Cookbooks Worth Waiting for in 2022 - A Recap

Earlier in the year, I compiled a list of cookbooks due to be released in the first half of 2022, that I was really looking forward to. 

Now that all of them have been released, and I’ve had time to bake a couple of things and read through the books, I thought it would be nice to come back to the list and see how they faired after looking forward to them so much.

1. Cinnamon and Salt: Cicchetti in Venice by Emiko Davies - This book is as lovely as you might expect if you have any of Emiko’s other books. I especially like the in depth history about cicchetti in Venice, it is clear a lot of time and research has gone into this book. The recipes are interesting, but I have to say there aren’t many I will probably make. Sometimes down to the fact that I can never be bothered to deep fry anything, and also they are things that I would enjoy in small quantities at a restaurant, but maybe not make myself - here is a recipe from the book Emiko shared via her newsletter which will give an idea of the types of recipes in this book. Having said that, I don’t think this book is any less useful. As I said the history is very interesting, and it’s almost like being in Venice again when I am immersed in it all.

2. Around the Kitchen Table by Sophie Hansen and Annie Herron - As I suspected, I am really enjoying this book. It has a cosy calm vibe and there quite a few recipes I want to make. I have already made the Pot-Roasted Rhubarb (p.70) which was a great way to cook up some rhubarb very easily. We also made Angela’s Chicken (p.162), however was a little underwhelmed by the flavour (feedback was maybe it needed some dried black olives to up the flavour, or my personal favourite capers and/or anchovies). I guess some recipes won’t hit the spot with everyone, but I am still looking forward to trying more from this book, and would still highly recommend it.

3. A Good Day to Bake by Benjamina Ebuehi - Benjamina has done it again! I am really loving this book, Benjamina’s use of flavour is so exceptional, and again (like her first cookbook, A New Way to Cake), makes this book different from other baking books. I have already made the Miso and White Chocolate Cookies (p.168), and the rhubarb Ginger and White Chocolate Cake (p.80) - both will be made again! To find out more about this book check out this review from Shipshape Eatworthy which I found really helpful.

4. The Year of Miracles by Ella Risbridger - The most recent release of all in this list, so I haven’t made anything from this book yet. There are of course many recipes I would like to try, but beyond that I am so enjoying Ella’s writing and the beautiful illustrations by Elisa Cunningham as well. I have been enjoying reading though the book so much, that I ended up purchasing the hardcover version of Midnight Chicken (Ella’s first cookbook) - I already own the paperback version, however after seeing Ella’s new book in all its hardcover full colour glory, I could see how much I was missing out on in her first cookbook!

5. Nistisima by Georgina Hayden - When I added this to my cookbooks worth waiting for list, I said I had a feeling that this book, being all vegan recipes, would be the exception to my general distain for all vegan cookbooks. I was right, and would recommend this book to everyone. I have really enjoyed getting to know more about the process of fasting as part of the religious year, and the variety of recipes there are in this book. This book was picked as one of the cookbooks of the month in Jamie Oliver’s Cookbook Club on Facebook in April, so if you are interested to see some more you can find more there - here is Jamie introducing the book for April.

Did you add any of these books to your collection too? Let me know what you think of them in the comments below!

Keep an eye out for my next cookbooks worth waiting for list, which will feature the cookbooks I am most looking forward to in the second half of 2022. 

Links to books on Booktopia removed 15/07/2024.

Where to High Tea (in Sydney!)

Since I last did a list of where to have afternoon tea in Sydney, lots has changed. Some of the places don’t exist any more sadly, so I thought after having a lovely high tea recently, it was time to update my list of go to places.

The last list I created was back in 2018, and I still stand by the recommendations that are still open, sadly Rabbit Hole Tea and Petal Met Sugar have since closed. However sometimes, it’s nice to do a bit more than afternoon tea, and celebrate something special with a high tea. 

Recently I went to have a high tea with friends at the QVB Tea Room - for those outside of Sydney or Australia, QVB is the Queen Victoria Building in the centre of Sydney city, a beautiful old building containing shops and cafes, well worth a visit if you are in Sydney. 

