A Christmas Gift Guide for Foodies

Heavily inspired by Betty Magazine’s lust worthy gift guide, and after much deliberation over what I will be buying people for Christmas, I thought I would put together a Christmas Gift Guide for the foodies in your life (or for yourself of course!). 

These are a selection of my favourite cookbooks I love to give as gifts and one’s that are on my wish list this year!

I have also included a selection of food or food related gifts from Australian based small business that I love, to give you some extra inspiration for the festive season.

Each picture has click through link, so if you want more information about any of the books or products, click their picture.

NB: If buying online from these great small businesses, please note their Christmas delivery cut off dates so you aren’t disappointed. 

Farmer - The Cookbook

WILD Adventure Cookbook - by Sarah Glover

Ottolenghi Simple - by Yotam Ottolenghi

Now & Again - by Julia Turshen

A Table in Venice - by Skye McAlpine

Greatest Hits - Katherine Sabbath

1. Farmer - The Cookbook, starting at $40. This book is a charity project supporting Rural Aid for farmers affected by the drought. The book is due to be released in February 2019, however there is a great Christmas gift option for $50, where you get a Gift Voucher mailed to you to give to the recipient for Christmas, and the book itself will get mailed to them come February next year. For more information check out their Chuffed fundraising page.

2. WILD Adventure Cookbook by Sarah Glover, $69.95. This book started as a Kickstarter project between Sarah Glover and photographer Luisa Brimble, and since then gone on to be released in the USA and is also available in bookstores here in Australia (David Jones and Booktopia to name a couple). This is a really different style of cookbook and is filled with beautiful images of food being cooked outdoors.

3. Ottolenghi Simple - by Yotam Ottolenghi, $34.95. I don’t know many who don’t want this book! Yotam Ottlenghi’s recipes are always fantastic and this book has an edge of comfort and simplicity, whilst maintaining his characteristic flavour combinations and interesting ingredients.

4. Now & Again - by Julia Turshen, $40.75. Julia’s recipes and food writing are so enjoyable, and I can’t imagine anyone not getting some good use out of this book. This book creates magic from leftovers in Julia’s trademark friendly and inviting style.

5. A Table in Venice - by Skye McAlpine, $46.25. This book is a dream, visually and in terms of the recipes. The photography and design of the book are stunning and would make a lovely gift for any lover of Italian food.

6. Greatest Hits - by Katherine Sabbath, $125. This book is like nothing else you’ve seen before! A pop-up cookbook filled with Katherine’s fun and colourful creations would be the perfect gift for any keen baker.

Rocky Road Bon Bon -Sweetness by Adora

Toasty Block-O-Choc - Bakedown Cakery

Sun Dried Smyrna Quince - Singing Magpie Produce

Real White Drinking Chocolate - Grounded Pleasures

Cornersmith Gift Voucher

Crumpet Rings - The Lost & Found Department

1. Rocky Road Bon Bon from Sweetness by Adora Chocolates, $12. These are the best rocky road you can get. Coming in dark, milk and white chocolate each bar contains handmade SweetMallows (Sweetness by Adora’s handmade marshmallows) along with their handmade pâte de fruit.

2. Toasty Block O Choc from Bakedown Cakery, $12. This chocolate bar is unlike any other - it’s caramelised white chocolate! Much more addictive than it’s regular white chocolate sibling, this bar is well worth a try. But get in quick as Bakedown are changing their chocolate offering in 2019 and Toasty will be no more! All Bakedown chocolate bars come in beautifully designed packaging so they make the perfect gift.

3. Sun Dried Smyrna Quince from Singing Magpie Produce, $33. You've probably heard me go on about this dried fruit before, but they are just so good! Sun dried in Monash, South Australia these quinces come from trees planted over 100 years ago, and have won many a food award, and for good reason!

4. Real White Drinking Chocolate from Grounded Pleasures, $12.90. I love this white drinking chocolate! White drinking chocolate can be very hard to find, but Grounded Pleasures has you covered. The chocolate is beautiful and creamy, yet not too rich and is great for a warming winter drink. It can also be used in baking and for iced drinks too. Grounded Pleasures also make a variety of other drinking chocolates which are well worth checking out.

5. Cornersmith Gift Voucher from Cornersmith, from $50. Who wouldn’t want to do a cooking class at Cornersmith? From bread making to pickling and preserving Cornersmith offers a wide range of classes during the year which are super enjoyable and informative.

6. Crumpet Rings from The Lost and Found Department, $2.50 each. The Lost and Found Department sells a range of baking ware handmade in Tasmania, and one of these products are these crumpet rings. Used to cook crumpets on the stove, these rings are a rare gem as they are otherwise extremely hard to come by! The are a great little present for any keen baker.

