Aunty Violet's Cinnamon Apple (and/or Quince) Cakes

It's been raining here in Alice Springs and my memories of childhood in north Queensland flood back in spurts... and these cakes comes to mind.  They were made by my Great Aunty Violet in her mysterious house in north Queensland with its moss and passion flowers, and scary planks to get to the toilet.  The house and Aunty Violet have long since gone, but these little cakes are still as beautiful, or potentially beautiful as when I first tasted them.

My mother would often praise Aunty Violet for these cakes and their beautiful smooth lemon icing, gentle sprinkle of cinnamon  and delicate filling of apple (or quince in my version).  I have played around with the  recipe and am reasonable happy with it... although next time I will make a couple of adjustments to the cake mixture on top more liequied and the icing to make it, much smoother...

Ingredients
Cake mixture
125gm unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup castor sugar 
1 egg
Vanilla bean (halved)
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 tbs milk

Filling
3 apples, stewed with 2 tbsp sugar and cinnamon stick
1 quince stewed with sugar syrup and cinnamon stick *

Icing
2 cups icing sugar
3 tbsp lemon or lime juice (strained)
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon or 2 limes

Method

1. Heat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
2. Butter 2 small cake trays.
3. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy.
4. Add egg and continue beating until mixture is even lighter and fluffier.
5. Add vanilla bean pores.
6. Sift flour and gradually add to mixture in halves, intermittently with 3 tbsp milk.
7. Place a small amount of mixture in each of the cups of the cake trays.
8. Spoon a small amount of apple and/or quince.
9. Add the remaining tbsp of milk to mixture and spoon over each cake.
10. Bake for around 20 minutes until nicely browned on top.
11. Allow to sit for a few minutes and then carefully take each cake out and place on rack.
12. Add lemon juice to icing sugar mixture and beat out any lumps in stainless steel bowl
    Add rind.
13. Place icing over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure the bowl does not touch the water.
14. Heat until the mixture is warmed and thinner.
15. Pour icing over cakes and sprinkle each one with a small amount of cinnamon.
16. Allow icing to set and enjoy!

Kalo Prama, Greek Cypriot Lemon Semolina Cake

I get wonderfully inspired by good cooking shows, and one a few weeks ago on SBS Food Safari about Australian Cypriot food got me cooking a whole, whole lot of new dishes including Flaounes for Easter,  lamb Kleftiko in our pizza oven and this beautiful lemon semolina cake called Kalo Prama.

I used the recipe on the SBS website, and my only advice is to use a larger tin than they suggest and do not use too much mastic as it is very strong.  I also used lime juice rather than lemons because we have soooo many limes.

The only food I have not been able to make but which I would love to is Loukaniko, Cypriot pork sausages.. the only thing holding me back is the fact that I would have to buy $100+ of caul that I would never use in a lifetime.

Home-made drinks

Now, you don't always want to serve alcohol at events in Alice Springs, but what can you do instead?  I recently made up three drinks for an event including a spicy ginger lemonade, a tamarind soda and a pomegranate and orange blossom punch.  Basically each drink was a balance of sour and sweet, with added flavours such as ginger, orange blossom water and spices and pomegranate juice (Pomme) for colour.
Tomorrow I'm going to make two lemonades on live radio.  The first is a classic traditional Australian lemonade using lemons, sugar and lemon essence.  The second, is of course a Middle Eastern lemonade, almost identical to the Australian, with the lemon essence being replaced with orange blossom water.  For both, you will need to make a sugar syrup on one part sugar to two parts water, bring to the boil to dissolve the sugar and allow to cool.  Squeeze at least 6 lemons.
The following recipe is adapted from "Cookery, the Australian Way"

Lemon Cordial

1. Make up 1 quantity of sugar syrup and cool.
2. Add the juice of around six lemons (at least a cup).
3. Add 1/2 teaspoon of lemon assence.

To serve, add a small quantity of cordial to glass with ice and mint.  Add either sparkling mineral water or iced water.  Garnish with a slice of lemon.



