This is a little extra post for a lovely lady, who has always been so supportive throughout my blogging journey! And yesterday, I was extra thrilled when she wrote a special post just for me! How sweet is that! Here is the link: https://chronicleofellen.wordpress.com/2017/02/28/follow-mrs-blooms-shes-got-cake/.
We share so many interests from craft to baking, books, the environment and the good life! And while she is a far more accomplished knitter and crocheter than I am (or ever will be!), I still gain so much from her woolly posts, as can be evidenced by my recent martenitsas! Her post on ‘If Craft Were Outlawed’ was a classic and a standout in my memory! See: https://chronicleofellen.wordpress.com/2015/08/26/if-craft-was-outlawed/ .
I love her easy writing style and she’s always got something interesting to say or some fascinating project on the go, so be sure to check her out. And now, by way of thanks, a delicious carrot cake recipe, which I must admit is not mine, but borrowed from : The Essential Baking Cookbook by Murdoch Books 2000. I think we should call this ‘The Carrot Cake Award‘ for supportive fellow bloggers!!!
This is the recipe that I used for my St. Valentine’s Day Cake on Tuesday a fortnight ago, when I was a little desperate, as our food supplies were getting low and there were none of the usual cake ingredients like apples, oranges or lemons! BUT, we had carrots! Perfect! And because this recipe is normally for a 23 cm (9 inch) round cake and the heart tin was smaller, I was able to use the leftover mixture to make a 13 cm (5 inch) tiny round cake for another special lady for her birthday three days later. I kept the cake in the fridge and was hoping it would still be fresh enough for the Friday and it was! Carrot Cake keeps so well – it’s just that this recipe is so delicious, it usually gets eaten in one sitting! So without further ado, here it is…!!! (Sorry about the slightly blurry photo- not one of my best!)
Carrot Cake
Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius and line a 23 cm (9 inch) round tin with Gladbake.
Sift 1 cup (125 g) self-raising flour and 1 cup (125 g) plain flour; 2 tsp cinammon; 1 tsp ginger; and 1/2 tsp freshly-grated nutmeg; and 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl and make a well in the centre.
Whisk together in a jug : 1 cup (250 ml) oil (I usually use grapeseed oil); 1 cup (185 g, though I normally reduce the amount of sugar by 1/3, so more like 125 g) soft brown sugar; 4 eggs; and 1/2 cup (175 g) golden syrup (though this time we had run out of golden syrup, so I used honey instead, which worked equally well!)
Pour liquids into the flour mixture and gradually stir in the dry ingredients with a metal spoon until smooth.
Stir in 2.5 cups (400 g) freshly-grated carrot and 1/2 cup (60 g) of chopped walnuts or pecans.
Spoon into tin and smooth the surface. Bake for 1.5 hours (I think my smaller cakes only took 45 minutes or so), or until an inserted skewer comes out dry and clean.
Leave the cake in the tin for at least 15 minutes, before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool.
I left out any icing, as my husband prefers cakes without it, though I did dust some sifted icing sugar over a heart-shaped stencil on the surface, then my artistic adviser helped me decorate around the edge of the cake with fresh rose petals, which looked superb! We finished it off with a pair of unopened pink rosebuds in the centre of the heart! Just perfect!!
BUT if you want to be truly decadent, here is the icing recipe and it is divine on this cake!
Lemon Icing
Beat 175 g softened cream cheese and 60 g softened butter with electric beaters until smooth. Gradually add 1.5 cups (185 g) sifted icing sugar, alternately with 1 tsp vanilla essence and 1 to 2 tsp lemon juice, beating until light and creamy. Spread the icing over the cooled cake, using a flat-bladed knife with a sprinkling of freshly-grated nutmeg on the top if desired. The cake can also be sliced in half horizontally, the two layers then sandwiched together with half the icing!
I’m sure this cake will become a new favourite, mind you I still really enjoy that apple cake…! Thank you again! xxx
These recipes have been long-time favourites with my family. In fact, they are inherited from my childhood, when Mum used to make it using an early Indian cookbook called ‘Curries from the Sultan’s Kitchen’ by Doris M. Ady (Reed, 1968). As kids, we used to love mixing up all the fragrant and colourful spices. It was so much more exotic than the ubiquitous curry powder of the times! All of the recipes serve 4-6 people and we often had delicious leftovers for the next day.
