SWEET CELEBRATION:
What better way to celebrate Mother’s Day than with a gorgeous homemade centrepiece. From a simple lemon butter cake to a spiral-shaped apple strudel, The Weekly’s Triple-Tested recipes will guarantee yours will look like our photographs.
homemade treats for Mother’s Day
Raspberry and pistachio yoghurt cake
The heroes of this simple cake – yoghurt, raspberries and nuts – all play a significant part. Yoghurt, like buttermilk in cakes, lightens the batter and provides a delicious lactic tang. The raspberries add bursts of fruitiness in the almond batter, which is also studded with nubbly bits of green pistachio, making this a gorgeous afternoon tea cake. SERVES 8 PREP AND COOK TIME 1 HOUR
15 MINUTES (+ COOLING TIME) 185g butter, softened
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
¾ cup (165g) caster sugar
2 eggs
1 ½ cups (225g) self-raising flour
1/3 cup (40g) almond meal (ground almonds) ½ cup (140g) Greek-style yoghurt ½ cup (70g) pistachios, blanched, peeled (see Test Kitchen tip)
125g fresh raspberries
2 teaspoons icing sugar 1 Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fanforced). Grease a deep 20cm round cake pan; line base and side with two layers of baking paper.
2 Beat butter, rind and caster sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Fold in sifted flour and almond meal, then yoghurt and pistachios.
3 Spoon half the mixture into pan; top with a third of the raspberries. Spread with remaining mixture; place another third of the raspberries on top, pushing them into batter; top with remaining raspberries.
4 Bake cake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave cake in pan for 10 minutes before turning, top-side up, onto a wire rack to cool.
5 Just before serving, dust with sifted icing sugar. Suitable to freeze. Not suitable to microwave.
Upside-down rhubarb, ginger and hazelnut cake
We’ve used a square cake pan and used the rhubarb to form a grid pattern on the cake. Choose rhubarb with even-sized, very pink stalks, or buy two bunches so you can select even stalks. SERVES 12 PREP AND COOK TIME 1 HOUR
30 MINUTES (+ COOLING TIME) 8 stalks rhubarb (500g), cut into 9.5cm lengths
2 tablespoons finely chopped uncrystallised sweet ginger (naked ginger) 1/3 cup (80ml) ginger cordial ¾ cup (165g) caster sugar
4 eggs, separated ¼ cup (60ml) light olive oil 1/3 cup (80ml) buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (150g) self-raising flour
½ cup (50g) hazelnut meal (ground hazelnuts)
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 Preheat oven to 160°C (140°C fan-forced). Grease a deep 22cm square cake pan; line base and sides with baking paper, extending the paper 5cm over the top.
2 Arrange rhubarb on base of pan, in a single layer, in a grid-like pattern. Sprinkle ginger over rhubarb; drizzle with cordial.
3 Beat ½ cup of sugar with egg yolks in a small bowl with an electric mixer on high speed for 5 minutes or until thick and pale. Add oil, buttermilk and vanilla; beat on low speed until just combined. Fold in flour and hazelnut meal until just combined.
4 Beat egg whites in a clean small bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining sugar and cream of tartar, beating until firm peaks form. Fold onethird of the egg white mixture into cake mixture; fold in the remaining egg white mixture. Pour mixture over rhubarb.
5 Bake cake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool cake in pan; it will shrink slightly. Turn cake out onto a plate.
6 Serve cake with thick cream for morning or afternoon tea, or warm with custard or ice-cream for a dessert, if desired. Suitable to freeze. Not suitable to microwave
Passionfruit meringue cake
Can’t decide on cake or meringue? Why not both! It starts with a cake base, topped with meringue and sandwiched with mascarpone cream. SERVES 8 PREP AND COOK TIME 1 HOUR 125g butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 ¾ cups (385g) caster sugar 2 eggs
¾ cup (110g) self-raising flour 2 tablespoons plain flour
1/3 cup (80ml) milk
4 egg whites ½ teaspoon cream of tartar 1/3 cup (80ml) passionfruit pulp 2 tablespoons toasted coconut flakes 2 teaspoons icing sugar PASSIONFRUIT CREAM 300ml thickened cream 250g mascarpone 2 tablespoons passionfruit pulp 2 tablespoons icing sugar
1 Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Grease two 22cm round springform pans; line bases and sides with baking paper.
2 Beat butter, vanilla and ¾ cup of the caster sugar in a small bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; fold in combined sifted flours and the milk, in two batches.
Spread mixture evenly into pans.
