I wanted dessert. I didn't want anything that require too much effort. Or an overnight chill. And I wanted to be able to make it with ingredients on hand. And to be tasty without being too rich.

This banana cake fit the bill. Although it looked overly sweet recipe-as-written. So I halved the sugar and honey. I also reduced the butter by 20% and replaced half of the remaining butter with unsweetened applesauce. Mostly because butter is very expensive here and I was trying not to use too much. And then, just for fun, I decided to replace 140g of the flour with whole wheat flour.

I'm happy with how it came out in the end. It's tasty without being decadent. Having tasted it, I think it probably would've been fine if made according to the original recipe, you'd just want to be prepared for a quite rich, sweet cake.

I do think that either version would benefit from some additional banana. Two bananas makes for a subtle banana flavour, but I think I'd appreciate a more intensely banana-y cake. I might up it to three or four bananas next time. It might also be nice to try replacing the brown sugar with additional honey just to double down on the primary flavours.

Banana-Honey Cake

Adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. butter, softened
• 1/2 c. honey (or 1/4 c. brown sugar + 1/4 c. honey)
• 1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 3-4 bananas
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 315g soft (plain/standard/cake) flour (or 140g whole wheat flour + 175g plain flour)
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease a 20cm square cake tin.
2. Cream the butter with the honey.
3. Mix in the applesauce.
4. Beat in the bananas, followed by the eggs, yogurt, and vanilla.
5. Sift in the flour(s), baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon and stir to combine.
6. Pour batter into preapared tin and smooth top.
7. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 30-35 minutes.
8. Let cool in tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack to cool.

I've made a few different feijoa cakes before, but this one is by far the simplest. No other fruits, no icing or garnish, and just a bit of vanilla to flavour it. I really like how it came out though: moist, sweet, tasty, and uncomplicated. And I appreciate that you don't need any special ingredients on hand beyond the feijoas themselves.

Reiver did suggest that a bit of chopped apple might make a nice addition and I think he's right. But it also doesn't need anything else so feel free to enjoy this cake in all of its glorious simplicity.

Feijoa Cake

Slightly adapted from the Versatile Feijoa

Ingredients

• 125g butter
• 200g sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 4-6 feijoas, scooped and mashed
• 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and chopped (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. lemon zest (optional)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 c. soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/4-1/2 c. milk
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a 23cm (9") square pan.
2. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in eggs, one at a time.
4. Mix in feijoas, apple (if using), and vanilla.
5. Sift in flour and baking powder and mix until combined.
6. Dissolve baking soda in 1/4 c. milk.
7. Mix the milk into the batter.
8. If the batter seems to stiff, mix in the additional 1/4 c. of milk.
9. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth the top.
10. Bake at 180°C (350°F) until cake tests done (40-45 minutes).

It's feijoa season again! So I'm taking the opportunity to try to tick off a few more recipes.

This sponge was very unusual. It starts with making an Italian meringue! You then beat the egg yolks into your marshmallow-y meringue, followed by the dry ingredients. It also contains a somewhat alarming amount of ginger. And uses mostly corn starch (cornflour), rather than regular white (wheat) flour, as the main component of the dry ingredients.

I've made a lot of cakes that incorporate beaten egg whites. And a few that incorporate a French (uncooked) meringue. And I've seen icing and pie recipes that call for cooked meringues (like Swiss or Italian). But I've never seen a cake that uses a cooked meringue before. It was unusual, but did seem to work quite well. The Italian meringe was very stable and took the egg yolks nicely without a noticeable loss of volume. And the resulting sponge was very very light. Reiver noted that it had a very slight graininess to it, but I'm not sure whether that was down to the meringue, the cornflour, the ginger, or something else entirely.

The original recipe calls for splitting the sponge and filling it with whipped cream and feijoas. And, while there's nothing wrong with this approach, it does mean that you need to eat the whole cake fairly promptly. So, as an alternative, Reiver suggested that we just cut and top individual wedges of sponge to make it easier to enjoy over the course of a few days.

Photo goes here.

Ginger Sponge with Feijoas and Cream

Slightly adapted from NZ Women's Weekly

Ingredients

• 4 eggs, separated
• 6 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 7 Tbsp. cornstarch (cornflour)
• 1 Tbsp. soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 5-6 tsp. ground ginger, divided
• 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
• 300mL heavy (35%) cream
• 1-2 Tbsp. icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar
• 2 c. feijoa flesh, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and line the bottom of a 23cm (9") springform pan with baking paper. Do not grease the sides of the pan!
2. Beat the egg whites to soft peaks.
3. Beat in the egg yolks.
4. Sift in the cornstarch, flour, 4-5 tsp. of the ginger, and the baking powder and gently fold to combine.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
6. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 25 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and drop onto counter or floor once or twice (to help prevent it from sinking in the middle, apparently).
8. Allow to cool in tin for 10 minutes.
9. Run a knife or spatula around the sides of the tin, then remove the sides.
10. Turn cake onto a cooling rack and carefully remove the bottom of the pan and peel off the baking paper. Allow to cool completely.
11. Add the icing sugar and the remaining ginger to the cream and beat until stiff.
12. Either split the cake and fill it with the cream and chopped feijoas, dusting the top with icing sugar as desired, or top individual slices with cream and fruit.

Cocolate-Raspberry Torte

This is basically a flourless chocolate cake. It's incredibly rich and dense with no leavener whatsoever and only the tiniest bit of flour. It then gets filled with a mixture of jam and mashed raspberries and "iced" with ganache. And garnished with whole raspberries and toasted almonds. It is delicious!

