Almond and Coconut Cake with Raspberries, Dairy-Free and Gluten-Free

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Hannah

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There are times when baking is not only a pleasure but a necessity.

I’m not referring to the times when food needs to appear on the table because someone (ahem) is on the verge of turning into Cranky Starving Dragon Wo/Man. That’s a time of cooking-necessity, not baking-necessity.

The moments when baking is absolutely essential are the moments when heart and soul need respite from the world; when the simple acts of measuring, stirring, folding, sweetening, flavouring, rising, caramelising, and offering coalesce into a tangible representation of the world making sense, of love and contentment existing.

This weekend, I moved to my parents’ place to house-sit, worked at the office on Saturday and from home on Sunday, and spent a significant amount of time cleaning the carpet on my hands and knees, because, well, our family dog is getting very old.

I can’t be mad at her, though. How can I feel anything but love for the creature who, as I sit with my legs curled under me scrubscrubbing, silently pads up from behind and rests her head on my thigh, looking up at me sadly with her big brown eyes?

All she deserves is cuddles.

Amidst the cleaningworkingcleaningworking, I set aside some time for just-me, and baked this Almond and Coconut Cake with Raspberries. It’s gluten-free, dairy-free, and truly wonderful. It’s moist, nutty, perfumed with coconut and vanilla, and jewelled with raspberries.

I took half to my grandparents, and we talked together over tea, laughing, hoping, pondering. “This cake is lovely, dear,” my grandma said. “No,” my grandpa interjected. “It’s scrumptious.”

And that’s good enough for me.

Almond and Coconut Cake with Raspberries, Dairy-Free and Gluten-Free

Serves 8
Recipe found scribbled in a notebook, like a gift from a magic sugar fairy.

1 1/2 cups (170g) almond meal
1 1/4 cups (275g) caster sugar
3/4 cup (70g) desiccated coconut
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
200g Nuttelex (dairy-free spread, or butter if that’s your thing), melted and cooled
1/2 cup (55g) fresh or frozen raspberries.

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F), lightly grease a 24cm springform pan and line base and sides with baking paper.
In a large bowl, stir together almond meal, sugar, and coconut.
In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and vanilla extract until combined. Slowly whisk in the melted butter.
Add butter mixture into the almond mixture, stirring until smooth.
Pour batter into the prepared pan, then dot the top with the raspberries.
Bake 50-55 minutes, until the cake is golden and the top springs back (or, at least, doesn’t feel uncooked… fancy that) when you press it lightly.
Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool completely.

Gluten-free and Dairy-free Poppy Seed Cake

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Hannah

This Poppy Seed Cake was my favourite cake growing up. Sure, in my first decade I had a soft spot for the Triple Chocolate Brownie Pie that my Mum learnt in America (where else?), and in my teens I rather enjoyed Grandma’s Apple Almond Cake, but at the end of the day I always pined for the poppy seeds.

(Wait, do you know what I’ve just remembered? I actually liked my Grandma’s stewed fruit dessert more than her almond cake. The plump and luscious prunes and apricots, in particular, made my heart flutter. Gosh, I really was an, erm, unique child.)

I even asked for this Poppy Seed Cake to be my birthday cake one year. People, it’s not even a proper icing-able celebration-looking cake. It’s a brown loaf with black specks throughout. A delicious brown loaf with black specks throughout, mind you.

It really doesn’t seem surprising, now I think about it, that the girl who preferred stewed prunes and gluten-and-dairy-free poppy seed loaves to triple-layer buttercream-frosted cakes grew up to swoon over raw brownies with avocado icing and porridge made from coconut flour and polenta.

But you know what? That girl, who is also this girl, who will now stop talking in third person, was on to a good thing with this Poppy Seed Cake. It is utterly, utterly delicious. Sweet and fragrant with a burnished outer edge and a soft crumb, this cake beautifully showcases the enticing slightly-smoky-nutty flavour of poppy seeds.

If it weren’t for the fact that I’m hoping my parents will take me to a fancy restaurant this weekend for my birthday, I’d totally ask for this again as my birthday cake.

Gluten-free and Dairy-free Poppy Seed Cake

From The Australian Women’s Weekly Cakes and Slices

1/3 cup poppy seeds
3/4 cup soy milk
185g Nuttelex (or butter/preferred dairy-free butter)
1 cup caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
2 cups gluten-free self raising flour

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and line a loaf tin.
Combine poppy seeds and soy milk in a small jugs and leave to soak for one hour.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the poppy seed mixture, Nuttelex, sugar, vanilla extract, and eggs on low speed until just combined. Add the flour and, still on low speed so as to avoid a flour explosion, beat until combined.
Increase speed to medium-high and beat for three minutes until the mixture has lightened in colour. Tip into prepared loaf tin and bake for 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Leave in tin for five minutes, then remove from tin to cool.
This cake is particularly delicious when cut into thick slabs and spread with a little more Nuttelex (or butter, if that’s your fancy). Cake-sandwich!

