Almond & Pear Cake | The Landlady

“‘Good gracious me,’ he said. ‘How absolutely fascinating.’ He turned away from the dog and stared with deep admiration at the little woman beside him on the sofa. ‘It must be the most awfully difficult to do a thing like that.’

‘Not in the least,’ she said. ‘I stuff all my little pets myself when they pass away. All you have another cup of tea?’

‘No, thank you,’ Billy said. The tea tasted faintly of bitter almonds, and he didn’t much care for it.”
The Landlady
Roald Dahl

The days are slowly warming, the scent of Australian pollen is beginning to fill the parks of Melbourne and the urge to run away to the countryside is coming in full. I would argue that there is no better place to experience Spring within Australia than Victoria - the brisk edge of chillness still lingers throughout but the days seem to stretch longer.

I took a trip to Daylesford to celebrate the warming weather, spending a weekend tucked away in a tiny studio airbnb, following random bush walks that seemed to stretch for hours, and lounging the afternoons away in a hot chocolate apothecary with numerous books. The town was delightfully quaint and brought about a few moments of reminiscing about my own childhood in a similar setting.

As most children, I adored Roald Dahl - I’ve gone on about my love for Matilda before (and assumption that I should probably have developed telekinetic powers since I also read a lot as a child). But, his short stories are oddly what remains firmly etched within my brain. I think I likely picked up a copy of his short stories from my parents bookshelf when I was around 14, expecting something similar to the children’s tales that I had devoured before, and was shocked to encounter stories of murder, horror and general…weirdness.

Picking up a book that contained the completed short stories of Roald Dahl was something special, and a recent reread has left me remembering the delights of his writing. Despite reading it previously, it seems that every short story’s end comes as a complete surprise, much like when I first read them.

While I promise this cake contains no secret ingredients that a particular character from one of his short stories is fond of - it is instead delicious. Moist, crumbly and perfect with a cup of tea and a good book on a spring afternoon.

Almond and Pear Cake
Makes one 8” cake
Ingredients
100g plain flour
125g butter
125g caster sugar
90ml milk
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
100g almond meal
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bi-carb
3 pears, peeled, cored and cut in half and thinly sliced
50g flaked almonds
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Grease an 8” cake tin, lining the bottom with a circle of baking paper.

2. Combine the apple cider vinegar and milk - leave to sit for five minutes, or until it begins to curdle.

3. Combine butter and sugar in the bowl of a mixer, and cream together until pale and fluffy. Slowly add in the prepared milk mixture while beating.

4. Remove the sugar mix from the mixer and fold in the flour, bi-carb, baking powder, almond meal and cinnamon. Mix until combined.

5. Pour the cake mixture into your prepared tin and arrange the slices of pear on top neatly (or messily - it’s your cake).

6. Place into the oven and bake for 25 minutes before removing it to scatter the flaked almonds over the top. Return the cake to the oven and cook for another 10 - 15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Though do be careful not to poke the skewer into one of the pear slices.

7. Leave to cool for at least 30 minutes before removing from tin. It is particularly good with a cup of tea and some coconut yoghurt. Enjoy!

Raspberry Meringue Tart | Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

‘The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts,
All on a summer day:
The Knave of Hearts, he stole those tarts,
And took them quite away!"
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Caroll

When I first moved to Melbourne at the age of 19, I began working at a tiny cafe near my house. Looking back - getting paid $14 an hour and working ridiculous shifts, really wasn't worth it or really that legal unfortunately. However, it did mean that I met a very good friend of mine, Laura. Her and her partner were regulars at the cafe, coming in almost every weekend. When I stopped working there, it was quite sudden and I did not have the opportunity to really say good to anyone - only a few months later though, at a showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 2 I spotted Laura, perched outside with a wand ready. We exchanged contact details - and since then, her and her partner have moved to Brisbane, but we've also travelled together and put effort in to make sure that we see most Marvel movies together.