Toasty Bloc-O-Choc by Bakedown Cakery (stars are Christmas Limited Edition Toasty Caramel & Praline by Bakedown Cakery)

Greatest Hits The Pop Edition by Katherine Sabbath

Stained Glass Window Christmas Fruit Cake

I first tried a slice of this cake when a former colleague brought some into to work around Christmas last year. Her Mum, a keen baker and CWA member had made it.The cake was cut thinly, so the glacé fruit and the nuts were really obvious and it was clear why the cake was called a Stained Glass Window Cake! I was hesitant at first to try some as I never like Christmas style fruit cakes, but this one has definitely become an exception. 

I asked my friend what the cake was called and she text her Mum to check. Her Mum came back saying it was called a Stained Glass Window Cake (sometimes known as an American Fruit Cake or Bishops Cake). My colleague also told me how in the past her Mum would make the trip to David Jones Food Hall in the city to get all the glacé fruit. I quickly wrote all that down on a post it note and took it home so I would remember all the details. 

Stained Glass Window Christmas Fruit Cake

Lighter in colour and flavour than a regular Christmas fruit cake, this style of cake is heavy on glacé fruit rather than alcohol soaked dried fruit, which gives the cake a distinctly different flavour and look.

Since the flavour of the alcohols used in fruit cakes is what I really don’t like, I was pleased when I tasted the cake that alcohol wasn’t evident at all. Since having looked at recipes for this type of cake, most call for about 1tbsp of some kind of alcohol (significantly less than a traditional fruit cake!), and some recipes suggested orange juice could be used as a substitute. 

Another reason I love this cake is because I have been a fan of glacé fruit for a long time, having grown up eating glacé cherries a lot as a child. My Grandma used them to decorate her Christmas shortbread, and I would always sneak a couple from the open packet in the fridge (much to Grandma’s dismay I think!). 

Stained Glass Window Christmas Fruit Cake

I set about finding my glacé fruit for this cake the same as my colleague’s Mum used to. I went to the David Jones Food Hall after work and searched for some. I finally found a very small selection in the deli area where the cheeses etc are sold. There were red glacé cherries and pineapple sold by weight and a packet of mixed glacé fruit. I got the mixed packet, and a few extra slices of pineapple. I have a feeling the selection may have been a bit better in the past when my colleague’s Mum used to go!

I then bought some more at The Source Bulk Foods, who have a good selection of glacé fruits, however not a large quantity of each (not great if you are making something big, but good for this recipe as you only need a few bits of each fruit). I also went to Harris Farm Markets who have a great selection of glacé fruits this time of year. 

What kind of Christmas fruit cake do you prefer? Or are you a fan of them at all? Let me know in the comments! 

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Stained Glass Window Christmas Fruit Cake

Ingredients: 

115g glacé pineapple, roughly chopped

125g glacé apricot and/or peach, roughly chopped

250g glacé pear and/or fig, roughly chopped

110g whole red and green glacé cherries

110g roughly chopped pitted dates and/or dried quince (I used dried quince from Singing Magpie Produce)

75g macadamias

85g whole blanched almonds

85g brazil nuts

110g dark brown sugar 

2 eggs

zest of one lemon

1tbsp fresh lemon juice

100g butter, melted and cooled

1tsp cinnamon

50g plain flour 

35g self-raising flour 

Ingredients for the Topping: 

75g mixed glacé fruit, roughly chopped (I used pineapple, peach & pear)

55g whole red glacé cherries

55g whole green glacé cherries

40g brazil nuts

35g macadamias 

Method: 

Pre-heat oven to 150 degrees Celsius/130 degrees Celsius fan-forced. Grease and line a 20cm round ring pan allowing the baking paper to extend a few centimetres above the tin (preferably one with a flat base, not a bundt tin).

Mix together the glacé fruit and the nuts in a large bowl. 

In a small bowl whisk together the flours and the cinnamon. 

Then in a small/medium bowl, beat the eggs and the sugar with electric beaters (or in a stand mixer) until well combined. Add the lemon juice, melted butter and flour mixture and beat until just combined. 

Gently stir the egg mixture into the fruit and nuts. Spoon into the prepared pan, pressing the mixture into the tin. Press down so the top is level. Then press in all the topping ingredients into the top of the cake, ensuring they aren’t sitting loose. 

Loosely cover the cake with foil, and bake for 1 hour. 

After the hour, remove the foil, and bake for a further 45 minutes. If using a fan forced oven and the cake is not cooked through after 45 minutes, turn the temperature up to 150 degrees Celsius and continue to cook for a further 15 minutes. 

