These little friands make a delightful afternoon tea or finger food dessert. Preheat your oven to 180ºC (350ºF). Brush 30 mini muffin pans with melted butter then dust with flour. Melt 170g (6 oz) of butter and allow it to cool a little. In a mixing bowl combine 155g (5½ oz) of sifted icing sugar, 155g (5½ oz) of almond meal and 70g (2½…… Continue reading berry friands
Category: cakes
chocolate whiskey raisin cake
In search of an elusive cake once eaten, I tried this recipe by Mietta O’Donnell. I still haven’t found it but this one was deliciously dark and rich with that hint of whiskey shining through. You must plan ahead to make this cake as you start by soaking ½ a cup of raisins in ½ a cup of…… Continue reading chocolate whiskey raisin cake
flourless poppy seed cake
A shared love of poppy seeds and a shared birthday made this the perfect celebration cake. Beat 100g (3½ oz) of butter and ⅔ of a cup of sugar. Add 4 egg yolks, one at a time. Add ½ cup of light sour cream. Beat 4 egg whites until stiff. Fold a little into the butter mixture. Partly fold…… Continue reading flourless poppy seed cake
birthday cake
A special birthday request from my sister led to us making this amazing cake. It’s the Momofuku Milk Bar Birthday Cake. A recipe at Hummingbird High was our guide and it took 3 hours to make. You will need a stand mixer and a tall freezer space for this recipe. There are four components to this cake:…… Continue reading birthday cake
baked lemon cheesecake with a walnut crust
A luscious creamy European-style baked cheesecake. This recipe makes a small cheesecake of 6 – 8 serves. For a larger cake add 50% to all the ingredients. Crush 50g (1¾ oz) of walnuts and 200g (7 oz) of plain sweet biscuits (cookies) to a fine crumb and add 100g (3½ oz) of melted butter. Press into a small cake tin…… Continue reading baked lemon cheesecake with a walnut crust
poppy seed cake
This is more like a slightly sweet bread than a cake. It’s delicious for breakfast and is actually traditionally eaten as a wedding breakfast amongst the Sorbian people, a Slavic race who number only 60,000 and live in Saxony, Germany. The recipe is adapted from the book Culinaria GERMANY. To make the dough mix 4 cups of flour with 2¼ teaspoons of dried yeast,…… Continue reading poppy seed cake
tarte tatin
This classic French dessert comes from the Hotel Tatin in Lamotte-Beuvron south of Paris. The hotel was run by two sisters, Stéphanie and Caroline Tatin. The tart was apparently created by Stéphanie Tatin when she left her apples on the stove too long and decided to put the pastry on top, serving it hot from the oven. It became a signature dish at…… Continue reading tarte tatin
cheese strudel
Here’s a nod to my Austro-Hungarian background. Preheat the oven to 200℃ (390℉). Combine 250g (8¾ oz) of farmers cheese, ⅓ of a cup of sugar, 1 cup of almond meal and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or paste and beat until smooth and creamy. Add 1 egg and beat well. Melt 40g of clarified butter or ghee. Lay out 5 sheets…… Continue reading cheese strudel
ginger almond slice
Maybe it’s genetic – a taste for ginger runs strong in my family. Here it’s the star in a buttery almond slice adapted from a recipe by Valli Little which was published in Delicious magazine in February 2007. Preheat your oven to 180℃ (350℉) and grease and line an 18 x 28cm (7 x 11″) rectangular tin. In…… Continue reading ginger almond slice
apple ricotta cake
Honey caramelised apples and olive oil give this cake it’s distinctive flavour. Perfect for afternoon tea and good served with vanilla ice cream. It also keeps very well. Preheat your oven to 170℃ (340℉). Peel and core 4 apples and cut into wedges. In a large frying pan combine the apples with ½ a cup of honey.…… Continue reading apple ricotta cake
michelle picker cooks 