Even though we have such a wealth of multicultural dishes these days compared to my childhood, the combination of all the different colours, textures, scents and flavours still makes these recipes a wonderful birthday treat and is indeed a feast for all the senses!
Using the rest of the ghee, fry the meat.
Add spice/ onion mix and 1 cup beef broth. Cover and simmer on a low heat for 1.5-2 hours.
Serve with rice, chapatis or pappadums; sambals and small bowls of sultanas; dessicated coconut; sliced banana; mango pieces; mango chutney and plain yoghurt.
* Note : Ghee is basically clarified butter. It comes in a green tin, but if you cannot source any ghee, you can make it yourself: Simmer 500g melted butter for 1.5 hours; Strain through a fine muslin into a metal container. Luckily, it is readily available from most supermarkets these days.
Peel, core and dice 2 Granny Smith apples and squeeze over the juice of 1 lemon.
Cut 1 Lebanese cucumber into quarters lengthwise and slice finely. Remove seeds.
Chop 3-4 tomatoes roughly.
All these recipes can be made beforehand, so all you need to do on the night is steam the rice, heat up the curry and fry the pappadums. As kids, we used to love watching the latter bubble and swell as they quickly cooked! Just be careful of the hot oil, which tends to spit!
Drain 680 g fresh, whole-milk ricotta in a fine mesh sieve placed in a large bowl for 1 to 2 hours until very thick (unless it already is very thick, in which case, eliminate this step!)
In a small saucepan, combine 475 ml whole milk and 4 cardamom pods. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer the milk until it reduces by half (30 -45 mins).
Using an electric mixer, beat 170 g softened unsalted butter.
Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase to medium speed and beat for a minute or so until everything is very smooth.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pans and smooth top with a spatula. Bake 25-30 minutes till skewer comes out clean. Cool in the pans on racks for 20 minutes, then remove from tins and cool completely.
Make the ricotta filling:
Using an electric mixer, whisk drained ricotta, 120 ml heavy cream and 95g icing sugar until quite smooth (30 seconds).
Using an electric mixer, beat 170g unsalted butter, 125g icing sugar, 1 tsp rose water and 1/2 tsp cardamom until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Brush cake layers on all sides with milk syrup. Place one cake round on a cake stand or serving platter, then top with one third of the ricotta filling, leaving a small border around the edge of the cake. Repeat with the remaining cake layers and ricotta filling.
Frost top and sides of the cake with the mascarpone frosting. Use strips of Gladbake under the cake so you don’t get icing all over the plate.
Top with 50g chopped and toasted pistachios and candied rose petals for garnish; chill until ready to serve.
This cake was delicious! Very rich and very good for osteoporosis, though not so good for the waistline!!! I loved the rosewater and cardamom flavour, set off well by the pistachio topping! A great success and my son loved it!
There are a number of different methods for making candied rose petals. I consulted a lovely little book in our home library called ‘Edible Flowers‘ by Claire Clifton. A variety of flowers can be used : tiny rose buds or rose petals; violets; mimosa; lilacs; cowslips; fruit or herb flowers and mint leaves. Pick them on a very dry day, remove all the stems and green, trim the white heels from the rose petals and wash and dry thoroughly. I discovered the reason for the latter advice when I picked a lovely LD Braithwaite rose, only to find 3 tiny snails also enjoying the petals. Be assured that I did not use the petals they were on and I did wash the rest of the rose very well! I also used our first violets for the season.
Set the oven temperature to 180 degrees Celsius and line a loaf tin with Gladbake.
Bring to the boil in a saucepan : 1 cup chopped pitted dates, 1 cup sugar, 1 tbsp butter and 1 cup boiling water. 
Take off the stove and immediately add 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda, which will cause the mixture to fizz! Allow to cool.
Add 1 well-beaten egg. Mix in 2 cups sifted self-raising flour and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts.
Spoon into loaf tin and cook in the oven for 45 minutes. Make sure it doesn’t overcook or get too dry. Delicious with butter, but equally tasty on its own!
Dutch Ginger Cake
I use the glace ginger in its own syrup, sold by Buderim Ginger. Do not use crystallized ginger.
I often used to make both Date Loaf and Ginger Cake at the same time, because they both take 45 minutes to bake. Their flavours also complement each other well.
Set the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a 20 cm round cake tin with Gladbake.
