Spiced Banana Yogurt Cake

Spiced Banana Yoghurt Cake




Makes an 8-inch cake



1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup olive oil

3 very ripe bananas, mashed

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

¼ tsp cardamom

¼ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp cinnamon

Garnishes: vanilla icing sugar, lemon zest, cinnamon.







Preheat oven to 170 degrees C. Butter an 8-inch cake pan.



In a medium size bowl, stir the yogurt and brown sugar together. Whisk in the vegetable oil, followed by the bananas, eggs and vanilla. Slowly stir in the flour, baking powder spices and salt until mixed.



Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 40 minutes, until firm to the touch (this is a moist cake, be careful not to over bake). Let cool and remove from pan onto a rack. The cake will keep, well wrapped, at room temperature for 2 days.

Dust with vanilla icing sugar, lemon zest and cinnamon.

Dark Brown Banana Bread

DRY INGREDIENTS
1 cup S.R. Flour
1 cup Wholemeal Flour
1 tsp mixed spice
½ tsp bi-carb soda
½ cup dark brown sugar (make sure it’s dark brown, as this is important to give the right colour)
½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts


WET INGREDIENTS
3 very ripe large bananas, mashed
2 tbsp golden syrup or honey
2 beaten eggs (or 3 egg whites)
½ cup of vegetable oil (or applesauce)
1/3 cup Greek-style yoghurt (no-fat if you please)


1. Mash your bananas and leave them in a bowl to darken up for a couple of hours. This isn’t essential, but this, in addition to the dark brown sugar, is where the bread will get its dark colour from.

2. Preheat your oven to 180˚c and grease a loaf tin

3. Mix all the dry ingredients together

4. Mix all the wet ingredients together

5. Fold all ingredients gently and pour into loaf tin. Don't overmix, or this is where your 'bread' will turn into a 'cake'. I scattered the top with chia seeds.

6. Bake for 40 – 45mins.



Let the banana bread cool for about 30 mins. Then thickly slice, and for best results, toast in a sandwhich press until golden.

I love Cardamom

Cardamom (or cardamon) refers to several plants of the genera Elettaria and Amomum in the ginger family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to India and Bhutan; they are recognised by their small seed pod, triangular in cross-section and spindle-shaped, with a thin papery outer shell and small black seeds. The word cardamom is derived from the Latin cardamomum. It is the third most expensive spice in the world, outstripped in terms of its market value by only saffron and vanilla. Cardamom has a strong, unique taste, with an intensely aromatic, resinous fragrance. Cardamom is best stored in pod form because once the seeds are exposed or ground they quickly lose their flavor.

 

My dear friend Eliza made this Beetroot Cake with Cardamom Frosting with me. We picked beets from my garden and added more cardamom than the recipe specified. Yay!

Please Eliza, can you post the recipe?

Carrot, Almond and Macadamia Tea Cake

Ingredients:
125g grated carrot
3/4 cup almond meal
3 tbsp SR Flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 free range eggs, separated
90g raw caster sugar
1 tbsp honey
zest of 1 lemon and 2 tbsp juice, reserve extra juice
handful of macadamias (or blanched almonds or other nuts)

*optional extras:
lemon glaze (see below)

vanilla dusting sugar

Method

Preheat oven to 175 degrees C.

Line a baking loaf tin with paper on bottom and sides

(tip; use a big piece and fold corners in so its like a basket).

Stir carrot, SR flour, zest, lemon juice, salt and almond meal together in a bowl.

In an electric mixer beat egg whites till stiff peaks form. Set aside.

In a clean mixer bowl (or wash other one) add egg yolks, honey and sugar and mix till thick and pale.

Fold yolk-sugar mix into carrot mix. Then fold half the eggwhites in, followed by the other half.

Spread batter in the tin and scatter over nuts. Bake for 30-40 minutes till skewer comes out clean.

This cake was overly sweet when I first made it with 125g sugar. I reduced the sugar above and I still thought it needed some tartness. So, I suggest the following glaze:

Lemon glaze:

Add juice of 1-2 lemons, 1 tbsp zest and 1 tbsp honey to a saucepan and reduce to a syrupy consistency.

Pour over warm cake.

