Feijoa and White Chocolate Cake

As I mentioned on my last post. It's crazy feijoa season here. There's about 2 months of the year that NZ has an overflow of feijoa, and then we don't see them again till the next year. Which is good, because when they are in season, there are so many, and they are so good, that without fail you completely gorge yourself on them, and by the end of the season, are so over them that you're searching for new and interesting ways to use them up. 

Note: they also freeze really well, so you can scoop the pulp and stow it away in the freezer for a baking on a rainy day if you've already had your fill for now. 

After the feijoa oatcakes and crumbles I've been making of late I wanted to try something new, plus Mr 3 wanted to make a 'Mudders Day' chocolate cake for me... FYI - by him helping bake, he means he wants to lick the spoon and eat all the ingredients, minimal help actually attained. But, he's there and involved and we have fun making a mess, so that's all good. But, yes, I made my own Mother's Day cake essentially. 

Now, he wanted chocolate cake, but me being me, and hating seeing food go to waste, I knew I needed to include the feijoa. There's a few feijoa cakes out there with cocoa in them,  but the idea of milk or dark chocolate with feijoa just doesn't quite sound right to me. Plus I wanted to make something that could have cream cheese icing, no explanation necessary on that one, cream cheese icing is THE BEST. 

A few years back I made feijoa and white chocolate muffins, which were an amazing flavour combo, so I wanted to recreate that in cake form here. The result here is a deliciously moist, rich yet tart cake. The richness comes from the white chocolate which caramelised in some spots, and the tartness from the feijoa and cream cheese icing. I've left the icing quite soft, as that's how I like it, but if you prefer a firmer icing, simply add more icing sugar. 

Ingredients (makes 24cm round cake): 

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp lemon juice 
• 1 3/4 flour
• 2 tsp baking powder 
• 120 grams butter, melted
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3 tbsp boiling water (45ml)
•  1 cup of feijoa pulp
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips, optional, but worthwhile

Icing:

• 100g butter, room temperature
• 100g cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups icing sugar
• 1 tsp lemon juice and lemon zest

Method:

Grease a 25cm diameter cake tin. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. 

In a cake mixer, or using an electric hand beater beat sugar and eggs till light and fluffy. 

Add lemon juice, mix. Then add baking powder and flour, half a cup at a time, till all combined. 

Mix baking soda with boiling water, and along with feijoa pulp and melted butter, add to your cake mix, folding together till well combined. Finally fold in the chocolate chips. 

Pour cake mix into your greased cake tin and bake 40 - 50 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. 

Leave to cool in tin for 15 mins before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Once cooled ice with cream cheese icing. 

To make icing, beat butter until light in colour and fluffy. Add softened cream cheese and beat until smooth and combined. Add sifted icing sugar half a cup at a time until it reaches the desired consistency. I like it quite soft. Stir in a teaspoon of lemon juice and lemon rind (optional). 

Yoyos - Just like Nana used to make.

Okay, so I didn't create this recipe. It's from the classic Edmonds Cookbook that you'll find in most NZ households. It is however one that I've been enjoying for as long as I can remember. I have the best memories of sitting on the kitchen bench at my Nana's house, helping to roll the dough into little balls and pressing them down with the back of a fork. Then once they were cooled helping to ice them. You can often find a similar variation of these biscuits in cafe's called melting moments. 

Basically they're a delicate shortbread filled with butter icing. Yoyo's however have the addition of custard powder which gives them a really tasty creamy twist. My Nana used to add a tiny bit of lemon to the icing, and in this variation I've added passionfruit, you could easily swap the passionfruit for 2 tbsp of lemon juice instead, depending on the season.

See below for the recipe.... as these are the perfect rainy day baking treat. 

Rainy days call for Passionfruit Yoyos aka Melting Moments - just like nana used to make #meltingmoments #familytraditions #rainydays #rainybakes #baking #yoyos #cookies #passionfruit #custard #iwanttoeatthemall #justlikegrandmausedtomake #okayiimprovisedonthepassionfruit 

Post shared by Stef Parker (@sparkmypantry) on Feb 17, 2017 at 4:27pm PST

YOYOS

Ingredients (makes 15-20 biscuits - 30-40 balls):

• ​175g butter, softened
• ¼ cup icing sugar
• ¼ tsp vanilla essence
• 1½ cups Edmonds standard flour
• ¼ cup Edmonds custard powder

Butter filling:

• 50g butter, softened
• Pulp from 1 passionfruit (or 2 tbsp lemon juice) 
• 2 Tbsp Edmonds custard powder
• ½ cup icing sugar

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Line two baking trays with baking paper.