I have had high tea at the QVB in the past, but not for some time. I was pleasantly surprised at how nice everything on the high tea stand was, and my friends dietary requirements were able to be catered for as well (at no extra cost either). The room you sit in for high tea is elegant and beautiful and it’s just a really nice place to be. 

The group that run the QVB Tea Room also run the high tea at the Gunner’s Barracks in northern Sydney. The location is a bit more difficult to get to, but the views of the harbour and city are lovely. I have to say this high tea doesn’t change much, so I have found it’s not worth going back too often! 

For a more relaxed vibe, The Tea Cosy at The Rocks in Sydney does fantastic Devonshire teas, and do a high tea like offering, with scones and finger sandwiches. 

Outside of Sydney, the high tea at The Hydro Majestic hotel in Medlow Bath(Blue Mountains, NSW), is also worth a visit. The views of the Megalong Valley are stunning and there is also an option for an Eastern High Tea if you aren’t a fan of the regular scones, sandwiches and cakes. 

Where is your favourite place to enjoy high tea?

Another Pistachio and Rose Cake

Another pistachio and rose cake. I promise this one is a bit different to the rest. 

Pistachio and rose is a flavour combination I will never tire of, and since I am still enjoying my new found like of buttercream, I decided a rose buttercream would be worth a try. 

I have used freeze dried raspberry powder to colour my icing, however any pink food colouring will also work well. I find the rose flavour comes through really well the day after this cake is made, so if you wanted to make it in advance you definitely could, I would just leave the final decorations till the day you wished to serve it (if using any kind of edible flowers). 

Unlike the last few pistachio cake recipes I have posted here, this cake only needs raw pistachios blitzed to a crumb/meal, rather than a ready made pistachio spread. Which I hope makes this cake a bit easier to make and more accessible ingredient wise too. 

Another Pistachio and Rose Cake a.k.a Pistachio Cake with Rose Buttercream

Ingredients: 

150g pistachios

175g unsalted butter, softened

2 tsp rosewater

100g light brown sugar

75g caster sugar

3 eggs

150g self raising flour

Ingredients for the Icing: 

150g unsalted butter, at room temp 

1.5 tbsp rosewater

190g icing sugar, sifted

Pink food colouring/2-2.5 tsp freeze dried raspberry powder, optional

Edible flowers fresh or dried, to decorate (optional)

1 tbsp slivered or roughly chopped pistachios, to decorate

Method: 

Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees Celsius and grease and line a 20cm round springform cake tin.

While the oven is heating up, place the pistachios on a lined baking tray to gently toast. Remove the pistachios once the oven has pre-heated or after 3 minutes or so. 

Allow the pistachios to cool down a bit, then place in a food processor and blitz until a fine crumb/meal forms.

In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter, rosewater and sugars using the paddle attachment. Beat until light and fluffy. 

Then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Gently mix in the blitzed pistachios until combined.

Add the self raising flour and gently fold by hand using a spatula in until combined.

Transfer the cake batter into the tin and smooth the top. 

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, place it on a serving plate. 

Then make the icing by beating the butter and 1 tbsp of the rosewater in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Beat for about 1-2 minutes, or until the butter is nice and fluffy. 

Add the icing sugar and 2 tsp of the freeze dried raspberry powder (if using), and beat again until the icing is soft and fluffy, about 1 minute. 

If using food colouring, add that in now, starting with a small amount and adding more as needed. You can also add in the extra 1/2 tbsp of rosewater if you would like a stronger rose flavour, and if using the freeze dried raspberry powder, add in the additional 1/2 tsp to deepen the colour of the icing if you wish. 

Evenly spread the icing over the top of the cake, then decorate with any edible flowers you may have, and some slivered or roughly chopped pistachios. 

Serves 8-10. Will keep for a few days at room temperature in an airtight container.