She is also a absolutely huge Alice in Wonderland fan, and this year I planned an Alice in Wonderland Tea Party for her when she was down visiting. A weekend of op-shopping and cooking ensured that I put together a tea party that would make the Mad Hatter proud and leave all guests tumbling down the rabbit hole.Despite theming the whole tea party around Alice in Wonderland, I sort of missed out on making what I really wanted to, the Queen of Hearts' tart. So, obviously the solution was to wait till a rainy night months later to attempt to make it.

You will need a 25cm tart case and ideally a candy thermometer and a standmixer/electric beater but can be done without. You can use this method if you don’t have a candy thermometer https://www.thespruceeats.com/making-candy-without-a-candy-thermometer-520309.

*Note: if using fresh raspberries, up the ¼ cup of milk to ¾ a cup.

Raspberry Meringue Tart
Makes one large tart (25cm across)
Tart Pastry
550g plain flour
50g caster sugar
220g butter
185ml milk
Raspberry Filling
1 cup caster sugar
½ cup corn flour
1 tsp agar agar powder
1 lemon, zested and juiced
200g raspberries, fresh or frozen
¼ cup milk *see note
½ tsp vanilla extract
Meringue
½ cup chickpea liquid (the juice from a can of chickpeas!)
½ tsp cream of tartar60ml water
1 1/2 cup caster sugar
1 tsp agar agar powder 

Tart Pastry

1. Combine the sugar and flour in a large mixing bowl, adding in pieces of the butter and using your fingers to mix them. The result should resemble wet sand.

2. Make a well in the middle and pour in the milk, mixing until the pastry comes together into a ball.

3. Wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before use.

4. Preheat oven to 160C.

5. When the dough has had time to rest, prepare a 25cm tart case with cooking spray or butter.

6. Lightly dust a surface with flour and roll out the pastry dough until it approx. 5mm thick – ensure that the pastry has been rolled out to a sixe wider than the tart case and gently place the pastry into the prepared case, pressing the pastry into the corners. Trim any overhanging edges.

7. Line the pastry with baking paper, using baking beads or even rice/dried beans to weight it down. Blind bake for 20 minutes and leave to cool.

Raspberry Filling

1. Place all ingredients into a medium sized saucepan on a medium heat. Ensure that all ingredients have been well mixed together – mashing the raspberries when necessary.

2. Continue to heat on medium, stirring occasionally until the mixture resembles that of a pudding consistency.

3. Remove from heat and strain the mix through a fine mesh sieve or some cheesecloth – essentially you’re just trying to get all the seeds from the raspberries out. If you prefer you can totally leave them in.

4. Pour the raspberry filling into the prepared pastry and refrigerate overnight or at least for three hours (it will take a little while to set properly).

Meringue

1. Combine the chickpea liquid and the cream of tartar together and beat until stiff peaks form. It will take a few minutes – probably longer if you’re doing this by hand, though it is an amazing workout.

2. Combine the agar agar, water and sugar together in a small saucepan – heating until it reaches around 112C.

3. While beating the meringue, slowly pour in the hot sugar mixture, continuing to beat for the next 8 minutes or so – until the meringue has cooled.

4. When the meringue is ready, you can either use a piping bag or just a spoon to pop the meringue on top of the prepared raspberry tart – as much as you like.

5. A blowtorch is best – but if you don’t have one, like me, you can pop the tart into a low heat oven for a little or even use a few matches (I did this – didn’t work that great).

6. Leave for about 30 minutes to let the meringue set a little before cutting into the tart. Enjoy!

Dumplings | The Kitchen God's Wife

Back home, I told the cook girl to boil enough pots of water and to chop enough pork and vegetables to make a thousand dumplings, both steamed and boiled, with plenty of fresh ginger, good soy sauce, and sweet vinegar for dipping.
The Kitchen God's Wife
Amy Tan

I don’t think I’d ever really eaten a dumpling of any kind, before I moved to Melbourne. While there were a few Chinese restaurants in the country town I called home, my family never really frequented them. Instead most our eating out consisted of milkshakes and burgers at a local cafe, or fish and chips on a Friday night, called in ten minutes early to the fish and chip shop in the tiny neighbouring town that was closest to our house.