Whole Wheat Banana, Amaranth and Cranberry Cake

This is one of the nicest cakes I have made. It is wholesome and earthy, it has a caramel crunch on the crust, it is warming and naturally sweetened, and it has healthy ingredients.

Dry Ingredients
1/2 cup organic whole wheat flour
1/2 cup organic plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp salt

Wet ingredients:
1/4 cup olive grove margarine
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup organic demerara sugar
1 1/2 medium size mashed bananas (about a cup)
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup organic amaranth

Method:
Preheat oven to 160 degrees C
Whisk the wet ingredients together, adding the amaranth after they are combined.
Sift the dry ingredients into the wet bowl.
Fold together.
Pour into a cake tin that is greased and floured. Sprinkle over some extra demerara sugar and cinnamon.
Bake for approximately 30mins (depends so much on your oven and size of tin).
Remove when golden and a skewer comes out clean.

Eat some while its hot and sticky. Its so delicious and not too sweet which is how I like it with a cup of tea.

Mountain Bike Birthday Cake

Blanche and I made these cakes for Dan's 30th and Eliza's 29th birthdays.

Chocolate cake with vanilla spokes and Berry Cheesecake with strawberry spokes!

Zesty Citrus, Almond & Hazelnut Cake

Zesty Citrus, Almond and Hazelnut Cake

This is a lovely cake with no butter or milk so its lactose free. Its also really really easy to make, you cant really go wrong with it. I made this with my Mum, Pam, for her birthday and we served it with yoghurt because it just lended itself to that sourish flavour. It is actually now my Mum's and my favourite cake! We might add some cinnamon or cardamom next time though because we love warm spices.

Ingredients:

2 oranges

6 eggs

250g caster sugar

250g almond meal

100g hazelnut meal

1tsp baking powder

Extra caster sugar for dusting before baking

Icing sugar for dusting after baking

Margarine or oil spray (for greasing the pan)

Method:

Wash oranges and place unpeeled, in a pot of boiling water for 2 hours. Drain the water and allow the oranges to cool completely. This can be done ahead of time.

Preheat oven to 190°C.

Break 6 eggs into a mixing bowl or blender. Add caster sugar and beat till light and airy.

Place the two oranges into the egg mix. Break up the oranges and then blend together to a smooth consistency. Blend in the baking powder, lemon zest, almond and hazelnut meal.

Grease a 20 cm silicone baking pan with margarine (or vegetable oil spray) and dust with caster sugar.

Pour batter into the pan and sprinkle caster sugar on top and bake for 1 hour to an hour and a half or until the top is golden brown.

Dust with icing sugar and slivered almonds to serve.

Chocolate Ganache Cake

This cake is the first real chocolate cake I have made from scratch in a long time. I made a really nice flourless chocolate cake with Chrissy the other day though, which was similar to the ones I made with Mum from the Bourke Street Bakery Cookbook, and is actually my favourite type of chocolate cake, however Daniel specifically requested a cake with flour in it for his birthday. You can see why here , as he found my birthday cake (sunken but delicious flourless chocolate cake) hilarious.

So, I set about to make a real flour-full choclate cake with lots of real dark chocolate and some fresh delightful raspberries for a garnish. Beth gave me some real vanilla paste as a gift so I used that to whip the cream with - and that was the day I discovered I like cream! I never liked cream before....it must have been the vanilla-kissed flavour.

On with the cake recipe.

Ingredients:

200g good-quality dark chocolate, chopped

200g butter, softened

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla paste

3 eggs, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 cup milk

Chocolate Ganache:

150g good-quality dark chocolate, chopped

1/3 cup thickened cream

2/3 cup thickened cream, whipped (optional)

chocolate curls or shavings (optional), to serve (see note)

Method:

Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease and line base and side of a 6cm deep, 22cm (base) round cake pan.

Place chocolate in a metal or glass bowl or double boiler – place over a pan of simmering water and turn heat down. Melt chocolate – stirring constantly until smooth. Set aside for 10 minutes to cool.

Using an electric mixer, cream butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Add melted chocolate. Beat until well combined. Sift flour and cocoa together. Fold half the flour mixture into butter mixture. Add half the milk. Stir gently to combine. Repeat with remaining flour mixture and milk. Spoon into prepared pan. Smooth surface. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Stand cake in pan for 15 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Spread ganache over top and side. Top with whipped cream and chocolate curls, if using. Serve.

