RM put me onto this recipe a while ago. I had hoped to make it with some fresh limes from Reiver's tree while I was in NZ, but I never quite got to it. Luckily we had a bunch of limes in the freezer here though and Granny Smith apples are easy to come by, so I decided to give it a try after I got home instead.

I cut back the sugar significantly in the cake. And I was tempted to skip the icing altogether. But TF was keen on having a bit of frosting, so I did end up using it in the end.

The icing was good. Although I was definitely glad to have cut back the sugar in the cake once the frosting was added. That said, I think that next time I'd be inclined to swap out the American buttercream for a cream cheese icing. I think the cream cheese tang would complement the other flavours nicely. And cream cheese icings tend to need proportionally less sugar and butter to begin with. So, while still not a health food by any stretch, it would still make for a marginally less sweet and calorific topping.

Green Apple and Lime Slice

Adapted from Twisted Citrus

Ingredients

Cake

• 2 Granny Smith apples, grated
• 2 limes, zested and juiced
• 125g butter
• 3 Tbsp. golden syrup
• 240g soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 125g unsweetened applesauce
• 2 c. dessicated coconut
• 1 c. sultanas
• 1 c. dried currants
• 2 large eggs

Icing

• 100g butter, softened
• 240g cream cheese, softened
• 1 lime, zested and juiced
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 250-300g icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a 23x33cm (9x13") baking dish.
2. Mix the lime zest and 2 Tbsp. of the juice with the grated apples.
3. Combine the butter and golden syrup in a small pot and melt over low heat.
4. Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl with the apples and mix in the salt, cinnamon, sugar, applesauce, coconut, sultanas, and currants.
5. Pour the butter mixture into the bowl and stir to combine.
6. Add the eggs and mix well.
7. Scoop the batter into the prepared pan and smooth into an even layer.
8. Bake at 180&det;C (350°F) until done (~30 minutes).
9. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan.
10. Meanwhile, make the icing byt beating the butter with the cream cheese until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes).
11. Beat in the lime juice, lime zest, and vanilla.
12. Sift in icing sugar until desired consistency is reached.
13. Once cake has cooled completely, spread the icing on top.
14. Cut into squares and serve.

Not the most appealing name, I know, but this fruit paste was amazing! It looks cool. It was very satisfying to make. It was time-consuming, but not particularly difficult. And it tastes delicious!

I love that it uses the feijoa peels as well as the flesh. I mean, you strain them out after boiling, so they don't get left in the final product. But at least you get to make use of them for their pectin content before you toss them. Very cool.

I also found that I was able to make this with significantly less sugar than the recipe called for. Now, of course, this means that it won't keep nearly as well. But, that's okay! I suspect we'll end up eating it pretty quickly anyway.

Feijoa Paste

Slightly adapted from Twisted Citrus

Ingredients

• 2-3 apples¹
• 500g feijoa pulp + skins
• 400g sugar

Directions

1. Chop the apples. No need to peel or core!
2. Trim the blossom ends off of the feijoas, then halve and scoop them. Measure out 500g of pulp and set it aside. Discard the trimmed ends, but reserve all of the peels.
3. Add the feijoa skins and chopped apples to a pot with just enough water to cover them.
4. Bring to a boil and cook until mushy.
5. Strain and reserve the liquid, pressing down on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the solids.
6. Return the liquid to the pot and add the feijoa pulp.
7. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until tender.
8. Mash, stir in sugar, and reduce heat to low.
9. Cook, stirring every few minutes, until mixture thickens and darkens significantly (~2 hours).
10. Line a 20x20cm (8x8") square pan with baking paper and pour the paste into the prepared pan.
11. Set aside to cool and set.
12. Once set, cut the paste into squares and serve with cheese.

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¹ The original recipe calls for 3 apples. My apples were quite large, however, so I only ended up using two. ^Back