Chocolate-Raspberry Torte

Slightly adapted from The Perfect Cake by America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

Cake

• 240g dark chocolate
• 12 Tbsp. butter
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. instant coffee
• 1 c. almond flour
• 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 5 large eggs
• 3/4 c. sugar

Filling

• 1/2 c. raspberries
• 1/4 c. raspberry jam

Decoration

• 150g dark chocolate
• 1/2 c. + 1 Tbsp. heavy (35%) cream
• 1/2 c. sliced almonds, toasted
• ~24 whole raspberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F).
2. Grease two 20cm (8") round cake pans, line bottoms with parchment paper, grease the paper, and then flour the pans.
3. Melt the chocolate and the butter over very low heat.
4. Remove from heat and add the vanilla and coffee.
5. In a separate bowl, combine the almond flour, all-purpose flour, and salt and mix well.
6. Beat the eggs until lighter in colour and increased in volume (~3 minutes).
7. Gradually beat in sugar.
8. Add the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture and whisk until not quite fully combined.
9. Sprinkle in half of the almond mixture and stir to combine.
10. Add the remaining almond mixture and finish mixing.
11. Divide the batter between the prepared pans.
12. Bake at 160°C (325°F) until done and toothpick inserted in centre comes out almost clean (16-20 minutes).
13. Allow cakes layers to cool in tins for 30 minutes.
14. Turn out onto wire racks, then flip one layer onto a serving platter right-way-up.
15. Mash the raspberries and mix with the jam.
16. Spread the raspberry mixture over the top of the right-way-up cake layer.
17. Place the second layer on top upside-down.
18. Combine the chocolate and the cream and heat over low heat until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth and homogenous.
19. Pour ganache over cake and spread evenly across the top and down the sides.
20. Crush the sliced almonds and press into the sides of the cake.
21. Decorate the top of the cake with the whole raspberries, placing them evenly-spaced around the perimeter.
22. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

I messed up getting this cake out of the tin. So the photo is a mess. It would've been nice to have an intact cake -- especially since I spent so long trying to arrange the pear slices prettily. But despite its dramatic self-destruction upon unmoulding, it still tastes delicious! So, definitely a keeper. Just be very careful getting it out of the tin.

[Update from 2026: it came out of the tin much more nicely this time!]

Pear Upside Down Cake

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

Topping

• 5 Tbsp. butter, softened
• 1/3 c. brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 2-3 pears, sliced
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. cardamom seeds, ground

Cake

• 6 Tbsp. butter, softened
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 225g all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 c. milk
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 6 Tbsp. unsweetened applesauce

Directions

1. Peheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease a 20-23cm (8-9") round tin.
2. Beat the 5 Tbsp. of butter with the brown sugar and maple syrup.
3. Spread the butter mixture evenly over the bottom of the prepared pan.
4. Toss the pear slices with the sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom.
5. Arrange the pear slices in the bottom of the pan.
6. Beat the 6 Tbsp. of butter with the sugar until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes).
7. Beat in eggs, one at a time.
8. In a separate bowl, combine flour and salt and sift in baking powder. Mix well.
9. Combine milk, vanilla, and applesauce in a measuring cup.
10. Add the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the milk mixture in two additions.
11. Give a final stir to ensure that everything is well-mixed.
12. Pour batter over pears.
13. Bake at 180°C (350°F) until cake is done (60-70 minutes).
14. Run a knife or spatula around the edge of the pan and then invert onto plate and carefully lift off the pan.
15. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.

I've made cakes that rely on dates for sugar and/or flavour before, but this is the first time I've used prunes for that purpose. It works really well though! Especially with all the spices.

My mom shared this recipe with me. And we both agreed that it didn't need anywhere near the full amount of sugar or oil called for. She also omitted the glaze. It seemed unnecessary given how sweet and rich the cake already was.

The original recipe called for 1 1/2 c. of sugar and 1 c. of oil. My mom cut the sugar back to 1 1/4 c. the first time she made it. And cut the oil all the way back to 1/4 c. (adding 1 c. of applesauce to make up for the missing oil).

I scaled back the sugar even further, to 1 c. I still found the cake plenty sweet enough. You could probably knock the sugar back even further if you were so inclined. And I would be tempted to swap out some or all of the granulated sugar with brown sugar next time. I think that the slight molasses flavour of the brown sugar would go really well with the fruit and spices.

Prune Cake

Slightly adapted from Allrecipes

Ingredients

• 1 c. pitted prunes, chopped
• 1/2 c. water
• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. allspice berries, ground
• 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 c. oil
• 3/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1 c. buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 c. pecans, chopped

Directions

1. Bring the prunes and water to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Combine the flour, sugar, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt.
4. Sift in the baking soda and stir to combine.
5. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a Bundt pan.
6. Combine the oil, applesauce, buttermilk, and eggs and mix well.
7. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined.
8. Mix in the prunes along with any residual liquid.
9. Stir in the pecans.
10. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
11. Bake at 180°C (350°F) until done (~45 minutes).
12. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack to finish cooling.

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.

We had the Kidlet's birthday party this past weekend. She requested cake pops rather than a regular cake, which actually worked out really well. That said, once we'd finished with the cake pops on Saturday, TF and I were both craving some sort of dessert that we could eat. So I quickly threw together this sheet cake as well.