3 Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in a clean small bowl with electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining caster sugar, beating after each addition, until sugar is dissolved and mixture is thick and glossy. Spoon meringue over cake mixture in both pans. In one pan, smooth the meringue surface; in the other pan, use the back of a spoon to peak the meringue.
4 Bake cakes for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans.
5 PASSIONFRUIT CREAM Beat cream in a small bowl with electric mixer until soft peaks form. Combine mascarpone, passionfruit pulp and sifted icing sugar in a medium bowl; fold in whipped cream.
6 Place flat meringue-topped cake on a cake stand or plate; spread with passionfruit cream, then drizzle with passionfruit pulp. Place other cake, meringue-side-up, on top. Just before serving, top with coconut flakes and dust with sifted icing sugar. Not suitable to freeze or microwave.
Lemon curd cake
The secret ingredient in this cake is lemon curd, which gives the cake a deliciously buttery lemon flavour – coupled with a simple lemon glaze drizzle, it is perfect for citrus lovers. Serve the cake with dollops of whipped cream swirled with even more lemon curd, if you like.
SERVES 8 PREP AND COOK TIME
1 HOUR 30 MINUTES (+ COOLING AND STANDING TIME) 185g butter, softened ¾ cup (165g) caster sugar
3 eggs ½ cup (160g) good-quality lemon curd
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind ¾ cup (180ml) milk 1 ½ cups (225g) self-raising flour LEMON GLAZE 2 cups (320g) pure icing sugar ¼ cup (60ml) lemon juice
1 Preheat oven to 150°C (130°C fan-forced). Grease an 18cm wide, 10cm deep round fluted cake pan well with butter; dust with a little flour, shake out excess.
2 Beat the butter and sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add the curd and rind and beat until combined. Fold in the milk and sifted flour alternately until the mixture is smooth. Spread the mixture into pan; smooth the surface.
3 Bake the cake for 1 hour 20 minutes, covering loosely with foil if it starts to over-brown, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Leave the cake in the pan for 20 minutes before turning it onto a wire rack to cool.
4 LEMON GLAZE Sift icing sugar into a medium bowl; stir in juice to form a smooth, thin glaze.
5 Spoon Lemon Glaze over cake just before serving. Undecorated cake suitable to freeze. Not suitable to microwave.
Spiced apple fillo coil
Our fruity fillo coil is a lovely light way to end a meal. The main elements for success are buying fresh fillo pastry rather than frozen (which has a tendency to crack), ensuring that the fillo is kept covered, and working quickly when assembling the coil. SERVES 8 PREP AND COOK TIME 1 HOUR 10 MINUTES (+ COOLING AND STANDING TIME) 3 medium green apples (450g), peeled, cut into 1cm cubes
1 ½ teaspoons mixed spice
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste ⅓ cup (55g) dried currants ½ cup (125ml) water ½ cup (110g) caster sugar
1 cup (100g) walnuts
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ cup (55g) firmly packed brown sugar 12 sheets fillo pastry
125g unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons icing sugar
1 Combine apple, mixed spice, vanilla, currants and the water in a medium saucepan; bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer, stirring, for 5 minutes or until apple is softened. Add caster sugar; cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until mixture is syrupy. Cool.
2 Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Grease a 23cm springform pan (see tip on page 147).
3 Spread walnuts on an oven tray; roast for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Cool. Finely chop ½ cup of the walnuts; coarsely chop remaining walnuts.
4 Combine the finely chopped walnuts with cinnamon and the brown sugar in a small bowl.
5 Layer two sheets of fillo pastry. Cover remaining sheets with baking paper, then a damp tea towel to prevent them from drying out. Lightly brush top sheet with a little of the butter; sprinkle with a quarter of the walnut mixture. Top with another sheet of pastry and brush with a little more butter. Spread a quarter of the apple mixture along long edge. Roll up from long edge; brush with butter.
6 Coil the roll in centre of pan to form a spiral; if roll cracks, patch with extra pastry brushed with butter. Repeat with remaining pastry sheets, butter, walnut mixture and apple mixture to create three more rolls. Wrap each roll around previous one in pan to create a spiral.
7 Bake coil for 15 minutes. Drizzle with honey and scatter with the coarsely chopped walnuts. Bake for a further 10 minutes or until golden. Leave coil in pan for 10 minutes.
8 Dust with sifted icing sugar. Serve warm or cooled with vanilla ice-cream, cream or custard for dessert if desired. Suitable to freeze. Not suitable to microwave.