Note: You can, of course, replace all of the dairy-free and gluten-free options here with their traditional counterparts.

Cakespeditioning: The Palette Café at Beaver Galleries

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Hannah

First day of autumn.

Pelting rain the likes of which hasn’t been seen in Canberra in over half a century. Flooding, a bursting dam, washed-away roads, greygreysilvergrey skies.

Stress and exhaustion causing me to crawl into bed at 6pm the night before. A futile attempt at resting foiled by my brain’s refusal to let me sleep before midnight even when I’m overwrought and/or sick.

Discovering that a section of both soles of my boots have worn away. Discovering this by walking through a shallow puddle in the carpark and feeling both of my socks soak through within seconds.

First day of autumn.

Draping wet socks over the mini heater in my office and then putting them back on, toasty-toasty-warm-for-my-toes, fifteen minutes later.

Making the conscious effort to breathe through work stress, and finding that the focus group I run on Saturday (with E.Moonbeams as scribe) is one of the highlights of my week. Feeling boundless respect and gratitude for the people who drove out in the pelting rain to participate, and who made such valuable contributions.

Pelting rain not being able to forestall my Dad’s and my first Cakespedition.

When Dad suggested that we try Beaver Galleries for afternoon tea, I feared I’d be refused entry on account of the hijinks Lorraine and I got up to last time. Seeing as no bodyguards turfed me out of The Palette Café, all I can surmise is that I am the best statue-impersonator in the history of ever and they never even knew I was there. KAPOW.

I ordered a lovely creamy-nutty-frothy soy latte (photo at top of post) and an enormous piece of cranberry and pistachio biscotti almost the length of both of my hands put together. Biscotti = good. Huge biscotti = even gooderer. Huge biscotti studded with emerald pistachios = goodererest.

Dad’s pick from the cake cabinet was the Date Macadamia Tart. It was a thing of beauty, but I’d definitely recommend it for people with a serious sweet tooth. Dad and I both felt that it was, ultimately, a little too dense and heavy in its sweetness, but the first few bites were pretty great. The dates were rich and caramelly, the macadamias fresh and buttery, and the crust nicely crumbly.

There’s an element of nostalgia to Beaver Galleries’ cakes, a hearkening back to CWA-style sweet uncomplicated baking and childhood sugar-driven happiness.

Thanks, Dad, for your ongoing contributions to my happiness. Cakespedition again soon?

Question Time: What sweet treats from your childhood do you miss?

Berry and Almond Cake, Dairy- and Gluten-Free: Cookbook Challenge Hearty

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Hannah

Theme: Hearty
Recipe: Deliciously Wicked Upside-Down Pear Berry and Almond Cake
Cookbook: Wicked by delicious.

I know what you’re doing at this very moment. You’re looking at the above theme for the Cookbook Challenge, then you’re looking at my pictures of cake, and now, lastly, you’re either rolling your eyes or applauding my ability to take absolutely any theme and turn it into a justification for dessert.

I shan’t deny it. The “Hearty” theme does, at first glance, lend itself towards thick stews, pasta bakes, enormous vats of risotto and even-larger vats of cassoulet.

But I promise, it also lends itself to cake. Hear me out.

I can prove myself to you. I can. I can make you believe that this Pear Berry and Almond Cake perfectly fits the theme of “Hearty”.

One easy justification is that it uses berries (with their antioxidants) and almonds (with their healthy fats). Heart-healthy antioxidants + heart-healthy fats = heart-healthy cake (minus the, erm, butter/dairy-free spread) = Hearty.

But that’s not my real reason.

My real reason is this:

As you know, my grandpa went to hospital last week and underwent a five-and-a-half hour complicated surgery. While, for a 91 year old, he has certainly come through the ordeal spectacularly well, there’s no denying the fact that his recovery will be long and often uncomfortable. It’s not my place to discuss details here, but suffice to say that my mother, grandma, and uncle are currently working in shifts to make sure someone is with my grandpa 24/7.

When I stopped by my grandma’s house to give her a hug, she mentioned that she’d been craving something sweet these past few days.

