Dark Chocolate & Aqua Vitae Prune Cake

The Recipe

Serves: 6-8 people
Preparation: overnight
Baking Time: 45 minutes

This lusciously indulgent cake is made with some absolutely delicious Aqua Vitae from Lindores Abbey Distillery in Fife, Scotland. If you can, get your hands on this balanced malt spirit with a myriad of balanced fruit, spices and locally grown herbs.

If you can’t do so, this recipe can be substituted with rum or even a whisky.

INGREDIENTS

Aqua Vitae Prunes
200g pitted prunes
100mls Lindores Abbey aqua vitae (if not, a dark rum, whiskey)
1 tblsp sugar
Combine all ingredients and soak for a minimum of two days until the prunes are deliciously plump and juicy.

Ingredients - Cake
200g unsalted butter
100g caster sugar
100g brown sugar
3 eggs
60g cocoa
¼ tsp sea salt
250g plain flour
1.5tsp baking powder
100g dark melted chocolate (65% or more)

Dark Chocolate Ganache
300g dark chocolate (70%), chopped into bits
300g cream
1 tbsp honey

METHOD

1. Heat the cream on a medium setting and melt in the chocolate and honey until combined Take off the heat and allow to cool completely.

2. Preheat the oven to 180 °Celsius and grease and line a round 20cm (ish) cake tin.

3. Strain the prunes, reserving the liquid, and roughly chop the prunes.

4. In an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.

5. Crack the eggs in a separate bowl individually before mixing them into the creamed butter mixture until combined. At this stage, you can add the reserved liquid from the soaked prunes.

6. Sift the cocoa, baking powder, salt, and cocoa in a separate bowl.

7. Mix the melted chocolate into the wet mixture and then fold in the dry ingredients

8. Place the batter in the lined cake tin and bake for 35-40 minutes

9. When the cake is done, allow to cool slightly before turning it out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

10. Dress the cooled cake with the ganache on top or just the sides, whatever you fancy

11. Cut into not-so-generous slices as this cake is sumptuously rich, you can always go back for a second – don’t worry, I won’t judge.

Russian Honey Cake (Medovik Torte)

The Recipe

Makes: 1 x 20cm cake
Preparation: 20 minutes
Baking Time: 1 hour

The Medovik Torte or Russian Honey cake was an invention of a young chef in the Imperial Palace of the Russian Empire in the 19th Century.

The Story of the Medovik Torte

The Medovik Torte or Russian Honey cake was an invention of a young chef in the Imperial Palace of the Russian Empire in the 19th Century. It was developed to incorporate honey into a dessert for Empress Elizabeth Alexeyevna, the wife of Alexander I who was not the biggest fan of honey.
The method of heating the honey to a caramel colour allows it to take on a sweet caramel flavor and the inclusion of a sour cream frosting allows it to balance out quite beautifully.

A word or two about honey

Honey, a wonderful golden liquid that has a composition of a complex mixture of sugars, water, vitamins, minerals, pollen, and protein. It is made by these wonderful little black and yellow foragers known as bees, who collect nectar from flowers (or honeydew) near and far, store it in their honey stomachs (crops) and regurgitate it into the little vessels of the hive. The vessel is then fanned with its wings which leads to water being evaporated and the pure honey remaining.

Bees have been going about their business for more than 100 million years according to fossil evidence of these little creatures that have been preserved in resin. Cave paintings in Spain dating back 8,000 years ago show that humans have relied on bees by raiding their nests and collecting the sweet liquid they produce. The earliest evidence of beekeeping was in Ancient Egypt where hives made of clay from the Nile were placed on rafts that travelled up and down the river depending on the season.

Honey bees, honey, and wax were a part of everyday life in the ancient world. The application of honeybees’ by-products was used for culinary purposes, spiritual and religious rituals, embalming, medicinal treatments, and even as a currency.

Honey is classified according to the floral source (monofloral, poly floral, blend) and by region or country. It can be bought in both its raw form and pasteurized form.  Raw honey comes straight from the honeycomb and is mashed and filtered to remove the honeycomb and other debris. Honey in its raw state is unadulterated, containing beneficial health and medicinal properties due to the pollen, propolis, antioxidants, natural vitamins, and minerals present. When honey is pasteurized, it results in a smooth clearer liquid and while it is aesthetically pleasing, will contain a loss of vitamins, essential nutrients, and minerals.