Powdered buttermilk and frozen lemons meant that it was easy to make with ingredients on hand, without needing to do a special shop for supplies. And I also appreciated that the glaze can be added while the cake is still warm. (In theory, you're still supposed to wait for it to cool completely before you actually cut it, but at least the glaze can go on right away. And you can always cheat the timing on cutting it a bit in a way that you can't do with icing.)

I cut back the sugar a little bit for this one, but I was nervous about scaling it back too far because there's so little else in the cake to begin with. I omitted ~50g of sugar from the cake itself and maybe 40g from the glaze. I might've been able to reduce it a bit further, but I'd be wary of changing it too much more. This might just be one of those recipes that I enjoy sparingly and infrequently and just let it be an extra-rich treat when I do have it.

Lemon-Buttermilk Sheet Cake

Slightly adapted from The Perfect Cake by America's Text Kitchen

Ingredients

Cake

• 280g soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 3/4 c. buttermilk
• 1/4 c. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 300g sugar
• 3 Tbsp. lemon zest
• 3/4 c. unsalted butter, softened
• 3 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk

Glaze

• 300g icing sugar
• 3-4 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp. powdered buttermilk (or 1-2 Tbsp. regular buttermilk)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 160°C (350°F) and grease and flour a 23x33cm (9x13") cake tin.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
3. Mix in the salt and set aside.
4. Combine the buttermilk, lemon juice, and vanilla in a measuring cup and set aside.
5. Beat the sugar with the lemon zest until well-mixed and fragrant.
6. Separate out ~1/4 c. of the sugar and set aside.
7. Cream the butter into the remaining lemon sugar.
8. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the egg yolk.
9. Mix in the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the wet ingredients in two additions.
10. Give a final stir by hand and then pour the batter into the prepared tin.
11. Bake at 160°C (325°F) for 25-35 minutes.
12. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
13. Meanwhile, make the glaze by mixing the icing sugar, lemon juice, and buttermilk powder (or buttermilk) together until it reaches a smooth, pourable consistency.
14. Pour the glaze over the cake, making sure it covers the entire surface.
15. Sprinkle with reserved lemon sugar and allow to cool completely before cutting into squares and serving.

Sometimes you just get a craving that will not quit. I had one for chocolate cake hit me last week and nothing I did would banish the thought from my head. So I finally gave in and picked out a recipe I hadn't tried before.

I like a good sour cream chocolate cake. And I appreciated that this one didn't need any sort of glaze or icing. They suggest serving it with lightly sweetened raspberries and tangy whipped cream, but those are both completely optional and the cake is still lovely on its own or with just a light dusting of icing sugar.

Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake

Slightly adapted from The Perfect Cake by America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

• 65g cocoa powder¹
• 170g dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 tsp. instant espresso or coffee powder
• 3/4 c. boiling water
• 240g all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 c. sour cream
• 12 Tbsp. (~170g) unsalted butter, softened
• 400g brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 5 large eggs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour² a Bundt pan.
2. Combine cocoa, chocolate, and coffee powder in a heat-proof bowl.
3. Pour the boiling water into the bowl, cover, and let stand for 5 minutes.
4. Stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is homogeneous. Set aside.
5. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and salt and sift in the baking soda. Mix well and set aside.
6. Add the sour cream to the chocolate mixture and stir to combine.
7. Cream the butter with the sugar until light (~3 minutes).
8. Mix in the vanilla.
9. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
10. Add ~1/3 of the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
11. Add ~1/2 of the sour cream mixture and, once combined, follow with 1/2 the remaining dry ingredients.
12. Finish up by mixing in the last of the sour cream mixture followed by the last of the dry ingredients.
13. Scoop the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
14. Bake at 180°C (350°F) until done (40-50 minutes).
15. Allow to cool in tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack to finish cooling.
16. Serve as-is or topped with a dusting of icing sugar, fresh or macerated fruit of your choice, and/or whipped cream. (Or tangy whipped cream, if you prefer.

---

¹ The original recipe calls for using natural cocoa powder. I got mixed up and used Dutched/alkalized cocoa instead. I was very happy with the results, so I'm going to go ahead and say that either is fine. I think there's probably enough acid in the sour cream that the pH of the cocoa powder doesn't really matter that much for this one. ^Back
2 If you're worried about flour showing on the surface of the finished cake, brush the pan with a paste of melted butter and cocoa instead. About 1 Tbsp. of each should do the trick. ^Back

More feijoas! I only have a week left, so I'm going to have to kick it into high gear if I want to get through the rest of them before I go!

This cake was delicious! Rich and moist with just a hint of spice. I loved it.

Photo goes here.

Feijoa Walnut Cake

Slightly adapted from NZ Woman's Weekly

Ingredients

• 1 large egg
• 100g butter, melted
• 100g sugar¹
• 300g feijoa pulp, chopped
• 1 c. (~120g) chopped walnuts
• 1 c. dried cranberries, sultanas, and/or raisins
• 120g soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 2 tsp. mixed spice²
• 2 tsp. baking soda

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a 20cm (8") springform pan³.
2. Beat the egg with the butter.
3. Add the sugar, feijoa, walnuts, and dried fruit and mix well.
4. Sift in the flour, mixed spice, and baking soda and stir to combine.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake at 180°C (350°F) for ~45 minutes.
6. Serve warm or at room temperature.