Melt 125 g butter. Sift 1.75 cups plain flour. Add 1 cup castor sugar and 125g chopped glace ginger.
Mix in melted butter and 1 well-beaten egg. 
Spoon mixture into cake tin. Glaze with milk and 30 g flaked almonds.
Bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Do not expect the cake to rise too much. It’s more of a flat shortbread. Cut into thin wedges!
Date, Honey and Ginger Cake
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line a 24cm square cake tin with Gladbake.
Boil 1 cup water in a saucepan, add 150g chopped pitted dates and 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda, then remove from the heat and set aside.
Beat 250g softened butter with 250g castor sugar and 350g (1 cup) honey with electric beaters until light and fluffy, then add 3 eggs, one at a time.
Fold in 450g sifted plain flour, 1/2 tsp salt, another 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 2 tsp ground ginger, 2 tsp mixed spice, 1 tsp cinnamon and 150g (1.5 cups) lightly chopped walnuts.
Drain the dates, saving the liquid, and fold dates into the batter. Add enough water to the saved date liquid to make up a cup (250 ml) and add to the batter. Stir well till combined.
Pour mixture into a tin and bake for 1 hour or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 20 mins , then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
Mrs. Wilson’s Walnut Cake
Preheat the oven to 160-180 degrees Celsius and line a 20cm springform cake tin with Gladbake.
Cream 125g butter and 150g castor sugar. Add 1 egg and beat till light and fluffy. Stir in 3 tsp grated lemon rind or lime rind and 2 tbsp brandy.
Sift 50g plain flour and 50g self-raising flour together and fold into the mixture gently with the nuts. Spoon mixture into tin. Bake in the oven for 1 hour.
I use cookie cutters in appropriate seasonal shapes instead. For example, sleighs, fir trees, Santa Claus and stars for Christmas;
Wombats, kangaroos, kookaburras and other Australian animals for Australia Day or international visitors;
And rabbits, eggs, flowers and hearts for Easter.
I have a big tin of cookie cutters from my children’s childhood and still find it hard to resist purchasing new shapes when I see them!
Even though these biscuits take a while to make, I still often make them before a big car trip, because it’s a generous recipe, making a large number of biscuits, which last well (apart from gobbling them up!)
Cream 250g butter and 175g brown sugar, a pinch of salt and the grated rind of one lemon.
Sift 250g plain flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 2tsp mixed spice and 2tsp cinnamon.
Fold flour mixture into butter mixture and add 1dsp milk.
Roll out thinly. I often use a sheet of Gladbake between the rolling pin and board to prevent sticking.
Cut our shapes and place on a biscuit tin lined with Gladbake. Bake for 5-10 mins.
Easter Biscuits
Preheat oven to 190-200 degrees Celsius.
Rub 125g butter into 250g plain flour with your fingers.
Add 125g castor sugar, a handful of currants, 1/2 tsp each of mixed spice and cinnamon and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Mix in 1 beaten egg with 1 tbsp brandy and form a paste.
Roll out thinly on a floured board. Here again, you can use a sheet of Gladbake between the rolling pin and board to prevent sticking.
Using a fluted round cookie cutter, cut into rounds. Sprinkle with caster sugar if desired.
Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Be careful to not burn or brown too much.
Annabel’s Ginger and Apricot Biscuit Slice
Line a 30cm x 24cm baking tin with Gladbake.
Place 100g butter and 3/4 tin sweetened condensed milk in a pot and heat gently till the butter melts. Remove from heat. Crush 375g sweet biscuits.
Mix 1 cup finely-chopped dried apricots, 1/2 cup finely-chopped crystallized ginger, 1 cup dessicated coconut, 1 tsp ground ginger, 2 tbsp lemon juice and finally, the crushed sweet biscuits.
Add butter and condensed milk mixture and stir to combine. Press biscuit base into the prepared tin and set in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Make Lemon Icing : Melt 50g butter and mix to a smooth consistency with 3 tbsp boiling water, 1 tsp lemon juice and 3.5 cups icing sugar.
Spread icing over biscuit base and sprinkle with 1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger and 2 tbsp chopped pistachios. When the icing is set, cut into slices and store in a cool place.
During their childhood, my kids had many wonderful birthday parties at home in an era of MacDonalds-hosted parties! Their friends used to love our parties! Admittedly, they were a lot of work and often it was so tempting to wriggle out of them as the party day approached, but once all the preparation was done, we really enjoyed them!