Although it was but an offhand comment, I immediately had a lightbulb moment. You see, I hate being unable to help with the vigil, but what I can do is bake and, most importantly, bake to show my love and support.

So I found a recipe I could adapt to be dairy- and gluten-free (required for both my mum and grandma), and I baked.

This cake, both dairy- and gluten-free yet still wonderfully rich, nutty, sweet, dare-I-say-moist and moreish, is a representation of my love for my family. And love is, of course, associated with the heart.

Therefore this cake qualifies for the Hearty theme. Don’t you think? Maybe? Just a little? Just this once?

Deliciously Wicked Upside-Down Pear and Almond Cake

From Wicked by delicious.
What follows is the exact cookbook recipe, which I didn’t follow to the letter as I lacked pears. I’ll explain what I did with the recipe at the end.

1 tb brown sugar
200g unsalted butter (I used Nuttelex, a dairy-free spread)
200g caster sugar
3 large eggs, lightly whisked
200g almond meal
2 tb self-raising flour (I used gluten-free self-raising flour)
2 tb blanched almonds (I used slivered)
1 large pear, skin on

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 23cm round cake pan with non-stick baking paper. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the base.
Using an electric beater, beat butter/Nuttelex and sugar until pale and creamy and the sugar has dissolved. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until well combined. Add the almond meal and flour and mix well.
Cut the pear lengthways into 1 1/2 cm slices, arrange in pan over the brown sugar. Sprinkle almonds in the gaps. Spread batter over pears.
Bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool for 10-15 mintues in the pan before serving warm or cold with custard, cream, or ice cream.

What I actually did: I didn’t have a pear, so I left out the 1 tb of brown sugar and replaced the pear with 180g frozen mixed berries. I made the batter as stated in the recipe, and spread it directly into the tin. I then dotted the frozen berries and slivered almonds over the top of the batter.

In theory, this swap worked perfectly, and it was certainly delicious, but I had massive issues with getting the cake to cook through (I’m guessing because of the liquid-y-ness and/or frozen-ness of the berries). I baked the cake for 1 hour and 5 minutes, because it clearly wasn’t done at the 45 minute mark, then let it rest for about an hour. At this point I cut the cake in half, only to discover that it was still completely uncooked. I put the cake back in the tin, covered it with foil, and baked it at 180°C for – who knows?! – about 30-45 minutes more. To be honest, it was still quite “moist” at this point, but delicious enough that I decided to release it into the world. P.S. What with the final texture and all, the cake became perfect when warmed slightly in the microwave and served with muchly cream. All to the good and the love.

Happiness is Goblins and Urban Pantry Sweetness

Posted on July 16, 2011 by Hannah

Happiness is often thought of as that which gallops into life on the back of major events and spectacular personal triumphs, such as getting the job you desperately wanted, falling in love with someone who loves you back (I wonder what that feels like?), visiting a friend who just had a baby, or winning lotto.

Such forms of happiness are all-consuming, and can take you outside of yourself for hours (or even days) at a time.

And yet, sometimes, the stronger and more lasting happiness comes from quiet joys, from little illuminating moments that bolster your spirit and keep your daily life afloat and shining.

For example:

Happiness can be as simple as pretending to be a goblin and then laughing so hard you can’t breathe with a magnificent new friend.

Happiness can be as quietly revitalising as treating your mother to a belated Mother’s Day afternoon tea and simultaneously discovering that Urban Pantry, the cafe which gave you a warm honey tart with salted peanut butter ice cream, also offers the Urban Affogato…

…which involves caramel gelati, violet crumble shards, a shot of espresso, and a secret extra drizzling of honey not mentioned on the menu.

Happiness is not noticing the whirl of time passing as you talk animatedly with your mother, covering dreams for the future, sorrows and smiles from the present, and memories of the past.

And happiness is trading bites of your coffee-caramel-honeycomb bittersweetness with her gluten-free lemon and polenta cake, which is warm, delicious, and heady with the perfume of citrus zest and berries.

Happiness is being wholly present in your own life.

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Tag Archives: cake

Almond and Coconut Cake with Raspberries, Dairy-Free and Gluten-Free

Almond and Coconut Cake with Raspberries, Dairy-Free and Gluten-Free

Gluten-free and Dairy-free Poppy Seed Cake

Gluten-free and Dairy-free Poppy Seed Cake

Cakespeditioning: The Palette Café at Beaver Galleries

Berry and Almond Cake, Dairy- and Gluten-Free: Cookbook Challenge Hearty

Deliciously Wicked Upside-Down Pear and Almond Cake

Happiness is Goblins and Urban Pantry Sweetness