---

¹ The original recipe called for 3/4 c. caster sugar. I opted to use 100g (~1/2 c.) of granulated sugar. I was perfectly happy with the results from doing it this way. I found the cake was sweet enough to taste like a special treat without being cloying. That said, with the raisins/cranberries in, I think you could probably take it as low as 75g if you wanted to. I'd also be tempted to try it with brown sugar next time. Just to see how it compares. That said, I don't think either of these modifications are necessary, they'd just be interesting experiemnts to try. ^Back
2 Reiver didn't have any mixed spice ready to hand, but did have a surplus of pumpkin pie spice, so I just used that. While the two mixes are not the same they are very similar, so I usually find that I can get away with substituting one for the other in most cases. ^Back
3 I didn't have a 20cm springform pan available, so I just used a 23cm (9") one instead. It will bake a little faster in the larger diameter pan, but works fine otherwise. ^Back

I messed this one up. I should've known better, but I was tired and lazy and foolishly assembled my upside down cake in a springform pan. Which, of course, meant that all of the butter and sugar for the topping ran out the bottom of the pan. Very sad.

I thought that I'd gotten the baking paper high enough up the sides that everything would be contained. Evidently, I was wrong.

The cake was great otherwise! I really liked the bit of almond flour in the batter. It gave it a nice flavour and texture. And it was still tasty even without its caramel topping. I just wish that I hadn't wasted the ingredients. Next time I'll do it in a standard 20cm (8") round pan. (Really, I probably should've just done it in a 20cm square baking dish and called it a day. I might not've been able to unmould it from the square casserole dish, but at least it wouldn't've leaked! Oh well... like I said: next time.)

Photo goes here.

Feijoa and Apple Upside Down Cake

Slightly adapted from NZ Woman's Weekly

Ingredients

• 50g butter, melted
• 1/3 c. brown sugar
• 6-9 large feijoas, halved lengthwise and scooped
• 1 apple, peeled and diced
• 125g butter, softened
• 100g sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 180g soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 60g ground almonds (almond flour/meal)
• 2 tsp. baking powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease a 20 or 22cm round cake tin, then line the bottom with baking paper.
2. Pour the melted butter into the bottom of the pan and sprinkle with the brown sugar.
3. Arrange the feijoas, cut-side-down, on top.
4. Fill in any gaps with pieces of apple.
5. Cream the softened butter with the sugar until light (~3 minutes).
6. Mix in the vanilla.
7. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
8. Add the flour, ground almonds, and sift in the baking powder, then stir it all together until just combined.
9. Spoon the batter over the fruit and smooth into an even layer.
10. Bake at 180°C (350°F) until cake tests done (45-55 minutes).
11. Let cool in pan for ~15 minutes before inverting onto plate.
12. Serve with yogurt, whipped cream, and/or ice cream (if desired).

The feijoas started ripening a couple of weeks ago. And now the limes on the tree out front are starting to ripen too! And we still have a surplus of coconut in the cupboard, so this cake seemed pretty much perfect. It came out so nice!

The original recipe called for a cream cheese icing to top it with, but I didn't bother to ice it. I'm sure it would have been nice, but it was just lovely as-is without it too.

Feijoa-Coconut-Lime Cake

Slightly adapted from NZ Woman's Weekly

Ingredients

• 150g butter, softened
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 150g soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 1 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 c. dessicated coconut
• 250g feijoa pulp, chopped
• zest and juice of 2 limes

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a 20x20cm (8x8") cake tin.
2. Cream the butter with the sugar.
3. Beat in eggs, one at a time.
4. Mix in the vanilla.
5. Add the flour and sift in the baking powder, then mix it in.
6. Stir in the coconut, followed by the feijoa pulp, juice, and lime zest.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin.
8. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for ~45 minutes.
9. Let cool in tin for 15-20 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

It was my birthday yesterday. (I guess, technically, it's kind of still my birthday; it's still the 8th back in Ontario.)

Anyway, it was a pretty low-key birthday overall. Both because I didn't really want to do anything big for it and because the Kidlet had caught a cold and was feeling a bit under the weather. I did want to at least make a cake to mark the occasion though. And, after perusing the various recipes in my collection, I decided to hit up this one from my collection of recipes from the Something Awful CAKE thread.

It's a pretty simple, no-bake cheesecake recipe. Nothing too fancy. Just make the crust, beat together all the ingredients for the filling, pour it over, and chill until set. No fancy techniques or decorations. No icing. No layers. But that was honestly exactly the type of thing I wanted for the day. And, if I was going to do a cheesecake, how could I resist the Milo one? It was the perfect recipe to try out while I was here in New Zealand.

Not only is it a straight-forward, chilled cheesecake full of Milo. The crust is basically just a batch of chocolate crackles mushed into the bottom of a springform pan!

I mean, it's not quite exactly the recipe from Edmonds, but only because the author has you use real milk chocolate rather than getting you to make ersatz chocolate by combining shortening, icing sugar, and cocoa powder the way the Edmonds recipe does. Same idea though.

And, given that this recipe specifically calls for 250g of "good quality milk chocolate", Reiver pointed out that the author almost certainly had Whittaker's in mind. Since it's one of the only brands that still comes in 250g blocks. So, between that, and the Milo, and the inclusion of thickened cream, this does, indeed, feel like a very NZ recipe.

It is also, as it turns out, delicious! I liked this one a lot. It's easy to make, not too sweet, and nicely flavoured. The chocolate crackle crust comes out pretty firm, so it can be a bit challenging to get your fork through it, but it tastes lovely and adds an interesting texture to the base. Also, the fact that the crust is so sturdy makes it relatively easy to lift off the pan in one piece. I mean, it was a little tricky to get any implements under it initially. But once we managed to wedge the edge of a spoon under there, we were pretty much able to lever the whole thing up and slide it over onto a plate without any worries about the structural integrity. So that was handy!

