Beyond Beeton» classic recipe

Orange and poppy seed cupcakes with passion fruit butter cream

Rachel — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 05:53:59 +0000

There's something so appealing about tiny, citrusy cupcakes, bursting with the peppery tingle of poppy seeds. Oranges and poppy-seeds is one of those combinations that just works. These cupcakes just work too - they can be whipped up in no time and I guarantee they'll be light, yet moist.

Ingredients: Cake

125g self-raising flour, sifted
120g caster sugar
125g unsalted butter, chopped, room temperature
2 extra-large eggs
one large orange (or lemon): 3 tsp finely chopped zest and 2 TB juice
3 TB poppy seeds
2-3 TB milk
good quality marmalade, for glazing

Ingredients: Icing

2 TB passionfruit pulp, strained to separate seeds
125g unsalted butter, chopped, room temperature
220g well sieved icing sugar

Method: Cake

cupcake glazed with orange marmalade

Preheat oven to 180C (not fan forced) for mini cupcakes, or 200C (not fan forced) for standard size cupcakes.

Take eggs, butter and milk out of the fridge to come to room temperature. While that's happening, measure out the other ingredients and get everything ready.

Stir 2 TB milk into the poppyseeds in a small bowl. The poppyseeds should start making 'zingy' noises.

Combine flour, sugar, butter, eggs and 2tsp of the orange rind in the large bowl of a food processor, don't over-mix.

Add the freshly squeezed orange juice through the top of the processor while pulsing the mix.

If more liquid is required to make a smooth batter, add half to a TB of milk.

Fold the poppyseeds into the batter with a metal spoon. Add remaining chopped orange zest to taste.

Spoon the batter into muffin tins lined with cupcake papers. The mixture will make 36 mini cupcakes or 12 regular size.

Bake mini cupcakes for 8-10 minutes and regular cakes for 15 minutes. The tops will spring back when gently prodded.

When done, immediately take the cupcakes out of the tins and onto wire racks.

While cakes are still warm, use a pastry brush or bread knife to carefully spread gently warmed marmalade on the tops of the cupcakes.

Method: Icing

iced with passion fruit butter cream

Beat butter with electric beaters until pale and fluffy

Beat in half of the icing sugar and half of the juice from the passionfruit pulp until combined

Beat in the second half of the icing sugar and passionfruit juice.

Add a little extra milk (1/2 to a TB) if required to make a very light and fluffy icing

Pipe icing onto cooled cupcakes.

If desired, decorate with reserved passionfruit seeds or curls of orange zest.

I like my citrus cupcakes to have a gently rounded top. If you prefer a flat top, underfill the cases slightly and drop the oven temperature a little.

Recipes that have me drooling this week

Rachel — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 00:42:31 +0000

In my travels around the blogosphere I've found some wonderful recipes to make this Easter long weekend. I thought I'd share some of my favourites with you.

Cinnamon-Fig Jam by Eating Out Loud

Photo by Eating Out Loud

The recipe and beautiful accompanying pictures are giving me tingles. What an amazing use for figs! If you're in Australia grab them quick before they go out of season and make this divine looking jam. I'm sure this will be fabulous added to an autumn cheese platter.

Blood-Orange Yogurt Cake from Picky Cook

Photo by Picky Cook

It is no secret that I love the lightness and texture of yogurt cake and this one looks fabulous. Moist, light and an amazing colour - what more could you want? STOP PRESS: You could also want a great grapefruit version!

Especially for easter:

Iron Chef Shellie's Hot Cross Buns

A classic looking recipe, adapted from Donna Hay's but with extra fruit, just the way I like it. Shellie's photography is always gorgeous and these buns look soft and glazed-shiny.

Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns by Not Quite Nigella

Photo by Not Quite Nigella

Oh oh .. cimmamon, chocolate and the soft butteriness of a hot cross bun? Diet? What diet? Not Quite Nigella's take on the standard looks fabulous and I can almost taste them already.

What are you cooking this Easter? Share your recipe ideas or links in the comments below!

4 cookbooks and recipe collections I couldn’t do without

Rachel — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 09:57:14 +0000

I admit it, I have a small problem. Cookbooks and cooking magazines have overflown out of the kitchen, out of the bookcases and all over the house. To make things even sillier, I don't often strictly follow a recipe. I love to tweak, adjust, be inspired. I often read them in bed, imagining flavours and textures and smells. It is a guilty pleasure I'm unlikely to give up.