Once the cake is done, remove from the oven and allow to sit in the tin for 10 minutes before carefully removing from the tin and allowing to cool on a wire rack. Keep in mind the top side of the cake when it is in the tin, will remain the top side of the cake once removed from the tin. 

The cake slices best when completely cooled (even better when it comes straight from the fridge). Store in the fridge (wrapped in plastic wrap inside an airtight container) if conditions are humid. 

Reference: ‘Christmas Food & Craft’ The Australia Women’s Weekly (ACP Books, 2006), p. 95. 

Pistachio Raspberry & Rose Cake

Pistachio, raspberry and rose are three flavours that are made for each other in my opinion. They go so well together and the colours of each look so pretty and appealing too.

I used fresh raspberries for this cake, however if you are using frozen, only take them out of the freezer just before you want to use them so they don’t bleed into the cake batter too much. 

You can buy freeze dried raspberries from a few places now - I have bought them online from Fresh As (a New Zealand company), and Bakedown Cakery often sells them in their St Leonards store as well. I have also bought them from About Life in the past too. Alternatively, freeze dried strawberries are a little easier to come by, so they would be a good alternative to use. Otherwise dried edible rose petals would be a good option for the decoration. 

Also - how gorgeous are the white peonies in these photos?! Every year when peonies are in season I can’t help but buy some. I think they are some of the most beautiful flowers, and I have found if you buy them before the flower has opened you can get a good week or more out of them. Which is great, as they aren’t exactly the cheapest of flowers to buy! But their beauty is certainly worth it, particularly if like me, you don’t buy flowers all that often.

Happy Baking! xoxo

Pistachio Raspberry & Rose Cake

Ingredients: 

175g margarine or softened unsalted butter

175g light brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp rosewater

125g + 1 tbsp pistachios

175g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

250g fresh raspberries

Ingredients for the Icing:

200g icing sugar, confectioners

1.5-2 tbsp rosewater

1 tsp freeze dried raspberries, lightly crushed

Method: 

Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees Celsius and grease and line a 22-23cm springform cake tin.

Using a food processor, grind the all pistachios into a fine crumb/meal (the same consistency as almond meal). Don’t over process or you may end up with pistachio nut butter, rather than pistachio meal. Remove 1 tbsp of the ground pistachios and set aside. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer add the margarine and sugar. Beat using the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add the eggs separately, beating well after each. Add the rosewater and the ground pistachios and mix until combined.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour and baking powder, then gently fold into the main cake batter. 

Transfer the cake batter into the tin and smooth the top. Push each raspberry into the top of the cake so that cake is evenly covered with raspberries. Smooth the top if possible. 

Bake for about 50 minutes or until the cake is springy to the touch and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the cake. 

Leave the cake to cool before removing from the tin. 

Once the cake has cooled make the icing by whisking the icing sugar and 1 tbsp of the rosewater together. Gradually add more rosewater if the mixture is to dry, and more icing sugar if the icing is too runny. Ice the cake with the icing, then sprinkle over the 1 tbsp of crushed pistachios and the freeze dried raspberries to decorate. 

Pistachio Raspberry & Rose Cake

Reference: The Violet Bakery Cookbook’ by Claire Ptak (Ten Speed Press, 2015), p.137.

Pistachio Raspberry & Rose Cake with White Peonies

For more recipes showcasing the best of rose, check out my eBook Baking with Rose by clicking the link below!

Off the Shelf - 'The Violet Bakery Cookbook' by Claire Ptak

Bought at: online from Booktopia, a regular online haunt of mine for books. 

Recipes Made: Squash, Brown Butter & Sage Quiche (pp.86-87), Banana Buttermilk Bread (p.104), Lemon Drizzle Loaf (pp.114-115), Ginger Molasses Cake (p.125), Summer Spelt Almond Cake (p.137), Egg Yolk Chocolate Chip Cookies (pp.140-141), Quince Ice Cream (pp.184-185) and Roasted Quince (p.241). 

For the Quiche I used the basics of the recipe and instead of squash and sage I used purple sweet potato, goats cheese, thyme and topped the quiche with goats cheese stuffed zucchini flowers. The quiche was amazing and the recipe was really easy to follow. Claire’s recipes are very clearly written and she has managed to keep all the chef-y inside tips in there without making everything seem daunting. 