Middle Eastern Lemonade
(Adapted from 'Great Vegetarian Dishes' by Kurma Dasa)

1. Make up 1 quantity of sugar syrup and cool.
2. Add the juice of around six lemons (at least a cup).
3. Add 2 teaspoons of orange blossom water.

To serve, add a small quantity of lemonade to glass with ice and mint.  Add either sparkling mineral water or iced water.  Garnish with a slice of lemon.


Indian Lemonade
(Adapted from  'Feast Bazaar' by Barry Vera)
Ingredients
Large piece of ginger (around 10 cm in length, grated)
1 cup sugar
1 cup lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
4-5 cardamom pads, bruised
10 -15 peppercorns
1 teaspoon roasted cummin seeds
(Ice, mint and either chilled water or sparkling mineral water to serve)

Method
Place all ingredients and 2 cups sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil.
Allow to simmer for around 1 hour, then place a lid on the pan and stand overnight.
Pour the liquid through a strainer lined with muslin and pull into a tight bag to squeeze out as much of the mixuture.

To serve, add a small-ish quantity (more than the recipes above) of lemonade to glass with ice and mint.  Add either sparkling mineral water or iced water.  Garnish with a slice of lemon.


Tip: try adding a few pieces or lemon peel to the sugar syrup when you make it up.

Lemon Curd

An old favourite that I use as the filling for lemon meringue pie or lemon tartlets. An indulgent treat by the spoonful.
Ingredients
100 gm unsalted butter, chopped
200 gm castor sugar
2 lemons (juice and rind)
4 egg yolks, beaten

Special utensils
A double boiler, or bowl that can sit over a pot of boiling water without touching the water.

Method
Put butter and sugar in a stainless steel bowl and place over a pot of boiling water. Mix with a wood spoon until butter has melted.
Stir in lemon rind, lemon juice and egg yolks.
Continue to stir until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. (Around 20 minutes).
When thick pour immediately into a clean bowl or jar.

Tips
My mother always told me that if perchance you curdle the mixture, quickly pour a tablespoon of boiling water into the mixture. I've done this heaps of times and it generally works.

Lemon Delicious

This recipe is word-for-word lifted from the May 2004 edition of Gourmet Travellers - one of those rare editions that is full of many good recipes.. rather than the one..
"Ingredients:
2 eggs, separated
220 gm (1 cup) caster sugar
1 tablespoon plain flour, sifted
2 tablespoons self-raising flour, sifted
Finely grated rind of 2 lemons
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 cup milk
20gm unsalted butter
Icing sugar and thick cream, to serve

Method
Using a wooden spoon, beat egg yolks and two-thirds of the sugar until pale, then stir in the flours and combine well. Add lemon rind, juice, milk and melted butter and combine well. In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites until soft peaks form, gradually add remaining sugar and whisk until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites into lemon mixture, in two batches, until just combined. Pour into a greased 1 litre ovenproof dish and place in a deep roasting pan, then pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up side of dish and bake at 180 degrees celcius for 45 minutes or until puffed and golden. Dust with icing sugar and serve with thick cream passed separately."
Enjoy.

Lemons

Lemons are abundant in Alice Springs at the moment... and a lot of them end up in my fruit bowl from a number of sources: my neighbour's lemonade lemons, my friend's neighbour's lemons, a colleague's bush lemons, a bag today in Jorge's pidgeon hole at school from an anonymous parent.. and I always say yes, yes please, and I always (usually) use them. This despite having a heavily laden lime tree of my own. Am I a glutton for lemons. Perhaps. But I love having lemons because there is so much cooking you can do with them:
lemon delicious; lemon curd; lemon shortbreads; lemon meringue pie; lemon cordial; frozen lemon juice; preserved lemon slices; bearnaise sauce... these are my favourite cooking experiences with lemon. (Although I am yet to find a lemon cake recipe I want to cook twice.)
Now, I have tried Stephanie Alexander's preserved lemons. And they're still in my cupboard two years later. I like them, and for that one experience every three months when I cook a tagine or something similar, they're great. But they're not part of my repertoire.
I like recipes that combine lemon with butter, and preferably sugar. Coming soon are my favourite lemon recipes.