INGREDIENTS

CAKE
120g unsalted butter
300g browned honey
150g brown sugar
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
500g plain unbleached flour
1.5tsp bicarbonate soda
4 medium eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

FROSTING
200g browned honey
½ tsp salt
Zest of 1 orange
600g whipping cream.
400g sour cream

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180’C. Line as many trays as you have with baking paper and draw a 20cm circle on each bit of paper.

2. To brown the honey, place 500g In a large saucepan on medium heat and allow it to cook for 10 -15 minutes until it becomes a dark caramel colour. Keep a close eye on it as it may boil over. Turn off the heat and pour 300g into a heat-proof bowl and 200g into a separate bowl for the frosting.

3. The frosting is best made ahead and allowed to set further in the refrigerator so add sour cream to the cooled browned honey, orange zest, and salt. Mix well. Whip the cream in a separate bowl until firm, then fold it into the sour cream mixture until combined. Cover and store in the refrigerator while you make the cake

4. In the heat-proof bowl containing the browned honey, add sugar, salt, and butter. Heat slowly over a pot of boiling water until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Take off the heat and whisk in the bicarbonate soda.

5. Whisk eggs with vanilla in a separate bowl and then slowly whisk this into the honey-sugar mixture.

6. Finally sift flour and cinnamon and fold into the liquid mixture until combined

7. Measure 100 g of the cake batter and spread it evenly inside the drawn circle with a spatula. Repeat this on all the baking paper circles. Place in the oven and cook for 5-7 minutes until the batter is cooked. Allow the cake to cool slightly before transferring it to a cooling rack. Repeat this until you have about 10-12 cookie cake rounds. For the last 1-2 cakes you can cook at 130’C for about 8-10 minutes until the cake is nicely browned – this will be used for decorating later. Allow all the layers to cool completely before icing.

8. Start with the first layer by spreading a small amount of frosting on a 20cm circular cake board. Place the cake layer on top and then add, smoothing out evenly as you go. Keep layering until all the cake has been used up. Finally, ice the top and the sides of the cake. Return to the refrigerator and allow to set.

9. Blitz up the cooled cake layer that was baked in the oven slightly longer until you have a coarse breadcrumb consistency. When the cake is set, gently but firmly pat the crumbs to the top and the side of the cake.

10. Cut into generous slices, drizzle with extra honey, and indulge in this gorgeous cake!



English Tea Scones for Merienda

The Recipe

Makes: 12 x 50g scones
Preparation: 10 minutes
Baking Time: 12-15 minutes

The perfect cream scones for afternoon tea - clotted cream and strawberry jam is a must!

We all know about the age old tradition of afternoon tea in the United Kingdom.. consisting of cream scones, cute little crustless sandwiches and loose leaf tea... It is a tradition that was common amongst the upper-class societies in the 1800s and was a light meal, served between 4 and 6.

The tradition of this afternoon tea today is prevalent throughout the world with hotels and established restaurants offering this in-between meal that can be most opulent.

It is also a big tradition in Argentina, which is a reminder of the migration of British citizens to the country between 1837-1901. This was the Victorian Era when Argentina had gained independence from Spain and at the time it was an informal empire of the United Kingdom due to economic influences.

The immigrants to Buenos Aires in particular were industrialists and potential landowners who established their cultures with sports clubs (Cordoba Athletics Club, The Hurlingham Club), Harrods in 1912, and afternoon tea, known as Merienda consisting of baked goods, mate (an infusion of ground leaves and stems from the yerba mate shrub), coffee and always, always, dulce de leche.

A super easy recipe for these traditional scones (Skones or Skons, however, you want to pronounce it).

Enjoy crumbling in the flour and butter between your fingertips (my favourite bit), and of course.. eating them!

INGREDIENTS

260g plain flour
Pinch of fine sea salt
30g caster sugar
15g baking powder
120g unsalted butter, cubed
110g cream
1 Egg yolk (brushing on top)

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 200’C

2. Whisk the flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder

3. Rub in the cold butter to coarse breadcrumb consistency

4. Stir through the cream until the dough comes together

5. Cut/shape the scones into 50g pieces. It should be about 2.5cm thick before baking. If you don't want to weigh the scones - that's fine with me. You can even use cookie cutters to create different shapes if your heart desires so.

6. When shaped, place onto a lined tray and brush with egg yolk. Bake for 12-18 minutes until golden brown. Cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack

7. It is most important to eat scones slightly warmed, with clotted (or thick double) cream and always good strawberry jam.

Lamingtons for Milo

The Recipe

Makes: 12 medium lamingtons
Preparation: 30 minutes
Baking Time: 20-30 minutes

Supposedly named after Lord Lamington, the governor of the northern state, Queensland in the late 1800s these little vanilla cakes rolled in chocolate and coconut have become a cake that one either loves or hates.