I don't think this is my favourite cheesecake that I've ever made, but it is certainly a good one! I liked it a lot, I'm glad I tried it, and I would definitely make it again.

ETA: Now that I've clicked through to the link provided in the original post, I see that this was presented as an Australian recipe, not a NZ one. Oh well... I still think it was very approparite to NZ, so no complaints here.

Milo Cheesecake

From Raspberri Cupcakes via the Something Awful forums

Ingredients

Crust

• 250g milk chocolate (preferably Whittaker's)
• 1/3 c. dessicated coconut
• 2 c. Rice Krispies

Filling

• 300mL thickened cream or heavy (35%) cream
• 340g cream cheese, softened
• 75g sugar
• 4 tsp. unflavoured gelatine
• 3 Tbsp. cold water
• 200mL milk
• 1 1/2 c. Milo (plus extra to decorate)

Directions

1. Lightly oil a 20cm (8") springform pan.¹
2. Melt the chocolate over low heat.
3. Mix in the coconut, then stir in the Rice Krispies.
4. Once everything is well-mixed, press the chocolate mixture into the bottom of the springform pan in an even layer.
5. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, whip the cream until soft peaks form. Set aside.
7. In a clean bowl, beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy.
8. Beat in the sugar until well-combined.
9. In a small bowl, combine the gelatine with the water and set aside.
10. Heat the milk over medium heat until just boiling.
11. Remove milk from heat and mix in the Milo.
12. Add the softened gelatine to the Milo mixture and stir until smooth and well-mixed.
13. Add the Milo mixture to the cream cheese mixture and beat until evenly mixed.
14. Fold in the whipped cream.
15. Pour the filling over the crust.
16. Chill for at least 3 hours.
17. Run a hot knife around the edge of the pan and pop off the sides.
18. Carefully lift the cake off the base and transfer to a serving platter.
19. Sprinkle with additional Milo and serve.

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¹ I ended up using a 24cm (~9") springform pan for my rendition of this cake. Obviously this resulted in a wider, but shorter cake, but it was fine. The crust was still thick enough and everything seemed to work out fine. That said, if you'd like a taller cake, the smaller pan is definitely the way to go. ^Back

Kugelhopf is a yeasted cake full of dried fruit. It's traditionally baked in a special toroidal pan, similar to a Bundt pan, but narrower and deeper. I don't have a kugelhopf pan, so I just used a Bundt pan instead.

Sourdough Kugelhopf

Slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. dried cherries
• 1/2 c. raisins
• 1 c. rum¹
• 1 Tbsp. orange blossom water
• 500g hard (strong/high grade/bread) flour
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 200g ripe (fed) sourdough starter
• 130g milk
• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 13 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 1-2 dozen whole almonds
• icing sugar, to garnish

Directions

1. Combine cherries, raisins, and rum and let stand overnight.
2. Drain fruit and mix in orange blossom water. (Discard rum or set aside for another use.)
3. Combine flour and salt and mix well.
4. In a separate bowl, combine starter, milk, eggs, and sugar and mix well.
5. Gradually mix wet ingredients into dry and knead with dough hook for a minute or two.
6. Cover and rest for 10 minutes.
7. Knead with dough hook for another 3-5 minutes.
8. Work in butter, 1 Tbsp. at a time, over the course of another 5 minutes or so.
9. Work in fruit and knead until evenly mixed and elastic.
10. Round dough and place in a covered bowl to rise for 2-4 hours, stretching and folding every 30-60 minutes.
11. Knock back the dough, round, cover, and rest for 20-30 minutes.
12. Grease a 10-12 cup kugelhopf or Bundt pan.
13. Place an almond in each "peak" in the bottom of the pan.
14. Round the dough again and make a hole through the centre.
15. Place the dough in the prepared pan, cover, and set aside to rise for another 3-6 hours (or overnight in the fridge).
16. Once ready to bake, preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
17. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 25 minutes.
18. Reduce heat to 190°C (375°F) and bake for another 15 minutes.
19. Turn out onto wire rack to cool.
20. Dust with icing sugar and serve.

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¹ The original recipe calls for kirsch, but I didn't have any (and TF and I don't like it anyway), so I used some spiced rum instead. ^Back

The Kidlet and I made this cake to take to Thanksgiving. It is a very rich, dense cake full of oatmeal and chocolate. And the peanut butter icing adds even more decadence.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

Slightly adapted from C&C Cakery

Ingredients

Cake

• 1 c. rolled oats
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 c. boiling water
• 225g dark chocolate chips (or coarsely chopped dark chocolate)
• 1 1/2 c. + 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour, divided
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 c. sugar¹
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Frosting

• 1 1/2 c. peanut butter
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 200g icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar²
• 3/4 c. heavy (35%) cream, whipped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F) and grease a 23x33cm (9x13") cake tin/baking dish.
2. Place the stick of butter with the oats, pour over the boiling water, and let stand for 1 minute.
3. Stir the oat mixture to thoroughly combine and let stand until cooled.
4. Meanwhile, toss the chocolate with 2 Tbsp. of the flour and set aside.
5. Beat the eggs with the sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and vanilla.
6. Add the oat mixture once cooled and stir to combine.
7. Mix in the remaining 1 1/2 c. of flour.
8. Stir in the flour-coated chocolate chips.
9. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread into an even layer.
10. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 35-45 minutes.
11. Allow to cool completely before icing.
12. Beat the peanut butter with the butter until light and fluffy.
13. Mix in the vanilla and salt.
14. Gradually sift in the icing sugar while continuing to beat vigorously.
15. Fold in the whipped cream.
16. Spread the icing evenly over the cooled cake.

