Carrot and Sultana Cake

Crop Swap January 2023

Dairy free. 

I doubled for the baking dish. 

I used rapadura sugar. 

Done in 25 mins. 

Anjou Pear Cake

Wednesday mornings, for me, have been all about gardening with friends followed by cake and coffee for..... hmmmm.... about 28 years. We take it in turns, one week we garden here, then the next is your turn. In Adelaide there were 5 of us, then I came to Tasmania so now there are 4. I do it here with 1 friend. It is so good to work for 2 hours then the host provides cake and coffee. 

Today Ann and I constructed a big compost heap which will sit for 6 months or so. 

Then we sat on my deck and had pear cake and coffee. We ate 1/3, I gave her 1/3 to take home and I have 1/3 for another day. This is such an easy recipe and so delicious. I added quite a bit of ginger. I have made this dozens of times. It looks like it doesn't have enough batter when you mix it, but it does. I dusted with icing sugar just before serving. 

Look at it after 30 minutes in the oven because one hour is way too long, even at 160C.

Strawberry Polenta Cake

Recipe from Esther at Heartfelt Wholefoods 

I used a cake tin instead of a skillet. 

Coconut Cardamon Blueberry Cake

Strawberry Shortcake

Citrus, Almond and Polenta Cake

 

Chocolate Pear Tea Cakes with Rosemary, Olive Oil and Sea Salt

Makes 12 Individual Cakes

Ingredients

Cakes

1 tblsp unsalted butter at room temperature, for greasing the pan

1 cup blanched almond flour

1/2 cup sweet white rice flour (sweet rice flour is made from short grain, glutinous or 'sticky' rice)

1/2 cup gluten free oat flour (I made the flour in the food processor from organic Tasmanian oats)

1/4 cup millet flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp fine sea salt

1/2 cup rapadura sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup whole-milk plain yoghurt

6 tblsp extra-virgin olive oil

2tsp finely chopped rosemary

2/3 cup organic, dark 70-80% chocolate

1 1/2 cups chopped ripe but firm pear


Topping

Pear Pieces

Chocolate chunks

Chopped Rosemary

Coarse sugar, such as demerara or turbinado

Flaky salt (I used Tasmanian sea salt flakes)

Method

To make the cakes, position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 175 C . Brush the cups and top of a standard 12 cup muffin tin with the softened butter, or use paper liners.

Sift the almond, sweet rice, oat and millet flours together into a medium bowl along with the baking powder, baking soda and salt, adding back any bits that get caught in the sifter. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, yogurt, olive oil and rosemary. Gently stir the flour mixture into the egg mixture until smooth, then fold in the chocolate and pears until evenly distributed.

Divide the batter among the muffin cups, filling them almost to the top. Top each cake with a pear piece, chocolate bits, a few bits of rosemary, a dusting of course sugar and a few flakes of salt.

Bake the cakes until golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean with a few moist crumbs, 23 -30 minutes. They are still baking from residual heat so let them cool until warm, at least 20 minutes, then release then from the pan and let them cool completely. Extra cakes will keep, airtight at room temperature, for up to 3 days.

Image and recipe taken from: The Alternative Baker by Alana Taylor-Tobin

Persian Love Cake

A delicious recipe based on one from Gourmet Traveller


Ingredients

360gm (3 cups)       almond meal

220gm  (1 cup)        rapadura sugar

220gm  (1 cup)        coconut or dark brown sugar

120 gm                    unsalted butter

2                              eggs, lightly beaten

250gm                     yoghurt, plus extra to serve

1 tblsp                     freshly grated nutmeg

45gm (1/4 cup)       pistachios, coarsely chopped


Method

1 Preheat oven to 180C. Combine almond meal, sugars. butter and 1tsp salt in a bowl, then rub with fingertips until coarse crumbs form. Spoon half the mixture into a lightly buttered and baking paper lined 26cm- diameter springform pan, gently pressing to evenly cover base.

