Flourless Almond and Coconut Cake (Gluten Free) - Simple, Yummy and Great for all occasion!

To be honest, am not usually a great big fan of non chocolate and cheesy cake, but while going through all my magazine stacks during a house cleaning session a couple of years ago, I bump into this recipe!  It looked quite attractive, furthermore it had lots of almonds in it which is my all time favourite nut!  I decided to give it a try and I must say I didnt regret trying it.  It is sooooo simple to make, and most importantly, it taste really good:)  I also made it for one of the morning tea at work and had many request for the recipe after that.  All that was about 2 years ago, which also means I havent made this for a while and had actually forgottten about it admist all the happenings surrounding my life of late!  With a friend's birthday coming up and wanting to make a cake for her but didnt have too much time to spare as it was weekday night, this cake once again pop on my mind.  Also thought at the same time, was a good excuse to do a blog write up on it and share this lovely recipe of Belinda Jeffery's with everyone out there:)  Enjoy!

Recipe Source (Australian Womens Weekly April 2007).  Original Recipe from Belinda Jeffery's book, Mix and Bake.
Serves 8.  Preparation 20 mins.  Cooking 40 mins.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (180g) ground almonds
3/4 cup (60g) desiccated coconut
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups (250g) caster sugar (note:  I thought this amount is too sweet for me, hence only used a a little less than 1 cup or 1 cup and I think that amount is just nice!)
4 free range eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almomd essence
200g cultured unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 tbsp flaked almonds
rich cream, for serving, optional

Method:
1) Preheat the oven to moderate (180C/160C Fan Forced).  Butter a 23cm-24cm shallow springform tin, line the base and sides with buttered baking paper.  Dust the tin lightly with flour, or rice flour if you're avoiding wheat, and set it aside.
2) Put the ground almonds, coconut, salt and sugar into a medium bowl, whisk for 40 seconds.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla and almond essence until they're mixed thoroughly, then mix in the cooled butter until it disappears.  Tip the butter mixture into the almond mixture and stir them together.  Scrape this into the prepared tin and spread it out evenly, then scatter the flaked almonds over the top.
3) Bake the cake for about 40 minutes or until the top of the cake springs back slowly when you press it gently.  When the cake is ready, transfer it to a wire rack and leave it to cool in the tin.  Once its cool, remove from tin.  Serve with cream, if desired.
(Suitable to freeze.  Butter suitable to microwave.)

The Ultimate Banana Bread!

Honestly I was never a big fan of banana bread or I would say never quite craved for it.  However, since the drop of banana prices from over AUD$9/kg to less than AUD$3/kg, we have been buying bananas quite a bit and with just the 2 of us at home, was hard to finish it before it goes black! Hence, I decided instead of letting it rot and throwing it away, I decided to make banana bread!  I didnt quite have a recipe on hand hence went searching for it on the internet, one which looks simple and calls for all the ingredients I already have at home.  The outcome of that recipe was very disappointing, the bread was dry, the taste of banana wasnt strong enough and the colour wasnt appealing!  Really gives one an incomplete feeling and at that moment I really craved for a good banana bread.  My partner was kind enough and got me a good banana bread from somewhere in the CBD area of Sydney the next day!  The satisfaction was temporary and furthermore banana bread is not cheap as a piece is sold at around $3-$3.50 at most places and most of the time, it is not that good!  Hence, I started my quest to search for an ultimate banana bread recipe.  Lucky me, this didnt take too long as all I had to do was asked one of my collegue at work who was a former pastry chef and she immediately emailed me the recipe (Thanks heaps Christina P!).  The source of the recipe was from a 5 star hotel where she did her apprenticeship there many years back.  After trying the recipe, I must say this is definitely an ultimate banana bread recipe!  It is so simple to make and people that tasted it (even the pickiest of the lot as far as food is concern) loved it!  Since getting the recipe, I have experimented it many times and coming up with my own portioning of ingredients but still maintaining the majority of the base recipe.  Anyways, for those banana bread lovers out there, do give the recipe below a try and let me know how it goes!