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¹ The original recipe called for 3/4 c. sugar and 1 1/4 c. brown sugar. I used the full amount of granulated sugar, but only 1 c. of brown sugar this time around. The cake came out great, but I'd be tempted to try it with slightly less sugar next time. Maybe just 1/2 of granualted and 1 c. of brown. And, if that works well, I'd be tempted to omit the granulated sugar altogether on future attempts and just roll with 1 1/4 c. of brown sugar. That said, I didn't want to adjust things too much too fast. Hence the incremental approach. ^Back
2 The original recipe called for 2 c. of icing sugar. I weighed my sugar and found it came in at ~125g/cup. So I used ~250g of icing sugar for my frosting. That said, I found it a little sweeter and stiffer than I'd ideally like, so I think I'd aim for closer to 200g of sugar next time. ^Back

This is an interesting cake. It is basically a very rich, moist chocolate cake that is "iced" with chocolate pudding rather than a buttercream or ganache or some more traditional cake coating. It is baked as two 20cm (8") round layers, each of which are then split. Three of the resulting thin layers are used to assemble the cake and the fourth is crumbled and used to coat the outside.

I didn't get my batter divided quite evenly and one of my layers baked up a little thinner than the other. I was a bit nervous about trying to split the thinner one, so I just left it whole and split the thicker one only. I then stacked two of the resulting layers and crumbled the third. This, of course, resulted in a reduced overall surface area, so the filling and "icing" are somewhat more generous than they're really meant to be. (Same overall proportions, of course, just thicker layers since there are fewer of them.)

This worked fine, but did mean that the cake was a little more... wobbly than it would have been had I made it with the "correct" number of layers.

Honestly, if I had two 18cm (7") round pans, then I'd be tempted to bake my cake in those next time. The 8" layers baked up fine. But I would've felt more confident about splitting them had they been slightly thicker. I think 6" layers would probably be too thick/tall. But 7" might be just about right. Sadly, I only have one 7" pan at the moment. Which still might be worth trying next time. It just makes it slightly more difficult to get the batter divided evenly and, obviously, ends up requiring double the cooking time since you have to bake the layers one after the other rather than in tandem. So, possibly something to consider, but definitely not ideal.

Other than my lack of confidence in splitting the layers though, this recipe worked out great! The cake was delicious and moist with deep chocolate flavour. (Which the coffee and brown sugar help to accentuate.) And the pudding was also pleasingly rich and thick. A winner all 'round!

Chocolate Blackout Cake

Slightly adapted from The Perfect Cake by America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

Pudding

• 1 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 2 c. milk
• 1 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. cornstarch (cornflour)
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 170g unsweetened chocolate
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Cake

• 110g all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter
• 3/4 c. Dutched (alkalized) cocoa powder
• 1 c. brewed coffee
• 1 c. buttermilk
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1 c. sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. Combine cream, milk, sugar, cornstarch, and sea salt over medium heat.
2. Break chocolate into pieces and add to milk mixture.
3. Cook, whisking frequently, until chocolate has completely melted and mixture is smooth and homogenous.
4. Continue cooking until bubbles begin to form and pudding thickens.
5. Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla, and set aside to cool.
6. Chill for at least 3-4 hours.
7. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 160°C (325°F) and grease and flour¹ two 20cm (8") round baking tins.
8. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
9. Mix in the salt.
10. Melt the butter over medium heat.
11. Mix in the cocoa and cook for 1 minute.
12. Remove from heat and stir in the coffee and buttermilk.
13. Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar.
14. Mix in the eggs, one at a time.
15. Mix in the vanilla.
16. Divide the batter as evenly as possible between the prepared tins.
17. Bake at 160°C (325°F) for 30-35 minutes.
18. Transfer cake layers (still in their tins) to a cooling rack and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
19. Invert tins onto cooling racks and carefully remove the cakes from their tins. Allow to cool completely (1-2 hours).
20. Once cake layers are completely cool, divide each one horizontally.²
21. Place one layer on a serving platter.
22. Spoon ~1 c. of pudding on top and spread all the way to the edges of the layer.
23. Top with a second layer and repeat the process: spreading 1 c. of putting on top.
24. Place a third layer on top and spoon the rest of the pudding over it, completely covering the entire cake -- top and sides.
25. Crumble the fourth layer and sprinkle the chocolate crumbs on top of your assembled cake, covering the top and sides. You will have to press slightly to get the crumbs to adhere to the pudding. Especially on the sides of the cake.
26. Serve immediate or refridgerate for up to 2 days.

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¹ You may wish to line the bottoms with parchment paper and grease the paper before flouring. This adds an extra step, but will help ensure that the cake relases from the pans cleanly. ^Back
2 The folks at America's test kitchen recommend doing this with a serrated knife. The outline a procedure of scoring the perimeter of the cake layers and then cutting through along the scored lines to get a level split. Personally, I have always preferred my mother's method of using a piece of thread. You simply take a long piece of thread and wrap it around the cake (doing your best to make sure it's roughly level/even all the way around), then grab both ends and pull tightly. The thread should slice neatly through the cake! I've found it a ver quick and reliable method and prefer it to faffing about with knives or cake levelling contraptions. ^Back

I've made other applesauce cakes before, but I'd never tried the one out of The Breakfast Bible specifically. And since I am apparently trying to 100% as many cookbooks as possible, I decided to give it a go. It was pretty good. But, honestly, I think I probably prefer the version out of the Kidlet's ATK cookbook over this one. Still... glad I tried it. If nothing else it's another recipe to check off and another point for comparison.