2. Add egg, yoghurt and nutmeg to remaining crumble mixture and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth and creamy. Pour over prepared base, smooth top, scatter pistachios around edge and bake until golden (30-35 minutes). Cool completely in pan on a wire rack to room temperature, then serve with extra yoghurt. The cake will keep in an airtight container for up to a week.

Pineapple and Ginger Upside Down Cake

Made for gardening, June 2018

Cake 250g butter, softened 1¼ cups rapadura sugar 5 eggs 1 cup milk kefir or thin yoghurt 2½ cups flour 2 tspns baking powder 1 Tbl ground ginger or 4 drops ginger essential oil 1 tsp ground cinnamon or 2 drops cinnamon essential oil ½ tsp ground cloves or 1 drop clove essential oil

Caramelised Pineapple 1 medium pineapple, peeled, quartered, cored and sliced into ½ - 1cm thick slices 85g butter ½ cup rapadura sugar _________________________ Melt butter and sugar, add half the pineapple slices and cook 3 minutes, turning once. Remove and cook the other half. Remove. Reserve syrup. __________________________ Fresh Ginger Syrup Into the last of the reserved syrup grate a good knob of fresh ginger and heat gently.

• Make caramelised pineapple
• Pre heat oven to 170°C
• Grease a deep 23cm round cake pan; line base and sides to above the sides of the tin
• Set butter and sugar to beat until pale
• Make caramelised pineapple
• Drizzle cake tin with 2 Tbl reserved syrup and arrange caramelised pineapple slices, overlapping. Use them all. Doubling up is ok. Keep rest of the syrup for the sauce. Make more if necessary.
• To beaten butter and sugar, add 2 spoons of the plain flour then gradually add the eggs, beating well between additions. Add a little more flour if it looks like curdling.
• Beat in kefir / yoghurt
• Stir in the rest of the flour mixed with the baking powder
• Spread mixture over the pineapple
• Bake 1 hour and check. If necessary, top with foil
• Bake a further 10 minutes or until a knife comes out clean
• Meanwhile make suryp
• Stand cake 5 minutes then turn out onto a beautiful serving plate.
• Serve with fresh ginger syrup
• Enjoy!
  

Fruit Sponge Slice, GF

Crop Swap 6, Feb. 10th 2018
This is an old recipe so is still in ounces but the cups are metric!


Oven 180C


For a baking dish size cake:


Cream.....6ozs butter and 1.5 cups sugar


Add....3 eggs
          vanilla
          3/4 cup milk
Sift....1.5 cups brown rice flour
          1 cup quinoa flour
          1.5 Tbls cornflour
          5 tspns baking powder (= 2 tspns / cup flour, which is standard to make SR flour)


Mix all together until smooth and creamy. Add a dash more milk if necessary.


Grease a baking dish well and spread the batter to cover the base.


Cover with a single layer of fruit. I used greengage plums but it can be anything.


Bake 40 minutes. Leave to rest half an hour or so before turning out. Dust top with icing sugar before cutting.

Blood Orange / Mandarin & Hazelnut Cake GF

28^th September 2017, Gumboot Girls at mine

I used very thin skinned, deep orange mandarins, with skins so tight they were impossible to peel. This made them perfect for slicing and juicing, for this recipe.

300 gm butter, softened

400 gm caster sugar

Finely grated rind and juice of 2 lemons and 2 blood oranges

255 gm hazelnut meal

165 gm fine polenta

6 eggs

125 gm yoghurt, plus extra to serve

1 cup buckwheat  flour 

Blood orange topping

1 cup caster sugar

½ cup blood orange juice

2 blood oranges, unpeeled, thinly sliced, seeds discarded

• 01
• For blood orange topping, stir sugar and blood orange juice in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves, add blood oranges slices and simmer until tender (10-15 minutes).
• Set aside to cool, then drain, reserving syrup, and arrange orange slices in the base of a buttered 23cm diameter cake tin lined with baking paper.
• Pour 100ml of the syrup over and set aside.

