9/52 Weekly Stills

1. An unexpected pop of 'pretty pink' amongst dry bushland.
2. Looking up- feeling small and childlike.
3. Saturday Farmers Markets.
4. One of my purchase's from the market……a crate of freshly grown figs!
5. I baked this Nectarine, Raspberry & Almond Cake last week. For those who missed the post, recipe is here. Totally delicious!!!

My Farewell Summer Nectarine, Raspberry & Almond Cake

So yesterday we farewelled the incredibly bizarre summer of 2013/14. One week freezing cold followed by weeks of extreme heat waves. Devastating bushfires and sadly not much summer rain, so everything is looking rather brown, drab and worn out. 

A little reminder that summer produce will soon start disappearing in the shops (or will increase greatly in price!!)- so we stocked up on nectarines, peaches, plums and raspberries and came home to bake!

As a tribute to the last day of summer I baked this nectarine, raspberry and almond cake.

I have to say….IT TASTED AMAZING!!!!!! Can I say that or am I sounding extremely bias? Even my husband kept saying….This is soooooooo good.  And bribing the kids to eat all of their dinner was easy with cake and custard as a reward.

The house smelt like a jam biscuit factory whilst it was baking away (heaven). We ate it whilst it was still warm. The outer crust was crunchy and slightly sticky, and the fruit had sunk into the cake and stewed so it was all sweet and gooey inside. This would make a great dessert or perfect for brunch. But who needs an excuse…..??? You could easily substitute whatever fruit combination (and nuts) you have which is the great thing about this recipe, and means handy for using up any leftovers.

Nectarine, Raspberry & Almond Cake

165g Unsalted butter

200g Caster sugar

1 tspn Vanilla extract

2 large eggs

130g SR Flour

35g Almond Meal

a pinch of salt

2 large Nectarines (or 3 small ones)-peeled and sliced into segments

100g Raspberries

Flaked almonds

Icing sugar to dust

Line 23 cm springform baking tin. Pre heat oven to 180 deg celcius.

Melt butter and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Measure out sugar, vanilla and eggs, then add cooled butter. Beat together until mixture is smooth.

Stir in sifted flour, almond meal and salt until well combined.

Pour mixture into baking tin. Top with fruit, spreadly evenly. Sprinkle over flaked almonds.

Bake for 45-50 mins. I kept checking from 30 minutes onwards-it could be easy for the top to get to brown. Mine was ready at the 45 minute mark. 

Allow to cool, then serve with a dusting of icing sugar as it is or with a dollop of yoghurt, thick cream or custard. 

Goodbye Summer…… Hello Autumn!

Have a great weekend!!

Delicious Berry Cheesecake

I think one thing we can all agree on, whether we live in the country or the city, is what a hot and dry summer we have had this year!

And although Im looking forward to some cooler weather, the downside is, I will miss being able to buy berries in the supermarket at a reasonable price.

The recipe below I have been baking for several years now. It's a Tessa Kiros recipe from her gorgeous cookbook Falling Cloudberries. This cheesecake is a firm family favourite and one that has been whipped up for all occasions many, many times- dinner parties, birthdays, and I think we even had it for one of the children's christenings too (I know I should remember these things, but the last few years have been a bit of a blur!).  

This is a perfect dessert for any summertime entertaining, but when the prices of berries start going up, frozen ones will work equally well. Which also means….a great dessert for the cooler months too. 

Berry Cheesecake

250g Granita (or Digestive) Biscuits, coarsely crushed

125g Unsalted butter, melted

750g Cream Cheese, best at room temperature

250g Caster Sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

2 teaspoon Cornflour

400g Fresh or Frozen Berries

1 teaspoon Lemon zest

Preheat your oven to 180 deg celcius. Grease a 24cm springform tin ( I also dust with a little flour too). Mix together the crushed biscuits and melted butter. Using the back of a spoon or your palms, press the biscuit mix into the tin so that it covers the base and up the side. Place in freezer whilst making the cream cheese mix- I find this helps the base 'set' before you had the mixture, and not crumbly. 

Whisk the cream cheese in a bowl with 200g of the sugar- the other 50g is needed for the berry mix so be careful not to pour it all in. Beat in the eggs one by one and then the vanilla until you have a smooth thick cream. Pour over the base and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake for about 40-50 minutes, or until lightly golden on top and wobbles only a little when you shake the tin.