Applesauce Crumb Cake

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Cake

• 370g all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 200g sugar
• 200g brown sugar
• 3/4 c. canola oil
• 3/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 3 large eggs
• 3 apples, peeled and cubed

Crumb Topping

• 120g all-purpose flour
• 100g brown sugar
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a 23x33cm (9x13") baking pan.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl (or large measuring cup), combine the sugar, brown sugar, oil, applesauce, and eggs.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until combined.
5. Add the apples and stir until just mixed.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread into an even layer.
7. Combine the flour and sugar for the topping and cut in the butter.
8. Press into a ball and then separate into coarse crumbs.
9. Sprinkle the crumbs over the cake.
10. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for ~1 hour.
11. Transfer to wire rack to cool.
12. Once cooled, cut into squares and serve.

I picked up some strawberries on sale the other day. I was originally thinking of doing a sort of ice cream parfait with them... but then we ate all the vanilla ice cream, so I perused the cookbook for other strawberry recipes.

I appreciate how quick-cooking this cake is, but I do feel like the size is a little off. The recipe instructs baking in a 9" raound pan. And doing this certainly does make it quick to bake and cool. However, I feel like the high surface area also makes the assembly more difficult and the proportions feel off. Because the cake is so thin, it's a bit tricky to split into layers. And the high surface area makes it difficult to get good coverage with the toppings/filling. Next time I think I'd try baking it in a 20cm (8") round pan and just bake it and cool it for slightly longer. Other than that, this was great though! (The Kidlet was especially enthusiastic.)

Vanilla Chiffon Cake with Strawberries and Cream

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 125g soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 c. sugar, divided
• 1/4 c. canola oil
• 2 large eggs, separated
• 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract, divided
• 1/4 c. water
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
• 450g fresh strawberries, sliced
• 1-2 Tbsp. Cointreau
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 1 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1 Tbsp. icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and line the bottom of a 20cm (8") round pan with parchment paper. Do not grease the pan!
2. Sift together the flour and baking powder.
3. Whisk in 1/4 c. of the sugar.
4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks into the canola oil.
5. Mix in 1 tsp. of the vanilla and the water.
6. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt and cream of tartar until foamy.
7. Increase speed to high and add 1/4 c. of sugar 1 Tbsp. at a time, beating until stiff peaks form.
8. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix well.
9. Add ~1/3 of the meringue and stir to combine.
10. Add the remaining meringue and gently fold it into the batter.
11. Pour the prepared batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
12. Bake at 180°C (350°) until done¹.
13. Transfer to wire rack to cool in pan for ~20 minutes.
14. Meanwhile, combine the strawberries, remaining 1/4 c. of sugar, Cointreau, and lemon zest and set aside.
15. Combine the cream, icing sugar, and remaining 1/2 tsp. of vanilla extract and beat until cream stiffens.
16. Run a thin spatula around the edge of the pan and then turn the cake out onto the wire rack, remove the parchment paper from the bottom, and allow to cool for another 10-20 minutes.
17. Carefully split the cake into two separate layers.
18. Place the bottom layer, cut-side-up, on a large plate.
19. Spoon about half of the strawberries (with any accompanying juices) onto the bottom half of the cake.
20. Spread ~1/2 of the whipped cream over the strawberries.
21. Top with the other cake layer (cut-side-down).
22. Spread the remaining whipped cream on top and top with remaining strawberries.

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¹ My cake took 17 minutes, but I was baking it in a 23cm (9") round pan. I would expect it to take a bit longer in a 20cm (8") pan, maybe 25 minutes, but I would recommend checking at 20. ^Back

This is an interesting cake: no leavener (beyon whipped egg whites), not too sweet, and with lots of pistachios in! It actually contains twice as much pistachio by volume as flour. The use of whipped egg whites/French meringue in the batter along with fat (in the form of melted butter) puts me in mind of a chiffon cake. But I feel like this has more flour than I'd normally expect in a chiffon. That said, I don't have enough experience with chiffon cakes to know for sure. Anyway, as noted, it's a nice, nutty cake that doesn't come out overly sweet.

Along with the pistachios, the batter incorporates a bit of vanilla and some orange zest for flavour. These were both very nice with it (although I didn't feel that the orange came through particularly strongly), but I think it would be interesting to try swapping out the vanilla for some rosewater next time. Not that I wasn't excellent the way it was, but pistachio and rose are such a classic combo that I'd really like to give it a try here. I actually ended up sprinkling a few rose petals on top before serving. Not enough to noticeably affect the flavour though; I just thought it needed a bit of decoration.