• 02
• Preheat oven to 180C.
• Beat butter, sugar in an electric mixer until pale (2-3 minutes).
• Combine hazelnut meal and polenta and rinds  in a bowl, add half to the butter mixture and mix on low speed to combine.
• Add eggs one at a time, mixing to combine and scraping down sides of bowl between each addition.
• Add remaining hazelnut meal mixture, juices, yoghurt and flour, and stir gently to combine.
• Carefully spoon mixture into cake tin over oranges and syrup and spread gently to cover evenly, smooth top, then bake until golden and a skewer inserted withdraws clean (50 minutes to 1 hour; cover with foil if cake colours too quickly).
• Set aside to cool briefly (10 minutes), then turn out carefully onto a plate to cool to room temperature.
• Serve with remaining syrup, warmed, and extra yoghurt. It will keep in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Banana Cake with Salted Honey Pecans

A fabulously delicious recipe from Sally Port. Made for GG’s in Feb. 2017

Ingredients

• 3 large overripe bananas
• 5 large eggs
• 1 tsp heaped baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 175 g Almond Meal/Flour
• 75 g Hazelnut Meal/Flour
• 220 g caster sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

SALTED HONEY ROASTED PECANS:

• 1/2 cup pecans
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp boiling water

CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:

• 250 g cream cheese at room temperature,
• 50 g butter at room temperature,
• 100 g icing sugar sifted
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Grease a 20cm/7 inch springform pan and preheat the oven to 180 Celsius (350 Fahrenheit).

2. Place the bananas in a food processor and process until smooth. Add the remaining cake ingredients and process to combine. Pour the batter into the springform pan and bake for 40 minutes to 1 hour. Check the cake after 30 minutes as you may need to cover it with foil to prevent burning before the cake is cooked through. Remove from the oven and let the cake cool completely in the tin before removing.

3. While the cake is cooling keep the oven on at 180 celsius and make the honey roasted pecans. Combine the pecans, honey, sea salt and boiling water in a bowl and mix to combine. Place on a tray lined with baking paper and bake for 15 minutes, stirring about half way through to make sure they are evenly cooked. Remove the tray from the oven and set aside to cool.

4. To make the frosting combine the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat until smooth and creamy. Add the icing sugar and cinnamon and beat for another 5 minutes, or until pale and fluffy.

5. Spread the frosting over the cooled cake and top with chopped roasted pecans.

Sally's Cardamom + Sea Salt Ganache Tart, GF

This Cardamom + Sea Salt Ganache Tart is a stunning celebration dessert and proves just how EASY making a fructose-free ganache can be!

Ingredients

• 270 ml coconut cream.
• 2 tablespoons cardamom pods, lightly crushed with a flat blade until the outer husks crack.
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla powder or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.
• 100 g (85-90% cocoa) chocolate, chopped.
• pinch of sea salt, plus coarse sea salt, to garnish.
• berries, edible petals, activiated buckwheat, to garnish.

Crust

• 1/3 cup coconut oil.
• 1/4 cup rice malt syrup.
• 2 cups shredded coconut.
• 1 tablespoon raw cacao powder.

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas Mark 4.

2. To make the crust, melt the coconut oil and rice malt syrup in a saucepan. Remove from the heat, add the shredded coconut and cacao powder and mix well. Press the mixture into the base and up the side of the quiche or tart tin - no need to grease it - so that the mixture's approximately 5 mm thick all over. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool and firm up.

3. Meanwhile, heat the coconut cream, cardamom pods and vanilla in a saucepan to a simmer, then turn off the heat and cover with a lid. Allow to steep for 10 minutes.

4. Strain the coconut cream mixture into a bowl, reserving 1/4 cup in the pan for emergency use later, if needed. Discard the cardamom pods (or save to spice up chai tea). Add the chocolate and salt to the bowl, whisking it through until silky and melted. If the fats separate and your ganache develops a chocolatey cottage-cheese appearance, just add the reserved coconut cream, whisking swiftly to bring it all back together.