The birthday table would be set with lots of colourful tasty dishes including :
For drinks, we’d make a delicious fruit punch from a large tin of pineapple juice, 2 large bottles of orange juice and apple juice and pieces of pineapple and chopped kiwi fruit, passionfruit, mint and ice blocks- so much nicer and healthier than fizzy drinks with red food colouring! I’m sure the parents appreciated it!!!
The birthday cake is always special! I love that moment when the birthday cake, aglow with candles, emerges out of the dark! It’s so magical! 
Ross’s favourite birthday cake is a layered sponge cake with cream and strawberry jam- see recipe later. His birthday is in the Spring, so one year, we decorated the top of the cake with dusted icing sugar, pink striped candles and apple blossom.
I loved it when the kids were finally old enough to cook my birthday cake!
We have also made very rich chocolate mud cakes, carrot cakes and even pavlovas for birthday cakes.
As you can see from the photos, we always have a lot of fun decorating the birthday cake! Flowers are essential! Often, I will ice the cake and mark out the birthdayee’s name or age in silver cachous balls or fruit, but sometimes, I just dust the top with icing sugar. I have some wonderful plastic cake stencils, which I use to create beautiful patterns. 
Candles vary from metallic silver or gold to coloured stripes and dots; singing candles and frustrating candles, which won’t blow out; long skinny tapers and even sparklers, which are very dramatic! We always tie a bow around the cake knife. Once the candles are blown out, the birthdayee cuts the first slice and makes a wish!
As the kids got older, the parties became fewer, though just as memorable, and the kids were able to have much more input. Caroline’s 18th birthday party was a surprise party, organized by her friends and hosted at home.
Jen had a wonderful Middle eastern party for her 19th birthday just before she left to start her university studies. All the guests came dressed as Arabian sheiks, harem girls and belly dancers. One clever fellow came as a camel in a coat. He bought 2 matching tweed coats from the op-shop and cut one up to cover a polystyrene foam boulster hump.
Sending lots of meringue kisses your way, darling Jen! Happy Birthday once again and may your year continue to be filled with lots of wonderful adventures, laughter, love and happiness! xxx
PPS. We have been checking out the planets at 4 am each morning in the first week of February. See : 
Add 1 tsp grated nutmeg, 1 tsp ground allspice, 1 tsp ground cinammon, 3 cloves ground, 1 cup fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs, 1 cup sifted wholemeal self-raising flour and 1/2 cup slivered almonds. Let stand for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, double-grease the pudding basin to ensure the pudding turns out easily. Grease the bowl well with butter, put in the fridge for 15 minutes, then grease it again and refrigerate until ready to use. In the old days, I used to tie the pudding mixture up in a boiled, sterilized calico pudding cloth, but it was messy to clean up at the end and in the hot, humid Queensland Summers, I would invariably end up with a mouldy pudding by the time Christmas arrived. It is so much easier and quicker to use a bowl, so it is well worth investing in a classic pudding basin!
Clean and sterilize pudding silver and let dry before use. I have a much prized collection of old shillings, sixpences and threepences, which I count out every year after eating the pudding, as they are not so easy to come by now. When our family was young, we also bought each family member their own significant sterling silver charm – a lyrebird for Ross (which has disappeared since) , a thimble (well-chewed) for me and a pig, camel and hippo for the kids, representing their alter-egos. Note that the silver used must be sterling silver, so modern currency cannot be used. Also, be extra carefully when eating, so that you don’t swallow the charms or break a filling or dentures!!!
Fill the pre-greased pudding basin with the pudding mixture and smooth the top flat. Cover the top of the basin with 2 layers of Gladwrap for a tight seal, then 2 layers of aluminium foil and tie around the lip of the bowl with string, then create a string handle to lift the bowl in and out of the boiling water.
Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, then lift in the pudding basin and replace the saucepan lid. Make sure you don’t put too much water in the saucepan, as the pudding bowl will displace water. If the pudding bowl is sitting on the bottom of the pot, put a folded teatowel between the bottom of the pot and the pudding bowl, so the heat is not concentrated on the base.
When cold, refrigerate pudding till Christmas.