To make chocolate ganache: combine chocolate and cream in a heatproof, microwave-safe bowl. Melt chopped chocolate the same way as above on stove, stirring every minute with a metal spoon, until just melted. Stir cream in until smooth. Set aside for 30 minutes or until thick enough to spread.

Notes

• To make chocolate curls, melt good quality chocolate and pour onto a sheet of bakign paper. When set at room temperature but not fully firm yet, run a clean potato peeler along it, allowing curls to form.

Yum!

\

Bourke Street Bakery Flourless Chocolate Cake

Bourke Street Bakery Flourless Chocolate Cake

This cake is gorgeously rich, richer than a mud cake but also light and fluffy like a mousse or souffle, while being sticky and chewy around the edges like a brownie - all my favourite cakes in one. Thanks to Tara Stange for photocopying me the recipe!
Ingredients:
260g dark chocolate (55% cocoa)
135ml milk
40g yoghurt
4 eggs
105g caster (superfine sugar), for eggs
4 egg whites
160g caster (superfine sugar), for eggwhites
135ml pouring cream
55g unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
3 electric mixer bowls


Method:

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees C. Grease a 20cm (8-inch) springform cake tin and line the base and sides with baking paper - the paper should protrude about 2.5cm above the tin because the cake will fluff up during baking. I used two small cake tins for this recipe and although I was a little concerned that this might not work, it did - and well! So we had two smaller cakes that were perfect for our 5-person party and a leftover cake for the next day. The cake is so rich that small soft pieces with a bit of chewy crunch are just nice.


Break up chocolate into a stainless steel bowl that can sit over a saucepan of water, and bring water to a simmer to melt the chocolate. Once its melting (about 2 mins simmering) turn off the heat and allow the rest of the chocolate to melt with the still warm water.

Put the milk and yoghurt in a saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to the simmer, stirring. Turn off the heat immediately once the liquid starts to curdle. Dont boil vigorously. You should simply have a curdled milky mixture.

Put the (whole) eggs and the sugar for the eggs in a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk the eggs at medium speed for about 10 minutes, or until the mixture is very light and has doubled in volume.

In a very clean, dry bowl whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, then slowly add the sugar for the whites, with the mixer on high, until soft peaks form a shiny meringue. Be careful not to overwhisk. Place in refridgerator.

Whisk the cream until soft peaks form and place in refridgerator until needed.
You should have ready to fold together the melted chocolate, curdled milk, whipped eggs, meringue, whipped cream, cocoa powder and the cake tin(s).

Pour the curdled milk into the chocolate and use a whisk to mix it in.

Add the cocoa and whisk to completely incorporate.

Transfer to the master bowl (that can fit all ingredients), and then fold in the whipped (whole) eggs in three batches, making sure you completely incorporate the first batch before adding more.

Lightly fold the meringue into the whipped cream, taking care not to knock out too much air.

Fold the cream-meringue mixture into the chocolate mixture in the master bowl in three batches, making sure you incorporate the first batch before adding more.

Using a spatula, scoop the cake batter into the prepared tin(s) and tap it gently twice on the bench to even out the mix. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes. If you can smell the cake cooking within the first 25 minutes your oven is too hot and you need to drop the temperature). Do not disturb the cake for the first 45 minutes of cooking. You may need to cover the top of the cake with baking paper and lower the temperature if the top of the cake is starting to brown. (I did this after 45 mins). Test to see if the cake is baked by gently placing your hand on top of it and wobbling it a little, you should feel that the cake has set through. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 30 minutes.

Yum!

Eating the Cake

Orange Almond Cake

Orange Almond Cake is lovely with tea.

You need:

1 cup Almond Meal

2 oranges

1 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup poppy seeds

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/3 cup caster sugar

Method:

Boil the oranges for 30mins then puree in food processor.

Whisk the eggs and sugar together with the poppy seeds and vanilla essence.

Add almond meal and orange after a lot of whisking (should be fluffy).

Place in greased pan and top with some toasted almonds and sprinkle with a little extra caster sugar.

Grill the top at the end to caramelise the sugar.

Urgh. A bit burnt...because I didnt watch it grilling because I went to the garden.