Ingredients:
(Yield 2 medium size loaf pan)
600g very ripe bananas, mashed
300g brown sugar (add more if you like, the original recipe called for 500g but for me 300g is just nice)
450g plain flour
25g baking soda
6 eggs
250ml milk
250ml canola oil
2 tbsp honey
8 handful of chopped roasted walnuts (optional)

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 170C
2) Line 2 medium size loaf pan with baking paper
3) Place all dry ingredients in a mixer bowl with a paddle attachment and mix ingredients until combined
4) Add in all the liquid ingredients and mixed until lump free
5) Pour into loaf pan and bake for about 1 hr 10 mins or until done.  Use the toothpick method to check for doneness.
6) Let cool in pan about 25 mins.  Remove from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.
NOTES:
a) This recipe is pretty flexible hence if you do not have a mixer, dont despair, as it could all be mixed up in a big bowl, the outcome will just be as good!
b) If you do not have a fan force oven, its important to turn the pan around every 20-25 minutes to ensure the sides do not burn or brown too quickly.
c) To freeze, slice them and wrap them in a plastic wrap.  Before serving, heat up in the microwave for approximately 30 seconds.

It has been a while...celebrating my come back with a passionfruit pavlova!!!

I can't quite believe time has flew quickly and I havent touched or updated my blog for a little over a year! No...I havent been lazy!!! In the last 13 months, I did a couple of french macaron sale at the monthly Wagga Wagga local farmers market (if you have done macarons before, you can imagine how labour intensive this can be especially if one is running it at the side of a full time job and spending all weekends on a one man show just making and packaging the macarons!! I do enjoy it though and the end result is very rewarding!!), embarked on a new relationship, moved to a bigger city and started a new job!!!  Yes...in the last 13 months, lots has happened both in my personal and work life!  Am a little more settled in to my new life and routine and ready to get back on to experimenting and sharing on my blog...!!!  Moving to a new place also means adapting to new kitchen appliances especially the oven.  I must say I really really miss my oven back in Wagga Wagga and wished I could have move it here!  The oven at this new place is kind of old, not fan force and heats up way too quickly which also means one needs to constantly watch or reduce cooking time in order to avoid burning and creating a disastrous end result! 

Anyways, so much for my babling...although I had done a number of experiments in the last couple of months, I cant think of what better than a Pavlova to kick start my come back!:)  For those unfamiliar with Pavlova, it is an Australian celebration dessert and commonly serve during Birthdays, Christmas, Australia Day etc.  A typical pavlova is in a round or square cake form which base is entirely meringue and is topped with whipped cream and fresh fruits.  However, instead of a typical pavlova, I decided to do a lighter version which is a pavlova roll.  I have meant to experiment this recipe when I first saw it on the Australian Good Food magazine in Oct 2010 but somehow havent got a chance to do this until now!!  The whole process is fairly simple, however, the rolling bit can be a bit messy and somewhat fiddly.  Quite happy with the end result but in all my excitement on wanting to taste it, I forgot to sprinkle the icing sugar which would look nice as presentation but can be eliminated as the end result is already sweet enough:)  Anyways, below is the recipe, hope you enjoy experimenting it as much as I do:)

Passionfruit Pavlova Roll
(Adapted from October 2010 Australian Good Food Magazine)
Serves 6 Prep 20 mins plus cooling and chilling
Cook 20 mins
Special Occasion and Kid Friendly

Ingredients:
4 egg whites
1 cup caster sugar plus 1 tbsp extra
1 tsp cornflour, sifted
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
200ml pure cream
pulp of 8 passionfruit
1 tbsp pure icing sugar, sifted

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 140C non fan.  Grease a 32cm x 26cm swiss roll pan.  Line base and ensure that baking paper extends 5cm above rim on long sides of pan.
2) Using an electric mixer, beat eggwhites until soft peaks form.  Add half of caster sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, beating constantly until thick and glossy.  Using a large metal spoon, gently fold through cornflour, vinegar and vanilla, until just combined.  Using a silicone spatula, spread mixture evenly into prepared pan.
3) Bake for 15-20 mins, until just firm and lightly coloured.  Cool in pan for 5 mins.  Line a wire rack with baking paper and dust with extra 1 tbsp caster sugar.  Turn meringue out onto prepared rack.  Gently peel away and discard baking paper from meringue.  Cool.
4) Using an electric mixer, whip cream until firm peaks form.  Fold through half of passionfruit pulp.  Spread cream over meringue, leaving a 1cm border around edge.  Using baking paper as a guide, and starting from long side, tightly roll meringue, keeping it wrapped in baking paper.  Refrigerate for 30 mins.
5) Place remaining passionfruit pulp and remaining caster sugar in a small saucepan and stir over low heat until sugar dissolves.  Bring to a simmer on medium-high heat and simmer for 2-3 mins, until thickened slightly.  Cool.
6) Unwrap roulade and dust with icing sugar.  Drizzle with syrup and serve.