little passionfruit poppyseed cakes

sometimes all you need is a great basic cake recipe to which you can make so many fun baked things with!! the next two posts will use the same basic cake (which by the ways super easy, two bowls - one for wet ingredients, one for the dry then a big whisk up!) to make two delicious cakes! I adapted it from a joy the baker recipe (find it here) which my sister louise made with a nutella ganache frosting oh my!

today's sweet treat is a passionfruit poppyseed cake with a shiny glaze. I baked them in little friand tins but it is the perfect size for a bundt tin cake

little passionfruit poppyseed cakes

2 1/2 cups (375g) plain flour
1 1/2 cups (300g) sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup (250ml) vegetable oil
1 cup (250ml) buttermilk
2 free range eggs
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
pulp of 2 passionfruits
2 tbs poppyseeds

preheat the oven to 160 C fan forced and grease two 12 hole friand trays.

in a large bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt together. in a medium jug, whisk together the vegetable oil, buttermilk, eggs, vinegar, vanilla and passionfruit pulp.

pour the wet mix into the dry mix and whisk until just combined and there are no major lumps. stir in the poppyseeds.

divide the batter between the friand tray holes and bake for 20 mins

to make the glaze, scoop out the pulp of two extra passionfruits and then add enough icing sugar (about 2 cups) to make a thick-ish icing. spoon over the cooled cakes and allow to drip down naturally. enjoy!

banana cake with chocolate icing

I had always assumed as a leftie that one day if I got married, I would wear my ring on my right hand (like a watch), I had always assumed that everyone just guessed whether to use 'a' or 'an' before nouns and I had also always assumed that chocolate icing was the stock standard icing for banana cake. but, I was so wrong! everyone is meant to wear their ring on their left hand, I had never heard of the vowel rule for a/an choosing and everytime this cake is offered to friends, chocolate icing is a foreign and novel idea. however, it is the perfect combination that never fails to win people over and it is how my granny always made it and she was a baker-extraordinaire! never doubt your granny!

now onto the cake - the cake recipe is adapted from the amazing the cooks companion by stephanie alexander which has saved my (cooking) bacon on more than one occasion. it is the bible of the australian kitchen and I can't recommend it enough!! it is a great reference to learn the basics of cooking and is full of tried and true recipes. I have made this cake so many times that this giant tome of a book naturally opens to the page. I kind of made up the icing recipe as I went but have included a great one that will be a lot more reliable than what I made!!

banana cake with chocolate icing 
cake adapted from the cooks companion by stephanie alexander

125g softened margarine
1 cup (220g) firmly packed brown sugar
2 free range eggs
1 cup (approx. 220g) mashed ripe banana
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 2/3 cups (250g) plain flour
1 tsp bicarb soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 cup (125ml) buttermilk or milk mixed with 1 tsp lemon juice

prepare a 20cm square cake tin and preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan forced
cream the butter and brown sugar. add the eggs, banana and vanilla and beat to combine.
sift together the dry ingredients and add to the mixture, alternating with the buttermilk (i.e. a little bit of flour, a little bit of milk until they are all used up)
pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 45min-1 hour until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the middle.

chocolate icing
120g butter (or margarine)
1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
2 1/2 cups (400g) icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbs milk

beat the butter and cocoa together until smooth
stir in the vanilla and powdered sugar and beat well.
gradually add the milk until the icing gets to the right consistency, you may not need all the milk.
spread over the cooled cake and enjoy!

 

 

peanut butter swirl brownies

I know this is my second consecutive peanut butter inclusive post but I swear - these are out of this world, unbelievably good! salty sweet peanut butter swirled through almost chewy, dense dark chocolate brownies? so yum!

these are one of those baked goods you should bake for an event with lots of people to eat them all up for you because if you are left alone with half a tray of these babies, it's dangerous!

I found the best way to make the swirl by accident (all good culinary things are invented by accident -did you know puff pastry was made by accident too??), we ran out of butter so there wasn't enough for the swirl too but this ended up creating the most smooth, trackable swirl of my dreams! :)

peanut butter swirl brownies

300g dark chocolate
300g butter
2 cups (440g) caster sugar
1/2 cup (50g) cocoa
4 free range eggs
1/2 cup (75g) self raising flour
2/3 cup (100g) plain flour

for the peanut butter swirl
1/2 cup (75g) icing sugar
150g chunky peanut butter
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

preheat your oven to 160C fan forced

in a medium sized bowl, melt together dark chocolate and butter.

in another bowl, combine sugar and cocoa. pour in the chocolate mixture and mix until smooth. add eggs one by one, mixing well between additions.

fold through the flours until just combined. divide mixture between prepared tin, smoothing the top with a spatula.

make the swirl by mixing all ingredients together in a separate bowl. drop spoonfuls of the swirl mixture on top of the brownies and use a butter knife to create the swirl pattern.

bake for approximately 50 minutes until just set in the middle.

p.s. these can be made gluten free for all your friends to enjoy - swap out the normal flour for 2/3 cup self raising gluten free flour and 1/2 cup almond meal oh yeah!

peanut butter biscuits

these little gems only have three ingredients. yes - just three! not only that they are also gluten free to boot so you can make them for all your friends right now!

hello jalapeño is back with a semi-vengeance! I am really sorry I haven't kept up posting in the new year but I am ready to make the commitment again. and these biscuits are a sign of that commitment to baking up a storm of tasty, easy and fun things for you to share with all your amigos!



peanut butter biscuits

1 cup (approx. 275g) crunchy peanut butter

1 cup (220g) caster sugar

1 free range egg

preheat the oven to 180°C or 160°C fan forced. in a medium bowl, mix all the ingredients together until smooth.

using slightly wet hands, roll the mixture into small balls and place on a lined baking tray. press down the tops (I used a little thumbprint on each) and bake for 10 minutes until just golden. that's it!!