ANZAC Biscuit Inspired Fruit Crumble

This recipe idea came to me not long after I woke up today, and since I actually remembered the idea after I had properly woken up and got ready for the day, I just had to make it.

This crumble is based on the Weeknight Strawberry and Apple Crumble from my cookbook, Everyday Bakes. It’s a pretty flexible recipe and makes enough to generously feed four people. 

I always like using apples as the base of my crumble, very finely sliced. You can play around with what other fruit you would like to add. I find a punnet of strawberries goes well, and this time I also added in some already cooked rhubarb I had. You could add berries, pears, stone fruit, or poached quince if you have some already. The quantities for the fruit don’t need to be exact, just make sure you don’t overfill your baking dish or you may end up with any fruit juices overflowing from the dish during baking. 

The crumble topping is inspired by ANZAC Biscuits, using oats, brown sugar, coconut and golden syrup, which I’m sure many of us are thinking about making this weekend. I hope this crumble will be a nice thing to make and enjoy this long weekend, along with a batch or two of ANZAC Biscuits.

ANZAC Biscuit Inspired Fruit Crumble

Ingredients:

40g unsalted butter, softened

50g rolled oats (not instant oats)

50g plain flour

50g brown sugar

20g shredded coconut

1 tsp golden syrup

x2 small apples (I prefer Pink Lady apples) 

250g strawberries

Cooked rhubarb*, optional

2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius.

In a medium bowl, mix together the butter, oats, flour, sugar and coconut until everything is well combined. You can use your fingers to rub everything together. Once well combined, add in the golden syrup and mix with a spoon until it is fairly well incorporated. 

Finely slice the apples (no need to peel them!) and hull and quarter the strawberries. Place the fruit into a 1.25L/5 cup capacity baking dish - one that is wider and shallower instead of narrow and deep will work better for this recipe. 

If you have any cooked or stewed rhubarb you can mix some of that in now as well, just enough so your baking dish is not overly full and you still have ample room for the crumble topping without everything spilling over the sides. You could also add in any other berries (approx. 125g), one stone fruit that is finely sliced, a finely sliced pear or an additional apple if you wish. 

Toss the vanilla into the fruit and press the fruit mixture down a little so the crumble topping has a relatively even surface to sit on. Then top with the crumble topping so it evenly covers the surface.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown.

Serve warm with ice cream or cream.

If there are any leftovers, allow the crumble to cool down then cover and keep in the the fridge.

Serves four, generously.

* I used some pot roasted rhubarb I had made from Sophie Hansen and Annie Herron’s new book Around the Kitchen Table. I used the cooked cut up stalks (about 15 individual pieces of varying sizes), and allowed most of the cooking juice to drip off before adding to the crumble. 

Carrot Cake with Quince Syrup and Spiced Buttercream

I love a good carrot cake. The recipe is always easy, no need for a mixer, and can be adapted quite a lot too. 

This most recent adaptation came about when it suddenly occurred to me that quince syrup could be substituted for the usual honey/golden syrup often used in carrot cakes. I buy sticky quince syrup from Singing Magpie Produce, and I’m not sure if there is anyone else who produces a similar product. 

While I highly recommend buying from Singing Magpie Produce, if you are outside Australia or wish for another alternative, date syrup/molasses can be used instead. In fact I’m sure many other fruit based syrups/molasses could be trailed in a recipe like this. I just wouldn’t try pomegranate molasses, as it would be too tart. 

Using a product such as quince syrup rather than honey or something similar, allows the cake to be less sweet - though the buttercream here makes up for that! However the combination is quite nice as they compliment each other. This is also a nice cake without icing too if you want to keep it as it is. 

You could make this cake an Easter carrot cake by decorating with small Easter eggs or similar. 

Carrot Cake with Quince Syrup and Spiced Buttercream

Ingredients: 

75g panela or brown sugar

125ml canola or vegetable oil

125ml quince syrup (I use this one)

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

225g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarb soda

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp ground cardamom 

3 medium carrots, grated

For the icing:

150g unsalted butter, at room temp 

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

190g icing sugar, sifted

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cardamom 

Method: 

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius and grease and line a 20cm round springform cake tin.