I don't think that there are many foods that are iconic to Australia. Sure, we have pavlova, meat pies, sausage rolls and hamburgers with egg, canned beetroot, and pineapple, amazing seafood and then we have lamingtons.

Supposedly named after Lord Lamington, the governor of the northern state, Queensland in the late 1800s these little vanilla cakes rolled in chocolate and coconut have become a cake that one either loves or hates.

I remember the lamington drives when I was in primary school. The school would order a massive amount of artificial looking and tasting blocks of stale cake squished together with stark white cream and a small slathering of jam that resembled a little bit of a strawberry flavour. We raised quite a bit of money for these drives; however, the memory of those artificial cakes left a bad taste in my mouth....

Fast forward, to Singapore, in 2012. I was a proud owner of a cafe where I served just as many Australian ex-pats as I did local Singaporeans. It was here I started making my version of lamingtons. using fresh cake, good vanilla, and quality chocolate. Baking a batch at 5am, ensured a sell-out by 10am.

Fast forward, to Mexico, in 2014. A bright young Canadian Mexican graced us with his ever-enthusiastic presence and questioned me... "Do you know how to make lamingtons?", I sure do.

INGREDIENTS

CAKE
260g all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
113g butter unsalted (room temperature)
150g caster sugar
100mls milk
2 medium eggs (50g in weight each) @ room temperature
1 tsp good vanilla extract or ½ tsp vanilla bean paste

ICING
454 g icing sugar
30g cocoa (sifted)
42g salted butter
120 mls milk (4oz)
100g desiccated coconut

METHOD

1. Preheat the Oven to 180’ Celsius and grease and line with baking paper a 20cm square pan.

2. Beat butter, vanilla & sugar together until smooth and creamy.

3. In a separate bowl, sift flour & baking powder.

4. Add eggs to the butter mixture one by one

5. Add 1/3 of the flour and 1/3 of the milk and mix. Continue doing this until all the ingredients are used up, ending with the flour.\

6. Spoon into the pan and level off with a spatula.

7. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20-30 minutes. When a skewer is inserted into the centre of the cake it should come out clean.

8. Allow the cake to cool completely then wrap it in cling film and refrigerate overnight.

9. Once the cake is set and nice and firm, cut it into even squares.

10. Over a double boiler on medium heat, mix all ingredients (except the coconut) until melted and combined

11. Put the coconut in a separate bowl.

12. Take a square of the vanilla cake and dip it into the chocolate mixture until completely covered. Next roll the square in the coconut.

13. Place on a cooling rack to set

*The cake can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. If not used right away it can also be frozen and then defrosted (room temperature)

Banana Bread with Pecans

The Recipe

Makes: 1 loaf
Preparation: 10 minutes
Baking Time: 50-60 minutes

Despite the tradition of Australians grabbing a coffee and a slice of banana bread - the origins of this simple quick bread (chemically leavened) have its roots in late 18th Century America where pearlash was discovered - and later on, baking powder was used in the mid-19th Century. It is an easy bread to make so please try it!!

Whenever I touch down in Australia - I have to get my hands on a thick slice of banana bread that is well toasted and slathered in good salted butter. No matter how hard I try I can never replicate the giant loaves that are made in the factory that are dense and light all at the same time. But let’s just say this is a gourmet loaf and kills the craving when in need of banana bread while I’m in Singapore.

Despite the tradition of Australians grabbing a coffee and a slice of banana bread - the origins of this simple quick bread (chemical leavened) has it’s roots in late 18th Century America where pearlash was discovered - and later on baking powder was used in the mid 19th Century. It is an easy bread to make so please try it!!

INGREDIENTS

150g plain flour
100g wholemeal flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
70g white caster sugar
70g brown sugar
½ tsp sea salt
2-3 very ripe bananas (about 280g)
2 medium eggs
50g unsalted butter, melted
100g plain Greek yoghurt

100g pecans, roughly chopped
3 tblsp golden syrup (or honey)
40g salted butter

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180’C and line a loaf pan with baking paper and butter

2. Mix all the dry ingredients together

3. Mash up the bananas and mix in eggs, yoghurt and butter

4. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and mix well.

5. Pour the mixture into the loaf pan and sprinkle over the pecans

6. Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes. Insert a knife into the centre of the loaf, it should come out clean if it is cooked

7. While the cake is still hot, melt the golden syrup and butter together then pour over the cake.

8. Allow the cake to sit for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack

9. Slice and toast with lashings of butter.