When I moved to Melbourne though I discovered the deliciousness that is a dumpling. While there may be many disagreements for where the best dumplings in the city are, my vote goes to Shanghai Dumpling House. Terrible service, tissues on tables instead of napkins and food that is usually thrown on the table without a word - however, there’s no better place to devour plate after plate of deliciously hot dumplings during the cold days, filling up on the decadent plates (15 dumplings for $7 is pretty great) and refilling cup after cup of the free tea.

I think I devoured most of Amy Tan’s novels in the same way - trying to hide away during winter and read as much as possible at once, frantically trying to finish so I could see how the story would end. It was once I’d finished, and looked back at the mentions of food throughout that I realised I’d never made dumplings. It was the following weekend that I also realised that my local asian grocer had an entire fridge utterly filled with different kinds of dumpling wrappers - if I believed in signs from the universe, this would have been a sign.

*Note: Depending where you go there may be lots of different types of dumplings wrappers available. Try and get the jiaozi ones - it’s what I used and they were perfect.

Dumplings
Makes approx. 3 - 4 dozen
Ingredients
Dumpling wrappers *see note (at least a pack of 50)
3 tbsp vegetable oil + 1/4 cup
2 tsp minced ginger
1 brown onion, very finely diced
1 carrot, finely grated
2 cups shiitake mushrooms, very finely diced
1/2 head white cabbage, very finely sliced
1 cup gallic chives, very finely sliced
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp white sugar
Fresh pepper
1/2 cup of water
To serve (whatever you want really)
Soy sauce
Sweet vinegar
Chilli oil

1. In a large wok or frying pan heat 3 tbsp vegetables oil and add in the ginger and onions. Cook for a few minutes or until onion is translucent.

2. Add in the mushrooms, cooking for around 5 minutes until just tender. Add in the carrots and cabbage and continue to cook until all vegetables are tender - remove from heat and transfer to a bowl.

3. Add into the bowl the garlic chives, sesame oil, fresh pepper, soy sauce, sugar and remaining 1/4 cup oil. Stir until all the filling is nicely mixed (if the mixture is a bit too wet at this stage, I tend to pop mine in a fine meshed sieve and let a bit of it drip out so the dumplings aren’t too soggy).

4. Now for the fun part: assembling them. Dip your fingers into the water and dampen around the edge of the dumpling wrapper before spooning a small amount of the vegetable mix into the middle. Working from the edge, pinch together the sides of the wrapper using the water to press the edges together more when necessary. Place onto a lightly floured surface when done. Repeat with all remaining vegetable mix.

5. To steam the dumplings, you can either use a bamboo steamer or a regular vegetable steamer - just make sure you place a bit of cheesecloth inside the steamer first or otherwise the dumplings will stick badly to the pan.

6. To fry, heat a few tablespoons of vegetable oil in a frying pan, placing the dumplings into the pan when the oil is hot. Allow them to fry for about two minutes before adding a small layer of water to the pan, reducing the heat and covering so they can steam. Once the water has evaporated you can remove the cover and let them fry for another couple minutes.

7. Serve immediately with your choice of dipping sauce.

Vegetarian Supreme Pizza | The Book Ninja

Her stomach thundered in anticipation of as she reached just what she was looking for: Jo's Pizza - open all day, every day, and ready and willing to deliver a Vegetarian Supreme, two garlic breads and a chocolate mousse direct to her door.
The Book Ninja
Ali Berg and Michelle Kalus

Winter seems to be officially over. The chilling winds that had taken over Melbourne for the last three months have somewhat subsided and my weekly trips to the local farmer’s market have began to be a lovely walk in the sunshine, as opposed to the previous trips - of balancing bags and an umbrella while trying to retain a vague semblance of warmth. This is Melbourne however, and it wouldn’t be Melbourne without it’s fluctuating weather. That’s why this Sunday afternoon was spent inside, making homemade pizzas, drinking tea and listening to the pouring rain outside.