Pistachio-Orange Cake

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 2 c. (~250g) pistachios
• 1 1/4 c. sugar, divided
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. orange zest
• 6 large egg whites (~3/4 c.)
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract (or rosewater)
• 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar and/or dried rose petals

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (325°F) and spread the pistachios out on a baking sheet.
2. Bake at 160°C (325°F) until toasted and fragrant (6-8 minutes), shaking the pan every 2 minutes. Transfer to plate to cool.
3. Increase oven temperature to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a 23cm (9") springform pan.
4. Coarsely chop half of the pistachios. (A few quick pulses in a food processor works well for this.)
5. Transfer the chopped nuts to a bowl and set aside.
6. Add the remaining nuts to a food processor or blender along with 1/2 c. of the sugar and pulse until finely ground.
7. Add the flour and orange zest and pulse until mixed.
8. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until foamy.
9. Add the vanilla and the remaining 3/4 c. of sugar 1 Tbsp. at a time while continuing to beat until stiff peaks form.
10. Quickly but gently fold the flour mixture into the meringue.
11. Add the butter and chopped pistachios and quickly fold those in as well.
12. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
13. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 35-40 minutes.
14. Transfer to wire rack to cool for ~10 minutes.
15. Remove sides from springform pan and allow to cool for another few minutes.
16. Carefully remove cake from pan bottom and place on wire rack to finish cooling.
17. Dust with icing sugar and sprinkle with rose petals before serving.

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Variations

No Refined Sugar Pistachio-Rose Cake

I haven't had a chance to test this yet, but I think it would be interesting to try making this cake with powdered dates in place of granulated sugar. I'm not sure how well it would work for making the meringue, but I think it would be worth a try. I'd also be tempted to replace 1-2 Tbsp. of the butter with orange juice, just to amp up the orange flavour a bit (while also slightly reducing the fat). I know this wouldn't exactly turn this cake into health food, but it would hopefully make it a bit healier and maybe a little more diabetic-friendly. So, here we go!

Ingredients

• 2 c. (~250g) pistachios
• 1 1/4 c. powdered dates, divided
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. orange zest
• 6 large egg whites (~3/4 c.)
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. orange juice, divided
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract (or rosewater)
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
• icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar and/or dried rose petals

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (325°F) and spread the pistachios out on a baking sheet.
2. Bake at 160°C (325°F) until toasted and fragrant (6-8 minutes), shaking the pan every 2 minutes. Transfer to plate to cool.
3. Increase oven temperature to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a 23cm (9") springform pan.
4. Coarsely chop half of the pistachios. (A few quick pulses in a food processor works well for this.)
5. Transfer the chopped nuts to a bowl and set aside.
6. Add the remaining nuts to a food processor or blender along with 1/2 c. of the date powder and pulse until finely ground.
7. Add the flour and orange zest and pulse until mixed.
8. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt and 1 tsp. of the orange juice until foamy.
9. Add the vanilla and the remaining 3/4 c. of date powder 1 Tbsp. at a time while continuing to beat until stiff peaks form.
10. Quickly but gently fold the flour mixture into the meringue.
11. Add the butter, remaining orange 5 tsp. of juice, and chopped pistachios and quickly fold those in as well.
12. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
13. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 35-40 minutes.
14. Transfer to wire rack to cool for ~10 minutes.
15. Remove sides from springform pan and allow to cool for another few minutes.
16. Carefully remove cake from pan bottom and place on wire rack to finish cooling.
17. Dust with icing sugar and sprinkle with rose petals before serving.

TF was hankering for chocolate cake and trying to resist the urge to order a slice when we were getting dinner the other night. I told her to skip ordering it and I'd make a chocolate cake while we were waiting for the order to arrive.

I spent a while browsing recipes and decided to roll with the bourbon-chocolate Bundt cake from the Dessert of the Day cookbook. Except that I didn't have any bourbon. So I opted to swap in some dark spiced rum instead. I'm pretty happy with the result, but I found the alcohol taste a little strong when the cake was still fresh. It has mellowed out over the last few days though and I like it better now.

I appreciate that this is an easy recipe to throw together. The batter is simple (and, as an added bonus, it used up a bunch of the sour cream that I had sitting in the fridge) and the "glaze" is basically just a dark chocolate ganache with a little corn syrup added for shine.

It's not a "favourite" chocolate cake for any of us to be sure. But it is a good one. And it's easy and convenient, so that definitely earns it some points!

Chocolate-Rum Bundt Cake

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

Cake

• 1 c. unsalted butter
• 125g dark chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 c. (55g) natural cocoa powder
• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 3 large eggs
• 2 c. sugar
• 1 c. sour cream
• 3/4 c. dark spiced rum
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract¹

Icing

• 125g dark chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 2 Tbsp. corn syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a 10-cup Bundt pan.
2. Melt the butter and chocolate for the cake over medium heat, whisking until smooth.
3. Remove from heat and mix in the cocoa. Set aside and allow to cool.
4. In a separate bowl, sift the baking soda into the flour and mix in the salt.
5. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar on medium speed until lightened in both texture and colour.
6. Reduce speed to low and beat in the sour cream, bourbon, and vanilla.
7. Beat in the chocolate mixture.
8. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Be sure to give a final stir by hand.
9. Pour batter into prepared pan.
10. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 45-55 minutes.
11. Allow to cool in pan for 5-10 minutes.
12. Turn out onto wire rack to cool.
13. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate and cream for the icing over medium-low heat, whisking until smooth.
14. Mix in the corn syrup and vanilla and set aside to cool.
15. Once cake and icing are both at least mostly cooled (room temperature or slightly above), place the cake (still on the wire rack) on a rimmed baking sheet and pour the icing over, allowing it to drip down the sides as desired.
16. Allow icing to set and cool a little more before cutting.
17. Serve alone or with strawberries and whipped cream.

¹ I ran out of vanilla extract, so I ended up using ~3/4 tsp. of extract plus the paste/seeds from half a vanilla bean. ^Back