Cream the butter, icing sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.

Sift the flour and custard powder together and mix with the creamed butter to form a soft dough.

Roll teaspoonfuls of the mixture into balls, place on the prepared trays and press down with a fork.

Bake for 15–20 minutes until lightly golden. Leave on the trays for a few minutes before placing on a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the icing, simply beat all the filling ingredients together until light and fluffy. 

Once the biscuits are cooled sandwich them together with the butter icing. 

Enjoy - these delicate morsels won't last long! 

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Carrot cake is my favourite cake, I think it's because of the bits, the texture, the little surprise bites of walnut that you get. Most people will tell you that it's the cream cheese icing (if that's you - be sure to double the icing quantity), but for me, it's the walnuts. 
I've adapted this recipe over the years to have more carrots, and less sugar, though it still has 1 cup of brown sugar, it's considerably less than what it was before! 
It's also so fast and easy to put together, and throw into the oven. 


Ingredients (Serves 8 - 12):

• 2 cups flour 
• 2 tbsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 cup of packed brown sugar
• 3 cups of grated carrot 
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup chopped dates 
• 1 cup of vegetable oil 
• 3 eggs lightly beaten 

Cream Cheese Icing** - double this icing quantity, if filling the middle of the cake also. 

• 250 grams of cream cheese 
• 1 cup of icing sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• pumpkin seeds, toasted coconut, chopped nuts or dried fruit to decorate

Preheat the oven to 180•C and prepare a 22cm round baking tin. I grease with oil, and line the base with baking paper. 

Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and ginger into a large bowl. 

Stir through the grated carrot, walnuts and dates, till well combined. 

Gently beat the eggs, and add to the dry ingredients along with the cup of oil. Mix well. 

Pour the batter into the baking tin and use a spatula to make sure it is spread evenly. 

Bake for 50 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in tin for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. 

To make the icing, beat the cream cheese to soften and sift in the icing sugar. Add the lemon juice and continue beating until smooth. Spread over the cooled cake. 

Decorate with nuts, seeds, coconut or dried fruit. If not eating all at once, store in the fridge. 

** Optional If you want to make the cake even more spectacular, double the icing recipe and cut the cake through the middle horizontally. Fill the middle of the cake with 1/3 of the icing. 

Afghans with chocolate fudge icing

Afghans are a classic taste of kiwi baking. They're a crunchy, crumbly, cornflakey cookie, covered in chocolate icing and topped with a walnut. If you're not a walnut fan, you can leave it off or substitute it for a little coconut.  The difference between these afghans and other recipes is that I use a boiled icing. Boiled icing is made similar to how you would cook custard, with milk, icing sugar, cocoa and a little butter. 

Ingredients (makes 36 small biscuits or 16 large):

• 200 grams butter, softened
• 1/3 cup of packed brown sugar
• 1 1/4 cups of plain flour
• 1/4 cup of cocoa
• 1 1/2 cups of crushed cornflakes

Chocolate Fudge Icing

• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1 1/4 cups of icing sugar
• 20 grams butter
• 1 cup of milk 
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 70 grams of walnut pieces

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Line two baking trays with baking paper.

To make the biscuits, cream the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. 

Gently stir in sifted cocoa and flour. Once well combined stir in the crushed cornflakes. 

Use wet hands to roll small balls, arrange on the baking trays and press lightly with a wet fork. 

Bake for 12 minutes; or 18 minutes if making large biscuits. When cooked, cool on a wire rack. 

Once cooled make the icing. Sift the icing sugar and cocoa into a small saucepan. Pour in 1/4 of the milk and whisk to combine. Make sure their are no dry lumps, then pour in the rest of the milk and butter. 

Put the saucepan on a medium heat and bring the boil, stirring occasionally. Boil rapidly for 1 - 2 minutes till thickened a little. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla essence. 

Leave to cool for a couple of minutes, you'll notice it thicken more and more as it cools. While still warm spread spoonfuls of icing on top of each cookie. Place a walnut half or a couple of pieces on the top of each cookie. 

Enjoy.

Top: Chocolate Berry Truffles and Spicy Oaty Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies
Bottom: Ginger Crunch and Afghans with Chocolate Fudge Icing