Classic Passionfruit Slice

Passionfruit+slice+edited+.jpg

This divine slice is from my collection of “some-day-I’ll-make-this” recipes that I’ve snipped from magazines and newspapers. Since I first discovered it in the reader’s recipe feature of the Australian Women’s Weekly (thank-you Mrs Joyce Marsh!) ten-years ago, I’ve made it many, many, many times. There’s nothing complicated or fussy about this sweet, luscious, velvety slice with its crunchy, buttery, coconut base. It’s just an easy to make, mix-and-bake, completely delicious, good old-fashioned serve of “Yum!” that you can whip up in a couple of mixing bowls with a wooden spoon and whisk in just over half-an-hour. No need for a mix master or food processor! You will need to cool this in the tin after baking, then it’s a good idea to pop it in the fridge until you’re ready to serve to make it easy to cut into squares or triangles. I always think this slice is like serving sunshine on a plate. Enjoy!

BASE INGREDIENTS:
1 cup self-raising flour

1 cup desiccated coconut

1/2 cup caster sugar

125 grams butter

TOPPING INGREDIENTS:

395 gram can condensed milk

1/2 cup strained, freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/3 cup passionfruit pulp

The base takes only 15-minutes to bake and should be golden and crumbly when you pull it out of the oven.

The base takes only 15-minutes to bake and should be golden and crumbly when you pull it out of the oven.

BASE METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius (160 degrees celsius fan-forced.)

2. Grease an 18cm X 28cm slice tin and line the base and side with baking paper.

3. Whisk together the flour, coconut and sugar in a mixing bowl then stir in the melted butter. Press this mixture into the baking tin ( I use the back of a spoon to press it evenly into the tin) then bake for 15- minutes.

TOPPING METHOD:

1. While the base is baking, combine the condensed milk, lemon juice and passionfruit pulp in a bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth.

2. Pour the mixture over the hot base then pop back in the oven for a further 15-minutes.

3. Cool in the tin, pop in the fridge for about 10-minutes to make cutting easy, then serve in squares or triangles.

Happy baking!

Styling & photography by Michelle Hartnett. Images ©Michelle Hartnett 2020. All rights reserved.

Buttery French Pear Cake

I’ve been immersing myself in comfort baking lately, stocking our fridge, biscuit and cake tins with treats that we probably normally wouldn’t indulge in quite so often as we cocoon here at home, waiting out the corona-virus pandemic. I had a mix of Williams and Beurre Bosc pears in my fruit bowl that really needed eating so they made their way into this classic, mix-and- bake cake that we’ve been serving with either custard (my daughter’s choice) or cream (my choice). It’s one of those cakes that’s delicious served warm and, as it doesn’t freeze or microwave very well, is perfect to eat fresh from the oven or within a day or two of baking. I don’t know who to credit for this recipe as it‘s one that I tore from an old magazine many years ago and stuffed into my “some-day-I’ll-make-this” recipe folder! One day soon, I WILL get around to sorting these recipes into some kind of order- a task I always think I must do but never find the time! Now, it seems, there’s plenty of time, so I’ll pop that job onto my “Corona-Cocooning To Do List.” In the meantime, I hope this sweet little cake brings you a big serving of joy and happiness!

 
 

METHOD:

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius (or 160 degrees fan-forced).

2. Grease a 23cm springform cake pan with the butter then sprinkle half the ground almonds around the base and sides and ensure they are well coated. The pan should then be placed on an oven tray lined with baking paper.

3. Use a food processor to whizz together the eggs and caster sugar. Then add in the vanilla, cinnamon, milk and flour. Pulse until you end up with a lovely creamy, thick, smooth batter.

4. Transfer the batter into a large mixing bowl and gently stir in the pears. Once you’ve poured the mixture into your cake pan, sprinkle the top with the remaining almond meal, demerara sugar and dot with the extra butter.

5. Bake the cake for one hour or until the top is golden brown. You can cover the cake with foil during the last part of the bake if it’s browning too quickly.

6. Once the tin is cool enough to handle, you can gently turn out the cake and serve it warm as a dessert. Or allow to cool completely and serve as an afternoon tea cake.

cut+cake+edited.jpg
 

INGREDIENTS:

A generous tablespoon of unsalted butter, softened, to grease the cake tin.

4 pears peeled, cored and cut into thick slices (you can use any variety of pear)

1/2 cup of almond meal

3 eggs (the fresher the better!)

1 1/4 cups of caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup of full cream milk

2 cups of self raising flour ( no need to sift )

2 tablespoons of demerara sugar (for the top of the cake to incorporate a lovely butterscotch flavour while baking.)

Approx 20-30gms of unsalted butter to dot on top of the cake before baking.

 
half gone cake edited.jpg

Happy baking!

Styling & Photography by Michelle Hartnett. Images ©Michelle Hartnett 2020. All rights reserved.