Upside down plum cake (and Beerenberg giveaway winner)

With all the crazy rain we've had recently, Warragamba dam has certainly reached its storage capacity. After almost a decade of drought, you would think this a great thing. But we are a land of extremes and after dealing with times of drought the rains have come.

Many people, especially towns out west are cut in half by flood waters. But even the city didn't escape flooding and this past week saw a traffic nightmare throughout Sydney due to roads cut off by water.


While we live up fairly high, our main access road crosses the Hawkesbury River. This is our main road in and out. The only other option is to go further up the mountains crossing them and doing a loop that would take 2 to 3 hours. So on hearing the news last Friday that the bridge over the hawkesbury was due to be closed, both Mr Shady Pine and I dashed home from work not wanting to be cut off and be subjected to the alternate long drive home.


What I didn't expect was such a panic from people. I stopped in at our closest supermarket on my way home to get some extra supplies in case the bridge was closed for several days and was faced with mayhem. People were everywhere cleaning out the shelves. I felt like I was on the set of a disaster movie. So I grabbed the essentials and high tailed out of there as quick as I could.

In the end the bridge was only closed for a day as the flooding wasn't as severe as predicted. But while it was closed I did enjoy a sense of being cut off from the world for a little while. I pottered around the house. I thought about how we would get on if we were completely cut off for a long time. I figured from the supplies in our pantry, freezer and garden we would probably have enough food to feed us for a month easily.


I also baked. With lots of stranded neighbours I figured I would have a cake on standby for any visits. I had exactly 4 plums in the fruit bowl and this recipe called for 4-5. This cake is a really lovely balance between the fruity plums and cake batter. Also, because the plums are spread out on the bottom of the cake tin with sugar, they turn really jammy, sticky and delicious when the cake is turned out.

I am also pleased to announce that Sarah from From my Vegie Patch to Plate is the winner of the Beerenberg giveaway draw....congratulations Sarah!



Upside down plum cake
Adapted from cake recipe here

Ingredients:
4 plums
1 cup plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarb soda
60g butter
¾ cup sugar (preferably raw caster sugar)
½ cup milk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla essence

1. Preheat oven to 200C.
2. Line the base of a 23cm round cake tin with baking paper.
3. Sprinkle 2 Tbs of sugar on the base. Arrange the plums in a circular pattern on top of the sugar and covering the base of the tin.
4. In a mixing bowl, mix the butter, vanilla, sugar and egg with a mixer until the sugar has dissolved.
5. To the butter mixture, add the flour, baking powder, bicarb and milk and mix well with a wooden spoon to make a smooth batter.
6. Spoon the cake batter over the top of the plums ensuring the batter is well spread out.
7. Bake for 25 minutes. The cake will be cooked when a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
8. Allow the cake to cook for 5 minutes in the tin before turning it out.
9. This cake is best served warm with a dollop of cream if desired.

Pecan and date loaf

I love coffee. I love really good coffee even more. Sometimes I will drink bad coffee if the other option is no coffee at all. You see a trend here?

As far back as I can remember it's been that way. I can't imagine the start of any day without it's super giving powers. It doesn't help that I am not a morning person. What does help of course is a little caffeine to get the brain ticking. Sometime ago, I read an article about a study that said that caffeine in the morning provided no more alertness than eating an apple first thing in the morning. I tried eating an apple. I'm sure their study was faltered.


While I have my favourites I go back to time and again, I don't really discriminate. Short black espressos, cappuccinos, lates, piccollos, macchiatos all get their turn.

I don't consider myself a coffee snob but I do have some rules I live by. No flavourings or syrups. Ever. And no coffee after 4pm if I intend getting any sleep that night.


Most of the time I am happy to sip a cup of coffee unaccompanied. However one of my favourite treats is a simple, unadorned and not too sweet piece of cake to go with my cup of coffee. Step in this pecan and date loaf. It's not overly sweet but sweet enough, and while it is a loaf it's near enough to being a cake. It can be eaten spread with a little butter or even some butter with cinnamon mixed in it is lovely. Or just plain as is my want most of the time.

Date & pecan loaf
Adapted from recipe by Alison Turner – Good Taste, July 1998


Ingredients:
200gm pitted dates
320ml water
½ cup brown sugar
75g butter
2 cups SR flour
2 tsp mixed spice
2 eggs
¾ cup pecans, chopped

1. In a saucepan over low heat, add the dates, butter, sugar and water until the sugar is fully dissolved. Set aside and cool for about 15 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 170 C. Grease a loaf pan approx 10cm x 19cm
3. Place the date mixture into a food processor and process until fine.
4. Place date mixture into a mixing bowl.
5. Add the flour, mixed spice, eggs and pecans. Stir with a wooden spoon until well combined.
6. Pour the batter into the greased loaf tin and bake for approx 50-55 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when loaf is pierced in the centre.
7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the loaf tin for about 10 minutes before turning out onto a cake rack.
8. Serve spread with butter or flavoured cinnamon butter if desired.

When life (or a neighbour) gives you lemons...

I was given a bag full of lemons recently from my mother in law's neighbour, whose tree was overgrown with fruit. Let me tell you these lemons smell simply devine and their flavour is a good balance of sweet and sour. Also, because they are unwaxed and not sprayed with any pesticides, their zest is perfect for use in cooking.

With a bowl full of lemons ending up on my kitchen bench, I started to wonder about what deliciousness awaited them. So I dragged out the sugar, butter and eggs and set out to bake a simple lemon cake. I couldn't help taking a photo either...the image of these three ingredients together says that all will be right and that good things are in store.

I used the lemon zest and juice in both the cake batter and the icing as well. I like a strong lemony flavour but if you don't, I recommend cutting back on the zest in the icing.

I threw the cake in the oven and went to do a few little outside jobs. When I returned to the house, there was the most wonderful cake and lemony scent permeating from the kitchen.

I ended up taking this cake over to my mother's house where it was devoured for afternoon tea. And so beyond the lemons themselves, I love the fact that someone had too many lemons and decided to share them. Someone then turned those lemons into a cake. That cake was enjoyed by many smiling faces and the sugar, butter and eggs really were telling the truth...all was right and good things were in store indeed.

But this wasn't the end of the lemons. There are only so many you can use in a cake. Tune in tomorrow when I'll share another recipe that explains what became of all the lemons.

Zesty Lemon Cake:

Ingredients:
1 lemon, juice and zest
125gm butter, softened
1 ½ cups self raising flour
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
¼ cup milk

Lemon Icing:
1 ½ cups pure icing sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of half lemon

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees C (320 F). Prepare a 20cm round spring form cake tin.
2. Cream butter and sugar together until smooth and pale.
3. Add eggs one at a time.
4. Add flour, milk, lemon juice and zest and mix well.
5. Bake cake for about 40 minutes or until cooked. Check with a wooden skewer. If there is no cake batter on the skewer when inserted in the middle of the cake then it is cooked.
6. Make the lemon icing by mixing the sugar, juice and zest together to make a smooth but not too runny icing.
7. Allow the cake to cool completely before icing. As this is a sugar icing, allow about 20 minutes for the icing to set.