It’s always lovely to read something that captures your home so well, The Book Ninja set in Melbourne does it so well (arguably Ali Berg and Michelle Klaus’s second novel, While You Were Reading manages to capture the atmosphere of Melbourne even better). It seemed appropriate to devour this book while travelling on the numerous tram lines of the city. I’ve heard often of the Books on the Rail initiative begun by the two authors but unluckily I’ve never encountered a wild book on the public transport of the city.

*Notes: Toppings are basically super subjective when it comes to pizza. Put now whatever you like. I also used Sheese mozzarella for this - it melts so nicely for pizzas.

Vegetarian Supreme Pizza
Makes two large pizzas
Ingredients
Dough
3 cups plain flour
1 cup warm water
1 tsp white sugar
2 tsp dried yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt
Pizza Sauce
400g can of crushed tomatoes
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tbsp olive oil
SaltFresh black pepper
Toppings *see note
1 red capsicum, deseeded and finely sliced
1 green capsicum, deseeded and finely sliced
6 - 7 button mushrooms, finely sliced
100g black olives, pitted and sliced
50g pickled jalapeños
200g mozzarella *see note

Dough

1. Combine the yeast, warm water and sugar together in a bowl and leave to the side until the yeast begins to foam.

2. Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl and mix, then make a well in the middle.

3. Add the olive oil and yeast mixture to the well in the middle of the flour, using your hands to bring the flour in from the sides, bringing the dough together in the bowl.

4. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for at least 10 minutes - you want the dough to be smooth and elastic like. Shape into a ball and place into a lightly oiled bowl, covering with a clean cloth and leaving in a warm area to rise or approx. 30 minutes. The dough should double in size.

Pizza Sauce

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan, adding in the minced garlic once the oil is hot and cooking for 1 minute.

2. Add in the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, black pepper, oregano, basil and paprika.

3. Once the sauce is simmering, lower the heat and cover the pan. Leave on the stove to thicken and cook - it should take about 15 minutes for the sauce to thicken enough to use. Leave to the size while you prepare your dough.

Pizza 

1. Preheat oven to 220C.

2. Prepare two pizza trays by oiling them - I would recommend putting a piece of baking paper down as well (though my own is terrible and sort of requires it if I don’t want them to burn on the bottom).

3. Once your dough has risen, transfer it to a cutting board and half the dough into two even portions. Take one portion and roll it out into the best circle you can - you can make it as thin as you like, depending on what type of crust you prefer. I usually use my hands to stretch it out some more at the end. Repeat with the remaining portion of dough.

4. Place the pizza bases onto the prepared trays - time to top them!Cover the the bases with your pizza sauce and then pop all the toppings on however you want. I tend to put the cheese on first so it doesn’t run the risk of pulling all the toppings off when cutting into it.

5. Place pizzas into the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the pizzas from the trays and place them back into the oven, cooking for another 10 minutes to crisp up the base. Enjoy!

Cocoa Sour Cream Cake | Matilda

The cook disappeared. Almost at once she was back again staggering under the weight of an enormous round chocolate cake on a china platter. The cake was fully eighteen inches in diameter and it was covered with dark-brown chocolate icing.
Matilda
Roald Dahl

I think for any young girl that was a big reader, there is no character more-so than Matilda that was easy to identify with. I would re-read Matilda over and over - along with adoring the movie version (which was honestly so perfect). A few years back even, I had the chance to go see the stage production of Matilda also, which was slightly disappointing - you don't think you'll see yourself cheering for the sort of awful parents quite so much.

This cake isn't quite the monstrosity that Bruce Bogtrotter is forced to eat within the story - I do not own cake tins of that size, and my salary won't quite support the cost of making a cake that big - but three layers of chocolate cake with the tang of sour cream to bring it all together, is a good enough representation for me. Also - just cover it all with chocolate flakes if you're really craving that insane chocolate hit.

Note: I used Tofutti sour cream for this! Worked super well.