In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, oil, quince syrup, eggs and vanilla.

Then add the flour, baking powder and spices. Sift in the bicarb soda and whisk together until combined.

Then add the grated carrots to the cake mixture and mix to combine. 

Pour the batter into the prepared tin and smooth the top with a spatula. 

Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the cake is golden, springy to the touch and a skewer comes out clean.

Remove the outer edge of the cake tin and allow the cake to cool on a wire rack.

To make the icing, beat the butter and vanilla in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment for at least 1 minute, or until the butter is light and fluffy. 

Add the icing sugar and spices and beat for a further minute or two, or until the icing sugar is well combined and the icing is light and fluffy. 

Spread the icing over the cake.

Serves 8-10. 

Birthday Cake Cookies

After buying the Birthday Cake cookies from Butterboy last year (read more about that here) I have been thinking about how I could recreate them. 

‘Birthday Cake’ is a strange name for a flavour to me as it gives no real indication of what it actually is. I know ‘Birthday Cake’ may mean something to those who’ve grown up in the US, as I think Birthday Cake is considered a type of cake/flavour there. Like a few other flavours that seem to have originated in the US - Red Velvet and Snickerdoodle come to mind - the name of the flavour or type of cake or cookie, doesn’t give me much idea what to expect when I might actually eat one of these things. 

I still remember over ten years ago, being in the US and trying to work out what exactly a Red Velvet cupcake was. Like what does red velvet actually mean? What flavours should I expect to taste when I bite into one? Everyone we asked gave us some iteration of the answer ‘Well you know, it’s just red velvet?!’. To two Australian’s who had never tasted anything red velvet, that was completely no help, as no, we didn’t just know! It wasn’t till we met up with a fellow Aussie that she said she’d seen her flatmate make red velvet cupcakes and she was sure they had chocolate in them. Once we finally tried a red velvet cupcake, we instantly knew it was chocolatey, and I guess heaped with food colouring to make it red! Finally an answer to our question. 

As for ‘Birthday Cake’ flavoured things, sprinkles seem to be a must. And maybe some element that makes the baked good taste like cake, when it’s not actually a cake. I’m not sure if ‘Birthday Cake’ and funfetti cakes are one and the same, or slightly different in some way, maybe it doesn’t really matter. In the end if you add sprinkles to something it’s instantly more fun and birthday-like even if there’s no birthday to celebrate.

For these cookies I have followed closely my inspiration from Butterboy and added malt to the dough. I think this is the ‘cake’ flavour element and it works well. I’ve also used Caramilk baking chips as not only do Butterboy use caramelised white chocolate in their cookie, but Caramilk makes every cookie excellent. You can also use regular white chocolate chips or white or caramelised white chocolate that is roughly chopped. 

Birthday Cake Cookie from Butterboy

Birthday Cake Cookie Cake from Butterboy

Birthday Cake Cookies a.k.a Cookies with Sprinkles, Caramilk and Malt

Ingredients:

120g unsalted butter

200g caster sugar 

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

290g self raising flour

2 tbsp malt powder

3.5 tbsp large sprinkles (aka. Jimmies) 

120g Caramilk choc chips or roughly chopped caramelised white chocolate

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and three large baking trays with baking paper. 

Melt the butter over low/medium heat, then allow to cool slightly.

In a large bowl whisk together the butter, sugar, vanilla and egg.

Then add the flour, malt powder, sprinkles and the Caramilk choc chips, and mix to combine with a wooden spoon.

Place bowl in the fridge to allow the dough to firm up a bit (at least 15 mins).

Roll medium sized balls of the dough (about a generously heaped tablespoon of dough per cookie) and place well spaced out onto the prepared trays.

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown, rotate the trays in the oven about halfway to help the cookies bake and brown evenly. 

Allow to cool on their trays or on a wire rack.

Makes about 16 cookies.