Purple Sweet Potato & Zucchini Flower Quiche

The Banana Buttermilk Loaf is a great way to use up over ripe bananas and I have made it many times. I have often been known to deliberately buy the over ripe bananas in the quick sale section of the green grocers just to make this bread. When I make it I tend to cut it into slices once cooled, wrap individually and freeze. The loaf is quite different to other banana breads, which can be quite cakey. This one uses 6 bananas so the flavour is perfect and the texture is more dense. 

I made the Lemon Drizzle Loaf when bergamots where in season last year and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I didn’t think the drizzle added too much to the cake, so if you wanted to skip it and just have the icing I think the cake would still work really well. 

Lemon Drizzle Loaf using Bergamots

I was really looking forward to making the Ginger Molasses Cake as I love the combination of ginger and molasses in cakes. I didn’t end up being a fan of this one however. The flavour was nice but the texture of the cake was too wet for my liking. 

Ginger Molasses Cake

The Summer Spelt Almond Cake I have made many times, in many different forms. It is a great all rounder and works well with lots of different fruits, flavour combinations, sugars and flours. In the version pictured I used raspberries only and the rosewater icing - with the addition of crystallised rose petals it probably looks a bit too much like a Valentine’s cake, but it did taste really good! 

Summer Spelt Almond Cake with Rose

The Egg Yolk Chocolate Chip Cookies have been my go to biscuit recipe for a while now. They are great as the recipe uses up egg yolks that may be left over from something else, and the raw dough freezes really well too. The dough also bakes well from frozen as well. I have made this with a few different flavour combinations, however the winner always seems to be raspberry and white chocolate. 

Raspberry & White Chocolate Biscuits

The Quince Ice Cream I have posted about here, and the Roasted Quince I tried out this year when quinces were in season. I have a recipe I usually use which poaches them, but I thought I would try this one out as well. I wasn’t as keen on the final result of the roasting, I found it took significantly longer for the quinces to cook than the recipe said and they didn’t turn a deep ruby red colour like the should have. They still tasted really good, but I think I will stick to poaching next year. 

Favourite Things About The Book: The recipes are really a stand out in this book, which I think is evidenced by how many I have tried (and still want to try)! It really feels like you aren’t missing out on the Violet Bakery in London having this book, and there is such a vast range of recipes that it really covers all seasons and tastes. The recipes also come with great advice from Claire, in a way that feels like you are generously benefiting from her years of experience and training.

Even being someone who has baked for a long time, I still find I learn things from this book. Claire’s flavour combinations and use of less common ingredients is also a real high point of this book. At first glance things to me seemed a little out of left field, and maybe a bit like they were being designed to suit the ‘healthy’ food trends that have been hanging around the past few years. But once I really read the recipes, and tried some of them out, these ingredients (think spelt flour, agave, rye flour, buckwheat flour etc) are really being used as they bring something to the recipe and make the end result the best it can be. These ingredients are used because of their taste or the texture they bring to the bake, and this to me is extremely refreshing.  

Bookmarked Recipes (to make later!): Honey & Rosewater Madeleines (pp.126-127), Chewy Ginger Snaps (p.134), The Violet Butterscotch Blondie (p.143), Loganberry-Vanilla Birthday Cake (pp.213-214) and Carrot Cake (p.219). 

White Peach & Passionfruit Sponge Cake

The idea for this cake came to me when I went into a new fruit and veg shop and saw some donut peaches from the USA. Usually, I really try to stick to what is in season, however there are some things (white cherries and donut peaches in particular) that I can’t resist no matter what season or where they have come from. 

After I bought them I realised they wouldn’t last long enough for me to end up eating all of them fresh. Then I remembered this White Peach & Passionfruit Jam recipe I had made last year. I already had lots of passionfruit pulp in the freezer so I set about making the jam with the donut peaches. The jam is so tasty, just like Summer in a jar. 

I usually serve it with scones, but this time I thought adding it to the filling of a sponge would make a lovely Summery cake for this time of year. I used the same sponge recipe as the Duck Egg Sponge I have previously posted here on the blog, but with regular chicken eggs (5 eggs rather than the 4 duck eggs). If you can find duck eggs I highly recommend using them for a sponge cake like this one, the rise and the texture you get with them are really something else. 

Make the jam a day or so before you intend to have the sponge. And since the festive season will soon be upon us, I would recommend putting the jam into smaller jam jars and gifting it to others. It would be such a lovely gift to receive and a great showcase of the Australian produce that is now in season. 

If you don’t feel like making the jam, use some extra peach and passionfruit to fill the middle of the sponge as well as decorating the top.

