the dough out onto your prepared baking tray and, using damp hands, shape it into the desired shape. ( I usually do a loaf shape or a round shape)

Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, until it is browned on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

It is a slightly heavier bread than usual but REALLY delicious.

Slice and serve warm with butter.

... or serve with your favourite (chicken) soup

VARIATIONS

You can really add any flavour combinations that you like, just make sure you get the quantities of the basic dough correct. You can also experiment with different beers too.

Biscotti is one of my all time favourite things to dunk into my coffee. I used to work in a cafe that sold delicious biscotti, and when I stopped working there I decided it was high time for me to have a go making it myself. I discovered that there are so many different types of biscotti out there, and even more ways to make it. My first biscotti were Christmas cranberry and pistachio biscotti… great flavour, but hard as a rock, these ones really were made for dunking (if you didn’t want to break your teeth). My second biscotti was an almond flavoured flop, once again tasted great, but after the first baking the log flattened out like a pancake with chunks of almond poking out. My third biscotti was almond and cherry, surprisingly it kept its shape, had a good level of crunch and most importantly tasted like biscotti should. This recipe is an amalgamation of the first two recipes with a few critical alterations to produce a delicious and good textured biscotti.

Biscotti are dried biscuits, so they will keep very well for quite a long period of time in an airtight container. They are great for gifts and easy to post in the mail to friends and relatives. This recipe will make about 13 biscuits, you can double or triple the recipe if you would like more biscuits, just make 2 logs instead of 1.

INGREDIENTS

30 ml of melted butter
75 grams white sugar
5 ml of Vanilla essence
2 ml of Almond essence
1 egg
125 grams plain flour
pinch of salt
3 grams of baking powder
40 grams of glace cherries (whole)
80 grams of raw almonds (whole)

METHOD

Preheat your oven to 160 degrees celcius and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

In a medium bowl mix the butter, sugar, essences and egg until well combined.
Sift in the flour, salt and baking powder and mix well.
Stir in the cherries and almonds.

With wet hands form the dough into a log on the prepared baking tray. Taper the sides to produce the biscotti shape.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the log is springy to touch and lightly browned.

Turn the oven down to 120 degrees celcius.

Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool slightly until you can comfortably handle it.

Transfer it to a cutting board and using a wet, sharp serrated knife cut the log into 1.5 cm biscuits.

Arrange the biscuits on their sides, back on the baking tray and bake for about 5-10 minutes on each side turning once.

The biscotti should now be ‘dry’. Allow them to cool before storing in an airtight container.

VARIATIONS

There are countless variations on the biscotti recipe. You can substitute the almond essence for a different flavour, or omit it and add extra vanilla essence in its place.
You can also substitute glace cherries for dried cranberries or any other dried fruit. Similarly, the almonds may be substituted with any variety of nut that complements the dried fruit of your choice.

Biscotti are also partial to being dunked in or drizzled with melted white or dark chocolate for added flavour and presentation.

I saw this on ABC’s “The cook and the chef” the other night and was inspired to make one too.
A traditional pound cake uses a pound of each ingredient (flour, butter, eggs and sugar) and there are many added flavour variations of the recipe.

I had some left over dried fruit from my hot cross bun making at Easter time so I decided to make a fruit pound cake. It turned out with a delicious moist golden crumb with a hint of fruit and brandy, perfect with your mid morning cup of tea.

This is a smaller version of a pound cake, as, frankly, I don’t have a small army to feed 4 pounds of cake to. This cake will produce 4-6 serves but you can double the recipe for a larger cake.

INGREDIENTS
100 grams dried mixed fruit
100 grams of softened butter
1 teaspoon Vanilla essence
100 grams white sugar
2 eggs at room temperature
1 tablespoon brandy
1 teaspoon of baking powder
100 grams plain flour

METHOD

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celcius. Prepare a small cake or loaf tin grease and line with paper.

Soak fruit in some boiling water for 10 minutes and drain.

Beat butter and vanilla until fluffy and slowly add the sugar. Beat for another 5 minutes on high speed until pale and thick.

Stir in eggs and brandy to the butter mixture until just combined.

Sift flour and baking powder together and fold into butter mixture. Gently mix in the fruit until just combined.

Pour into prepared tin, smooth over the top and bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow to cool and slice.

This can be stored in an airtight container for about 5 days.

There is nothing like a delicious gooey bread and butter pudding to warm you up during the cooler months. The sweet custard combined with the crispy sugary bread bits on top make this my favourite dessert during winter.

This recipe will serve 6 people. It is a good idea to use good quality butter to achieve a rich smooth and creamy flavour.

INGREDIENTS

10 slices of white bread, buttered on both sides
2 cups skim milk
5 whole fresh eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla essence
5 tablespoons of white sugar
ground cinnamon
ground nutmeg

METHOD

Lightly grease a medium sized baking dish with melted butter.

Spread your bread on both sides with good quality butter.

Whisk together the milk, eggs and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl.

Slice the buttered bread into four triangles and arrange one layer of bread in the bottom of your baking dish.
Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of sugar, some cinnamon and nutmeg.

Continue making layers like this until all of the bread is used up and the baking dish is full.
Push down on the bread with a wooden spoon to compress it slightly and pour the milk mixture carefully over the bread and sprinkle with the remaining sugar and a little cinnamon.

Allow the pudding to stand for half an hour, the bread will soak up some of the milk mixture during this time.

Preheat you oven to 160 degrees celcius during the resting time. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until the custard is set and the pudding is puffed and lightly browned.

Serve warm with whipped cream or a good quality vanilla ice cream.

VARIATIONS

There and many variations on this classic pudding. Here are some of my favourites;

Include a sprinkle of sultanas and toasted slivered almonds between each layer of bread. sprinkle some of the almonds on top before baking.

When buttering the bread, you can also spread each piece with some good quality marmalade or preserve of your choice, you will need to reduce the sugar depending on the sweetness of the jam or marmalade you have chosen.

Mix in 4 tablespoons of cocoa powder into your milk mixture, and sprinkle dark chocolate buttons in between layers of bread. Do not sprinkle the chocolate on top as it may burn during cooking.

If you like coconut you will love these moist and coconutty and are very moerish little petit fours. They are really fast and easy to make and they are always a hit with my friends and relatives.

This recipe will make about 20 macaroons. They will keep well in an airtight container for about a week.

INGREDIENTS

1 egg, separated
1 pinch of salt
1/3 cup of white sugar
1 1/2 cups of dessicated coconut

METHOD

Preheat oven to 160 degrees celcius and line a baking tray with nonstick paper.

Beat egg white and salt to soft peaks add the yolk and continue beating. Slowly add the sugar in 3 batches beating between each addition.

Stir in coconut with a spoon.
Allow the mixture to stand for 5 minutes.

With damp hands roll teaspoon sized balls of mixture and arrange on your prepared baking tray.
These Macaroons wont spread much during cooking so you can put them quite closely together.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned on top.
Wait for the macaroons to cool on the tray and then store them in an airtight container.

VARIATIONS

There aren’t really any flavour variations on this recipe, but for a more indulgent treat, dip the cooked macaroons in melted dark chocolate.