5. Once silky, pour into the tart shell and refrigerate until the ganache sets (at least 2 hours). Garnish with a pinch of coarse sea salt and berries, petals and activated buckwheat, if desired.

Raspberry and Polenta Cake GF

The recipe says it serves 12 but that can't possibly be when the Gumboot Girls are together!! Although we do usually have two slices each.

225gm unsalted butter, softened ( I used salted butter)
225gm sugar
3 eggs
125gm ground almonds ( I did not have almonds so used hazelnut)
125gm polenta
1 tsp gluten free baking powder
1 tsp salt
Juice and zest of 2 lemons
200gm raspberries plus a few extra for decoration ( can use frozen raspberries in the cake mixture)
icing sugar to decorate
Creme fraiche to serve

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C.
Grease and line the base of a 23cm baking tin.
Beat the butter and sugar until creamy and pale.
Beat in the eggs one at a time.
Fold in the dry ingredients and then the lemon juice and zest.
Pour half the mixture into the tin and the add half the raspberries.
Add the remaining cake mixture and sprinkle the remaining raspberries on top, do not mix them into cake mixture as it will discolour the cake mixture.
Bake for 50 to 60 mins until golden and just firm in the middle.
Cool in the tin.
Remove from tin, then sprinkle with icing sugar before serving with creme fraiche and a few fresh raspberries.

Fruit Shortcake

Fabulous. Made by Kylie using GF flours for the Gumboot Girls October 27th.

125g butter

125g sugar

1 egg

125g SR flour

125g plain flour

Stewed, bottled or fresh fruit of choice. 

Cream butter and sugar, add egg and beat well. Mix in flours until it forms a dough. Refrigerate at least 30 mins. 

Heat oven to 170°, and grease a slice tin, or pie dish. 

Cut off two thirds of the dough and roll out to fit the base of the tin/dish. Brush with a little egg white before spreading the fruit on top. 

Roll out the remaining dough to about 4mm thickness and cut into strips to form a decorative lattice pattern on top. 

Bake for 30 mins or until golden brown. Cool a little before slicing. 

Kylie added an extra layer of Frangipane to her Rhubarb shortcake. 

Frangipane 

125g butter

125g sugar

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

125g Almond meal

Splash of rum/brandy/amaretto (I just used vanilla paste)

Cream butter and sugar, add eggs and yolk one at a time. Fold in almond meal and run etc. 

Use in pastries, pies, tarts etc. 

Erika's Pineapple Cheesecake

Which I turned into a gluten free  cherry cheese cake for the Gumboot Girls.

Ingredients:

2 cups of sweet biscuits in the blender. ( I used a mixture of almond and hazel meal instead )

90 gm of melted butter

2 teaspoons of hot water

1 tablespoon of gelatine

¼ cup of hot water ( I warmed up some of the preserving syrup instead of water )

375 gm of Cream Cheese

½ cup of castor sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

¼ cup of lemon juice

425 gm can of crushed pineapple  ( I used my home preserved Lapin cherries instead )

1 ¼ cup of whipped cream

Method:

·      Combine biscuit crumbs, melted butter and 2 teaspoons of hot water.

·      Press mixture into sides and base of a cake tin (20cm), refrigerate.

·      Dissolve gelatine in ¼ cup of hot water.

·      Beat cream cheese until smooth, gradually adding sugar, dissolved gelatine, vanilla essence, lemon juice and ¼ cup of pineapple juice.

·      Blend well.

·      Fold whipped cream and drained pineapple into mixture. ( Cherries, with their stones removed )

·      Pour into shell.

·      Chill until firm, preferably overnight.

·      Decorate with strawberries and enjoy.