White Peach & Passionfruit Jam 

Ingredients: 

1kg white or donut peaches (just ripe)

10 passionfruit

600g white sugar or jam sugar

100g brown sugar 

juice of 1/2 lemon

Method: 

Sterilise 3-4 jam jars (about 280-300ml capacity) by washing them in hot soapy water and then placing them in the oven to dry (upside down) at 90 degrees Celsius. Jars can be left for 20 minutes or until they are ready to be used. 

Place two small plates in the freezer for later.

Remove the skins from the peaches (if proving difficult don’t worry about it too much), and deseed. Roughly chop and place in a large heavy based saucepan. Scoop the pulp out of each passionfruit and add to the pot, along with the remaining ingredients. 

Sit the pot over low heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved and the juices start coming out of the fruit. Increase the heat and stop stirring. Allow the jam to simmer for about 15-20 minutes, then check if it has reaching setting point. Remove one of the plates from the freezer and drop some of the jam onto the plate. Leave for a moment, then run your finger through the jam, If the jam creases it is ready. If not, keep the jam over the heat and test again after another 10 minutes or so. The rate at which the jam sets will depend on the ripeness of the peaches. 

Once the jam has reached setting point, remove the jam jars from the oven. Using a ladle and a jam funnel, fill each jar with the jam and secure the lids. 

Allow to cool at room temperature, then store in a cool dry place for up to six months. Refrigerate once opened, or if conditions are hot and humid. 

White Peach & Passionfruit Sponge Cake

White Peach and Passionfruit Sponge Cake

Ingredients: 

x5 eggs, room temperature

140g golden caster sugar 

160g plain flour, plus extra for the tin

2 tsp baking powder 

300ml pouring cream

butter, to grease the tin

5 tbsp White Peach & Passionfruit Jam, approx.

1 white or donut peach, to decorate

pulp of 1/2 passionfruit, to decorate

Method: 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius, and butter and flour two 20 cm loose bottomed cake tins. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the eggs and sugar. Whisk for about 10 minutes, on medium to high speed. The mixture will triple in size and become pale and fluffy. 

While the eggs are whisking, measure the flour and baking powder into a separate bowl and whisk together to remove any lumps. Carefully add the flour and baking powder to the whisked eggs, gently and quickly folding it into the eggs with a large metal spoon.

Divide the mixture evenly between the two prepared tins, and bake for 15-20 minutes. The cakes will be golden in colour and spring back when lightly touched. 

Leave the cakes to cool in their tins for a couple of minutes. Place a sheet of baking paper on a cooling rack, and remove each cake from their tins on to the paper. This will prevent the cakes sticking to the cooling racks. Alternatively, you can leave the baking paper that is already on the base of each cake, and place them straight on the racks. 

Once the cakes have cooled (this shouldn’t take too long), prepare the cream filling. Whip the cream until it has thickened and soft peaks are forming. Place one of the cakes on a cake stand or serving plate, and top with half of the cream. Dollop over the White Peach and Passionfruit Jam, ensuring it is evenly placed over the cream. Place the second sponge on top and finish with the remaining cream. Slice up the peach and use to decorate the rim of the cake. Sprinkle over the passionfruit pulp to finish. 

Serve immediately.

References: ‘Real Food Projects’ by Kate Walsh (Murdoch Books, 2016), p.62; ‘Local is Lovely’ by Sophie Hansen (Hachette Australia, 2014), p.50.

Roasted Summer Stone Fruit

This is a great no fuss dessert that makes the most of the delicious stone fruit that are coming into season right now. 

We make this a lot all year round, and during the colder months use pears instead. It is often made on the weekends when we make more time for dinner and it is always a nice way to end a meal (and the leftovers are always good too!). 

When I’m making this with stone fruit, I like to use a variety of plums, nectarines and white and yellow peaches as the combination creates wonderful flavour and look to the dessert. 

Roasted Summer Stone Fruit

Ingredients: 

1-2kg stone fruit (e.g. peaches, nectarines, plums)

45g butter, softened

2 tbsp panela sugar (or brown sugar)

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

1 tsp ground cinnamon 

125ml Moscato 

50g slivered almonds 

thick cream to serve (I use Little Big Dairy Co’s Pure Double Cream) 

Method: 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and cut the fruit into wedges, removes the stones or cores. Place fruit in a large baking dish. 

In a small bowl mix together the butter, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon and scatter teaspoonfuls of the mixture over the fruit. 

Pour the wine over the fruit and bake for about 30 minutes or until the fruit is beginning to soften. Briefly remove the fruit from the oven and scatter over the almonds and continue baking for another 10 minutes or until the almonds and the fruit are golden. 

Serve warm with cream (or ice cream). 

Reference: ‘Bill’s Italian Food’ by Bill Granger (HarperCollins, 2013), p.229.