Sweet Baking

HOT CROSSED ....

HOT CROSSED ....

Finding an excellent gluten-free Hot Crossed Bun can be almost as daunting as the thought of producing a batch at home so this Easter we’re baking Hot Crossed Muffins instead.  They make a very easy alternative with all the spicy flavour and dried fruit plumpness of a traditional Hot Crossed Bun, without all the fuss ....

RHUBARB, RHUBARB, RHUBARB

RHUBARB, RHUBARB, RHUBARB

Funny how one thing leads to another. I recently needed only a couple of stalks of rhubarb, to pickle, to top some delicious sticky rice cakes for a pre-dinner nibble. As our rhubarb pickle loses its vibrant colour after a week or two, I only pickle what I need. What to do with the rest?  A bit of poaching with some star anise, orange juice and zest produced a cup full of delicious pulpy sweet rhubarb.

What to do with that ...

WORTH THE WORK

WORTH THE WORK

Husband’s birthday. Cake needed. But what to make? Something new. He’s had all our recipes of course. Birthday getting closer ..... Chatting with a friend just back from Europe who, on a train to Brussels, consumed several pieces of what she described as the most delicious cake she’d ever had - a Medovik, a Czechoslovakian Honey Cake. Bingo! ....

DELICIOUS LEMON

DELICIOUS LEMON

We’ve posted a few citrus-based recipes recently but given that lemons, oranges and grapefruits are in season right now we know you’ll allow us to post one more. After all, it is winter in the southern hemisphere and vitamin C is supposed to be good to ward off colds and the flu.

So here is a classic lemon delicious pudding with a touch of lime ....

JENNY'S FROZEN LEMON MERINGUE CAKE

JENNY'S FROZEN LEMON MERINGUE CAKE

My beautiful grandmother, Dot, had a lovely tradition of always noting the name of the person who passed a recipe on to her. I still have her old hand written recipe book with its solid wooden cover. It is full of recipes with lovely names like Chocolate Cake Rene and Aunty Nellie Lambert’s Rock Cakes, Muriel’s Caramel Marlow and Elsie T’s Coffee Crystal Biscuits as well as many of Dot’s own recipes .... 

ORANGE AND LEMON POLENTA CAKE

ORANGE AND LEMON POLENTA CAKE

Over the years Rosie, Caren and I, between us, have accumulated lots of wonderful gluten-free cake recipes, many of which are already included in the Sweet Baking category here on our blog. A chance conversation we had recently highlighted the fact that it’s often nut flours that make the best substitute for wheat flour in cake-baking. But what if you want to avoid gluten and nuts? Well, this one’s for you. Or anyone else who doesn’t mind a moist, citrusy cake with a nice texture and a moreish flavour. Anyone? ....

THE SWEET ANZAC TRADITION

THE SWEET ANZAC TRADITION

Anzac Biscuits started out in life as a staple in soldiers’ rations – a very (very) hard, nutritious but unpalatable alternative to bread. In Gallipoli, they became known as Anzac Tiles, and creative ways were found to get them down. They were grated and turned into porridge, or soaked in water with jam, and baked over a fire to make ‘jam tarts.’ (Sounds like seriously wishful thinking.) ....

HOT CROSSED ....

HOT CROSSED ....

Finding an excellent gluten-free Hot Crossed Bun can be almost as daunting as the thought of producing a batch at home so this Easter we’re baking Hot Crossed Muffins instead.  They make a very easy alternative with all the spicy flavour and dried fruit plumpness of a traditional Hot Crossed Bun, without all the fuss ....