Erika's Nut and Date Cake

Ingredients:

250gm. almonds

250gm. walnuts

250gm. dates

250gm. dark chocolate

6 egg whites

Half cup of castor sugar

Method:

·      Chop up nuts, dates and chocolate into small pieces.

·      Beat egg white until stiff then gradually add castor sugar while still beating.

·      Fold all the ingredients together until fairly well mixed.

·      Spoon into a greased tin.

·      Bake at 180 degrees C. for approximately 45 minutes or until cooked.

·      Serve hot or cold with whipped cream.

Nigella's Lemon Polenta Cake

INGREDIENTS Serves: 16 (Hah!)

FOR THE CAKE

• 200 grams soft unsalted butter (plus some for greasing) 
• 200 grams caster sugar 
• 200 grams ground almonds 
• 100 grams fine polenta (or cornmeal) 
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder 
• 3 large eggs 
• zest of 2 lemons (save juice for syrup) 

 FOR THE SYRUP

•  juice of 2 lemons 
• 125 grams icing sugar 

 METHOD

1.  Line the base of a 23cm / 9inch springform cake tin with baking parchment and grease its sides lightly with butter. 
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4/ 350°F. 
3. Beat the butter and sugar till pale and whipped, either by hand in a bowl with a wooden spoon, or using a freestanding mixer. 
4. Mix together the almonds, polenta and baking powder, and beat some of this into the butter-sugar mixture, followed by 1 egg, then alternate dry ingredients and eggs, beating all the while. 
5. Finally, beat in the lemon zest and pour, spoon or scrape the mixture into your prepared tin and bake in the oven for about 40 minutes. 
6. It may seem wibbly but, if the cake is cooked, a cake tester should come out cleanish and, most significantly, the edges of the cake will have begun to shrink away from the sides of the tin. 
7. Remove from the oven to a wire cooling rack, but leave in its tin. 
8. Make the syrup by boiling together the lemon juice and icing sugar in a smallish saucepan. Once the icing sugar’s dissolved into the juice, you’re done. 
9. Prick the top of the cake all over with a cake tester (a skewer would be too destructive), pour the warm syrup over the cake, and leave to cool before taking it out of its tin.

Gerda's Poppy Seed Cake

Made for Gumboot Girls September 2016

Adapted from Robert’s birthday 2006

5 eggs, separated

1 cup sugar

1 cup melted butter / oil

2 cooking apples peeled and grated / cooked quinces

125g ground poppy seeds

1 teaspoons vanilla

20g baking powder

40g self-raising flour (rice or buckwheat + baking powder)

125g coarsely chopped walnuts

Icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Grease and line 20cm cake tin.

Beat egg whites until stiff.

Beat the egg yolks and sugar until pale.

Add remaining ingredients to the yolks, except the whites. Mix well.

Fold in the whites.

Pour mixture into prepared tin and bake for about 1 hour or until cooked when tested with a wooden skewer.

Cool then turn out onto a serving plate.

Dust with icing sugar.

Serve with yoghurt and more of the quinces.

Rock Buns

We had a fabulous afternoon at the Cygnet Community Garden on Oct. 11th, with Costa, from Gardening Australia and about 60 people from all over the place. The Cygnet Community Gardeners cooked up a feast. Here’s my rock buns recipe. It is such an old recipe it is in ounces and I like to leave it that way.

It can easily be made gluten free by using half nut meal and half quinoa flour or buckwheat flour.

180°C fan forced

Makes 15 or so

Instructions	Ingredients
rub in	4 oz. butter 8 oz. plain flour 2 level tsp. baking powder 1 tsp mixed spice
add	4 oz. castor sugar grated rind 1/2 large lemon 4 oz. mixed dried fruit including some mixed peel /crushed nuts /ginger if you like
add	1 beaten egg 1-2 Tbl. milk and the juice of the lemon to make a stiff, crumbly mixture

Place spoonsful on a greased baking tray and cook 10-15 mins.

Leave 5 minutes before removing from the tray.