Bananas can come to maturity quite quickly so using them in baking can be a useful way of making something wonderful from depth of their mature flavour. Once the bananas are mashed, this is an easy two bowl cake using just a whisk and a wooden spoon to mix the wet and dry ingredients. It is very quick cake to mix and quick to bake. … Continue reading Spiced Banana Cake with Raisins
Leftover raisin bread will make a delicious pudding, not unlike the traditional bread and butter pudding but with some flavourful additions. For the best results use quality spiced raisin bread that is dense and fruity. The raisin bread, soaked in egg that has been flavoured with orange zest, vanilla extract and brandy, is then topped with a whisper of cinnamon and spiced poached apple slices. … Continue reading Spiced Raisin Bread and Apple pudding
Quinces are in season and the perfume of the beautiful golden fruit is delightfully fragrant from the fruit basket. They need long poaching to make them tender and the longer they cook the more they turn to a lovely ruby red. I have decided that the easiest way to achieve this is to cook my quinces in the slow cooker in a sweet spiced syrup … Continue reading Slow Poached Spiced Quinces
Late summer and autumn sees the fresh figs ripening fast, in fact, faster than one can eat them all. So making jam is a great way to use up the glut of figs and to keep enjoying them when the season is over. It is also a lovely way to share your bounty with family and friends when figs are no longer available. Joe has … Continue reading Joe’s Fig and Cinnamon Jam
In Sydney the pumpkins are ripe and we have had a bumper harvest at the garden. Patricia made a delicious spiced pumpkin pie for us and has shared her recipe that uses that sweet pumpkin spiced with cinnamon, allspice and cloves. Patricia’s Pumpkin Pie Ingredients Pie shell: 1 cup of plain flour 60 g butter 1 tsp salt 6 Tblsp chilled water Spiced Pumpkin filling: … Continue reading Patricia’s Pumpkin Pie
Pears are in season and these days, there are varieties that are available over most of the year, so it is always the time to stew these luscious fruits. They can be served equally well hot or cold so choose a variety that is available and see how easy to cook and how delicious they are when combined with sweet white wine, vanilla bean, cinnamon … Continue reading Dominique’s Stewed Pears in Spiced Wine Syrup
This light tea cake has the tangy flavour of lemon and the sweetness of the new season Granny Smith Apples with a whisper of cinnamon. Apple and Lemon Tea cake Ingredients: 2 eggs 3/4 cup castor sugar 1 1/2 cups Self Raising flour 3/4 cup of milk 60 g butter the zest of 1 lemon juice of 1 lemon 1 Granny Smith Apple, peeled, cored … Continue reading Apple and Lemon Tea cake
The pecan trees in the garden are full of nuts that are giving the cockatoos a great feast. We have collected the fallen pecans and are storing them to dry in the shell. The climate in Western Sydney seems favourable to the growth of pecans and the heat this summer has provided perfect weather for them. What better time to bake some wonderful biscuits using … Continue reading Pecan, Oat and Maple Syrup Biscuits
There is nothing more delicious than a slice of apple pie and now as apples are coming into season, the time is perfect to make a lovely pie. The perfume of the cinnamon when the pie is baking will fill your home and nothing beats the taste of home made apple pie. Apple Pie with Cinnamon Ingredients: Pastry: 2 cups of Plain Flour 85 g … Continue reading Apple Pie with Cinnamon
Plums are in season and there is a wonderful choice to eat fresh and to cook. This recipe will bring you a simple but luscious stewed mix of President and Angelina plums. The purple skins create a thick and delicious syrup to pour over ice-cream. Spiced Stewed Plums Ingredients 5 President plums, stoned and halved 6-8 Angelina plums, stoned and halved 1/3 cup sugar 1 … Continue reading Spiced Stewed Plums
The Grantham Gardener 