However, when it comes down to it - these are the best. The favourites with sauce spatters, smears of chocolate and well turned pages. These are the classics that will endure and will be passed on.

My favourite cookbooks

1. The Cook's Companion: The Complete Book of Ingredients and Recipes for the Australian Kitchen by Stephanie Alexander

My younger sister was horrified to see that there aren't any recipe pictures but this book focuses squarely on the basics, fundamentals and classic recipes with little time for frou frou. It is an excellent resource on almost every food one can imagine, a seasonal guide, buying guide and more all in one.

This is the one I always recommend as a starter book for those moving out of home for the first time. This is the solid foundation to build a lifetime of cooking upon.

2. David Thompson's Thai Food

Fabulous, inspiring, challenging, aromatic. David starts with the basics and hammers you with them - stressing freshness and a thorough understanding of Thai food. This is another fabulous resource book with detailed explanations of thai ingredients and methods. If you're looking for pretty cupcake pictures you won't find them here. The text and sheer volume of information is the star.

3. Gourmet Traveller magazines and website

Besides the useful news and events (even though they are solidly eastern-states focussed) they share a great collection of recipes from the very basic to the challenging.

Different to the more pedestrian and commercial offerings from some other cooking magazines, Gourmet Traveller offers an inspired menu and reviews of great places to eat out.

4. My grandmother's index card recipe collection

A family heirloom, childhood memory and guide to a dizzying array of mostly sweet treats all in one.

I've previously written about cooking and eating as a child and I can't stress enough how amazing the gift of cooking and enjoying food is. My grandmother's recipe collection includes jewelled jam drop biscuits, home-made chutneys, casseroles, puddings and more.

While these are the most used sources of recipe ideas in my house, I don't restrict myself. I also happily browse the web and my bookshelves for inspiration and recipes.

I tend to particularly seek out recipes from Claudia Roden, Georgio Locatelli, Bill Granger, Maggie Beer and the venerable Stephanie Alexander.

While I have serious respect for the work he's done to encourage kids (and adults) to eat "real food" I'm not Jamie Oliver's biggest fan and I can usually happily ignore Nigella Lawson's (particularly savoury) options.

For more great suggestions on how to build your cookbook library, you can also check out the wonderful tips from Cake and Commerce.

I'd love to hear which cookbooks are your favourites - share them in the comments below or catch me on twitter.

Recipe round up:3 recipes I’m trying next week

Rachel — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:56:49 +0000

photo credit: Photoportunity

Each week I like to add some new dishes to the menu.

We do have our favourites that pop up on the meal plan on a regular basis (particularly mid-week) but I enjoy discovering new favourites too.

Here are some great recipes from the blogosphere and beyond that I'll be trying in the next week.

photo credit: Darwin Bell

Emma Knowles' Vietnamese Prawn Salad (Gourmet Traveller): This recipe looks light, fresh and well balanced. As a bonus, you'll find a short, simple ingredients list and minimal preperation and cooking time.

We'll be eating this one outside. Asian food and wine pairing can be tricky, however I think a young grassy sauvignon blanc or perhaps a riesling could work. I expect though that we'll be cracking open a few bottles of Hoegaarden (or Hoegaarden Grand Cru if we're feeling indulgent) instead.

Tips: I've previously successfully substituted brown sugar for palm sugar and if you have good pans I'm sure you can get away with less oil.

I have posted about this recipe and included a photo of the result at Vietnamese Prawn Salad.

photo credit: jspace3

Heather Carlucci-Rodriguez's Chana Punjabi (as shared by The Wednesday Chef): Warm, luxurious and enticing, without offending the budget. Store cupboard basics and a few fresh bits and pieces easily picked up on your way home never looked so good!

No you won't be eating this in 15 minutes, but pour yourself and your partner a glass or two of wine while you stir and allow yourself to slow down and relax. There's no complicated prep or advanced cookery magic here. All you need is a bit of time and basic ingredients.

Note: Cilantro is also known as coriander.

photo credit: sea turtle

crispy chewy chocolate chip cookies by Smitten Kitchen: Speaks for itself really, doesn't it? A classic recipe that I'm sure will please everyone.