Cool completely, then chill in fridge for a few hours.

To make the berry topping- mix the cornflour with a couple of tablespoons of cold water until it is smooth. Pour into a saucepan to heat up, then add the berries, lemon zest and the remaining sugar- the amount of sugar may depend on the sweetness of the berries. Cook for a couple of minutes, addend more water if it gets too thick. Combine and then remove from heat before berries collapse. Set aside to cool completely.

Spoon berry mix onto of cheesecake. Remove ring from tin. Serve with Ice cream, cream….or both!

This post is dedicated to the lovely Yvette from The Stylist Splash who recently asked me to be a guest blogger on her beautiful blog. It was my first guest post so I was incredibly excited to be working with Yvette and also so very chuffed. 

For those who missed my post last week about Yvette, you can read more here. Make sure you pop over and visit  The Stylist Splash for a daily dose of lovely lifestyle topics. 

I would also like to welcome all the new readers to my blog…. A very big Thank You for popping by. Its always nice to know that someone is reading my blog and all comments are so greatly appreciative too!!! 

Have a lovely day…..

Orange & Olive Oil Cake with a sprinkle of Pine Nuts

Happy Monday to all x This is a lovely recipe to kickstart the week ahead. Found in Apples for Jam by Tessa Kiros  - a favourite cookbook of mine filled with beautiful photos and delicious recipes (Yes, in case you havent noticed, Im a big Tessa fan!!!). Simple flavours, tasty, moist, and it has a beautiful rustic look about it. Great for the kids for morning or afternoon tea snacks. It also keeps for 4-5 days ……thats on the off chance it lasts longer then a day!

 Orange & Olive Oil Cake with Pine nuts

4 eggs, separated

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

250g caster sugar

50g brown sugar

200ml olive oil

400g Plain flour

1 heaped teaspoon of baking powder

finely grated rind of one orange

250ml freshly squeezed orange juice

handful of pine nuts

Preheat Oven to 180 deg celcius. Grease a 25cm spring form tin with olive oil and then dust with flour. Whip egg yolks with the vanilla until they bulk up and start to look foamy. Whisk in caster and brown sugars, then add the olive oil in small portions, mixing well with each addition. Add the flour, baking powder, orange rind and juice. Beat well until you have a smooth batter. Whip egg whites until soft peaks, then gently fold into the cake mixture. Pour into cake tin and sprinkle pine nuts on top. Bake in oven for 35 minutes or until top is golden and skewer comes out clean. 

Serve 'as is' or with a dollop of yoghurt.

* Slivered Almonds could be substituted instead of pine nuts if you would prefer, but the pine nuts go really well with the olive oil.

Enjoy…..
Have you are busy week lined up???
Kx

Blueberry & Lemon Tea Cake

I am so thankful that this week has bought with it some much needed cooler weather. I was starting to feel like a dried out old piece of fruit! We have been able to head out in the mornings again- go to the park, pop to the supermarket and spend longer outdoors- which, with little children means wearing them out!!!

This morning we headed to our local fruit and veggie store, which I just love. The produce is always such a high standard and looks amazing. It also has a little deli attached and well, I could easily spend all day and most of our weekly food budget there.

But today I had a list, and for just once, I stuck to it. Our mission was to find some lovely blueberries to accompany our homegrown lemons and make up a morning tea cake.

Blueberry & Lemon Tea Cake
175g soft butter
175g caster sugar
2 eggs
250g Self Raising Flour
zest from one lemon
A handful of fresh blueberries
Juice from one lemon
50g caster sugar, extra

Preheat oven to 180 deg celcius. Line a 20cm round cake tin.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one by one, then the lemon zest. Fold in the flour. The mixture is quite thick- don't worry- this is how it should be! Pour into the tin and smooth top. Place blueberries on top- scattered around. Bake for 30-35minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the lemon juice and remaining sugar together. When cake is cooked, remove from oven and allow to cool a little. Whilst the cake is still warm, use a skewer to prick holes in the top of the cake and pour over sugar syrup. The syrup will crystallise as cake cools leaving the top crunchy.

This cake was a hit with the kids but I enjoyed it so much more, when they all went down for their midday nap, and the house was blissfully quiet- for a short time!

Enjoy x