When you reach dessert, remove the decoration, then pour over spirits – rum, brandy or whiskey and set it alight! When the flames have died down, cut slices for everyone, hiding any exposed silver as you go, and serve with Hard Sauce or Rum Butter, both recipes of which also come from Barbara Beckett’s book ‘ Creating Gourmet Gifts’ and both of which can be made days or weeks beforehand.
Sift 1.5 cups plain flour, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg and 1/4 tsp salt.
Add fruit and nut mixture to the above, then fold in the flour and spice mix.
Pour into tin and flatten the top.
Decorate with blanched almonds in your desired design.
Bake in 150 degrees Celsius oven for 1 hour, then reduce the temperature to 140 degrees Celsius for 1.5 – 2 hours, covering the tin with reflective aluminium foil, if the top of the cake looks like it is burning .
I love Stanwell Perpetual! She is so modest and unassuming, yet so generous with her blooms. She is often the first and last rose to bloom in the season and she has a divine fragrance! The following photos show : Heaven Scent; Lolita and our two dark horses: our unidentified climber and Alnwick.
We visited Canberra on the hot Tuesday and caught up with old friends, who both work at the Australian National Botanic Gardens. The gardens are a real show at the moment and so impressive! There has been so much growth and development since our last visit 10 years ago.
Afterwards, we called in to the lovely Heritage Nursery at Yarralumla (
We arrived home to discover that the blue Dutch Iris and ranunculas had finally opened.
The poppies are a real show of happiness!
The ranunculas always remind me of Can Can girls, with their frilly skirts and rich exotic colours!
‘Madame Lemoine’ (white Lilac) and the ‘White Caviar’ (Magnolia below) are still flowering, but the bluebells and ‘The Bride’ have bowed out. It looks like we could get a bumper crop of navel oranges!
A few more unexpected discoveries :
The anemones continue their amazing display!
This is the last of the tulips, as well as the first blooms of a Scented Geranium.
The Banksia and Fortuneana roses are throwing plenty of blooms and our daisies are looking very happy!
‘Green Goddess’ has been joined by this exotic bromeliad bloom.
Lots of garden tasks this week!
We transplanted the herbs to new pots and replaced the Russian Tarragon with the tastier French Tarragon, banishing the former to the vegie garden. We planted out the Heritage tomatoes, the lettuces, the red cabbages and the mixed capsicums and sowed sunflower and carrot seed.
We planted the Jacobean Lily at the bottom of the steps, where its red blooms will be a real eye catcher. And we tied back the climber Clos de Vougeot, which is covered in blooms and found a home for my 3 metal fairies in the shady reading nook.
Ross found a perfect spot for his Pink Rock Orchid in a natural depression in the trunk of the Pepperina tree, where it can be seen from all angles of the garden.
And we celebrated Ross’s birthday at the end of the week. Finally, I can show you a photo of the gift I made him – a cushion covered in his favourite rain forest birds! It was so difficult finding Ross-free time to make it and I was almost caught out a number of times towards the end! He loved it !!!
A pod of 8 Humpback Whales even made it to the party (though a day late!). We were so thrilled to finally see some and they were so close into the shore. The adults and their babies are heading back down south for the Antarctic Summer!
On our way home, we took some photos of the beautiful Spring wild flowers in bloom.
But the best birthday treat of all was a surprise visit by our youngest daughter and friend on Saturday night! So it was back to Tathra the following afternoon! Alas, no whales this time, but we did find this little fellow moseying along the footpath!
Its a perfect day for baking, especially as we have a visitor for morning tea tomorrow, so I thought I’d share some of my basic recipes with you :
A very exciting event occurred after breakfast today. Three King Parrots visited the verandah ! They were so quiet that I suspect they may have been fed by our neighbours or perhaps they heard I was baking !! They are one of our favourite visitors to the garden, often feeding in large flocks on the apple tree, privet or Duranta bush, though recently, they have been enjoying the Prunus blossom! I thought that I already had some great photos of them, but today’s photo opportunity was amazing !
I love these special moments when nature communes with you without fear. My two other stand-out moments were sitting with puffins outside their homes, which they shared with rabbits on the cliffs, when we stayed at the Bird Observatory on the Fair Isles when the kids were little;
And the Providence Petrels on Lord Howe Island in Winter. We climbed Mt. Gower for my 40th birthday and the kids were enthralled when we called the birds out of the sky to land at our feet and allow us to cuddle them ! Amazing experiences !!!