Cocoa Sour Cream Cake
Ingredients
Cake
1 cup sour cream *see note
2 1/3 cups plain flour
2 cups golden caster sugar
180 ml non-dairy milk (it’s fine to substitute dairy milk if needed)
1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp oil
2/3 cup good quality cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bi-carb soda
400g butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt
Frosting
100g vegetable shortening, softened
90g dark chocolate
90g butter
1/3 cup sour cream
1tsp vanilla
4 cups icing sugar
Dark chocolate flakes for decoration, optional

Cake

1. Preheat oven to 180C and prepare three 8” round cake pans by greasing and line with baking paper.

2. Combine the milk and apple cider vinegar together to form buttermilk and leave to the side until curdled.

3. Add in the oil and vanilla to the buttermilk mix and leave to the side.

4. In the bowl of a stand mixer (can be done by hand, just a bit harder), combine all the dry ingredients and the butter, mixing until it is crumbly and resembles damp sand.

5. Gradually add in the milk mixture and combine thoroughly.

6. Pour the cake mix evenly into the three prepared pans and bake for 25- 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

7. Leave cakes in the pans to cool for about five minutes before removing them from the pans and leaving them on a cake rack to cool completely. They will need to be completely cooled before you can frost them.

Frosting

1. Heat a saucepan of water until boiling; place a metal or glass bowl on top with the chocolate in it until melted and smooth.

2. In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the shortening and butter and mix until light and fluffy.

3. Add in the sour cream and vanilla and melted chocolate and combine.

4. Add in the icing sugar one cup at a time, mixing until the chocolate butter cream is smooth and creamy.

5. Sandwich the layers of cake together with the frosting and then cover the outside as best you can. I tend to use a flat spatula and pop the cake plate on top of an empty bowl so it’s easier to turn and get a good covering.

6. Enjoy large slices with a scoop of ice-cream or Bruce style – eat the entire thing in one go with your hands.

Plum Cake | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry opened the last present to find a new, hand-knitted jumper from Mrs Weasley, and a large plum cake.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
J.K Rowling

Harry Potter will always be a classic - along with Enid Blyton it was one of those stories that made me somewhat wish I had gone to boarding school as a child (though honestly, looking back it would have had to be a boarding school in the UK with a clear focus on magical studies). The characters in the books are constantly receiving parcels and surprises from those at home and it all seemed like such a thrill. Mrs Weasley’s presents always seemed the best as well - a hand knitted jumper? Yes please. Homemade cakes and fudge and all the warmth that could possibly be given.

The days are beginning to become a little warmer in Melbourne as the winter comes to an end, and it was in anticipation of an upcoming warm weekend that I, rather determinedly, stated I would be making a plum cake to eat in the park. What I did not factor in was an event at work that Friday night that resulted in finding myself at a nearby bar ordering an array of gin martinis late into the night. Nevertheless I persisted, I came home and somehow, in a rather tipsy state, made a plum cake that Friday night.

It was a crumbly, buttery, delicious mess of a cake. And we inhaled it the next day, wrapped up (who was I kidding - it’s still winter, it’s freezing) in jackets, perched in a nearby garden, tearing off chunks of the cake with our hands because neither of us thought that forks or spoons could possibly come in handy.

Plum Cake
Ingredients
5-6 plums, cut in half with the stone removed
130g butter
150ml milk
1tbsp apple cider vinegar
150g plain flour
100g almond meal
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bi-carb soda
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch salt

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and prepare a 9” cake tin by greasing the sides and placing a circle of baking paper at the bottom.

2. Mix together the milk and the apple cider vinegar and leave top it for a few minutes until it begins to curdle.

3. Using either a mixer or by hand, cream together the butter and sugar until it’s light and well mixed.

4. In a seperate bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients and combine.

5. Add the milk and apple cider vinegar mix to the cream butter and sugar and combine briefly.

6. Slowly add the wet mix to the dry, mixing until well combined.

7. Pour the mix into your prepared cake tin and press the plus halves down on top into the batter. I like using quite a few plums in mine - so it’s really up to preference.

8. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Enjoy!