Little Box Brownie

A Baking Blog from Melbourne, Australia

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Plum Cake

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cut plum

Two days ago, I went to a cute little bakery/cafe, in Brunswick St. Where we had this amazing Hungarian Plum Cake, it was sweet and sour, moist yet dense. When I got home, I just had to have a go at making one.
There where some ups and downs along the way, I was after all having one of those days when you know you shouldn’t have got out of bed.
Firstly, I completely forgot to add baking powder to the mixture, and only realised once I had poured half the mixture into the pan, so there I was scraping the mixture back into the bowl, and sprinkling in some baking powder, and trying to stir it in. Then once I had assembled the cake I thought, this cake tin is a little small, oh well, I’m not pouring it all out again I though, and sure enough when the cake rose it  looked like a big muffin top instead of rising nicely.
But eventually I got there in the end, sure its not the most glamourous cake, but it sure does taste good and thats all that really matters in the big scheme of things.

It’s the perfect cake to make if you have a number of plums left over, you could make a few cakes and freeze them.

Let me know if you have a go at making it.

Soph xxx

bowl of plums

plums in a bowl

Plum cake with ice cream


Slice of plum cake

plum cake
Plum Cake

200g butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup of cornflour
3 teaspoons baking powder
4 eggs, separated

1 kilo of plums
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon 

Pre heat the oven to 200C

Whisk the egg whites in a bowl until soft peaks form, leave to the side.
In a separate bowl cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy, with an electric beater. Add the flour and cornflour a little at a time until all the flour is incorporated, it will resemble bread crumbs. Then stir through the yolks, once these are incorporated add the egg whites and stir through.

Pour half the mixture into a lined 25cm cake tin, make sure its quite high as this cake will rise a fair bit.

Cut the plums in half and de-seed. Add the sugar and cinnamon into a bowl and toss the plums through, then press the plums into the mixture skin side down, pour 1/3 of the mixture over the top and press some more plums in and then cover with the remaining mixture.

Bake for 45 minutes or until cooked.
plum cake

plum cake

plum cake



Apple Pie

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How I love apple pie, it just screams home baked goodness. Plus you can make it at anytime of year as apples are always in the fruit shops. I don’t like to think of how apples are always around, I hate the idea of fruit and veg being kept in oxygen controlled environments, it just seems to go against nature. However that seems to be the way of the world now. I live in hope that the little fruit shop doesn’t do this and that it’s only the big supermarkets however you never know. Ok well on to better things, such as….. Apple Pie.



It is absolutely essential to eat apple pie with mountains of freshly whipped cream. Yes that right essential, it’s a must. The two just seem to pair so well, if you’re out of cream I guess ice cream will just have to do. 



Pastry

2 cups plain flour

1⁄2 cup white sugar

200g butter

2 egg yolks

2 tablespoons water

Filling

8 large size apples

2 tablespoons water

2 teaspoon cinnamon

Pre heat oven to 180C


Cut the butter into cubes and rub into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs, alternatively use a food processor and pulse. Stir in the sugar then add the egg yolks and water, stir until the mixture forms a dough. Wrap and then chill for 60 minutes or until firm.
Roll out half the dough using a rolling pin, and place into a 20cm cake tin.  
To make the filling, peel and chop the apples into pieces. Place in a large saucepan on a medium heat. Cook until the apples soften slightly. Pour into the cake tin.
Roll out the remaining pastry and place over the top of the pie. Alternatively cut into strips and place over the pie. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown.


Chicken Pie

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Happy Australia day weekend everyone! I hope you had a great time basking in the sun, with good food and great company. I had a friend from Sydney staying, so had a great time with her eating and drinking all over Melbourne. We watched a lot of tennis this weekend at federation square, which had such a great atmosphere to cheer on the player of your choice. The mens final had a small interruption as we watched the Australia day fire works over the city, what a beautiful sight. I thought since it was Australia day I would post a good old fashioned Pie.

I came up with this pie as a great way to uses left over chicken, of which I eat way to much (not my fault, I blame it on my cat), I have also been known to use turkey around Christmas time to use it all up.

I spoil my cat, Miss Kitty, rotten because after all she has been through, she deserves it. Every week I buy her a cooked chicken from the supermarket, which we both have for dinner. I give her the skin and I have the meat. As I get sick of having a cooked chicken for dinner every week, this pie recipe is what I do with the leftovers.

Nearly two years ago, I woke up to discover my cat couldn’t walk she had lost the ability to use her hind legs. Her breathing went funny and I though oh no this is it, she is after all 16 or 17. So I drove her to the vet and sent my mum in, I couldn’t go in as I feared the worst. The vet gave her two injections, one to remove the water from her lungs and the other to try and remove the clot that they thought might be causing her inability to walk. And I took her home. Her breathing improved, and I thought her legs seemed to be getting better. The Vet didn’t agree, so they said I should put her down. When the vet said put her down, I took her to another vet and they said the same thing. She said she was amazed she had lived this long, as she has a bad heart and a thyroid problem plus had, had cancer on her ears and nose which I had removed a couple of years previously. So after the second vet said that I said ok put her down.
Somehow though I walked out of that vet, with my Miss Kitty and took her home as I didn’t think she was ready to go. I thought my cat was fighting to live and if she had that much will to live, I should let her. Over the next few weeks her legs did get better and she began to walk. So I’m happy to say two years later she is still here, and is as happy as larry (and larry is very happy). 
Chicken & Mushroom Pies

 1 tablespoon of Olive oil
1 small onion
Half the meat from a cooked chicken removed and chopped
8-10 medium size mushrooms
1 cup of vegetable stock
1 tablespoon of tomato sauce
1 teaspoon of mild english mustard
2 tablespoons of worcestershire sauce
Salt and Pepper
3 tablespoons  cold of water
1 tablespoon of corn flour
2 Sheets of store brought Puff Pastry

Place the onion and oil in a fry pan and cook until the onion has browned. Add the chicken and mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms have softened. Add the stock, tomato sauce, mustard, worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper. To thicken the gravy, mix the water and cornflour together and pour into the chicken mix. Stir until thickened then remove from the heat.   

Cut the Puff pasty sheets into four and then line four small pie tins with the pastry, fill the pastry cases with the chicken mixture. Place the remaining puff pastry squares on the top and cut around to remove any excess pasty. Put two little holes in the top of the pies and bush with egg whites. Place in the oven for 30 minutes or until golden. 



Serve with lots of tomato sauce like all good pies should!!
Do you do any great left over recipes? If so please share!!

Rainbow Carrots and Pork Chops

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I went for a drive into the country, to a number of small towns just out side Melbourne the other week, to show my Parents the country side as my dad had been complaining that he never got to see anything outside Melbourne when he visits. So this called for a road trip.
 One little town, Woodend, had a farmers market, with local produce, when we were there. Although it was quite a small market in comparison to others I have been to, it had a good variety of produce. You could buy live chickens for $30, which I soooo would have done if I had space for them. However sadly I don’t, thats what you get when you live in the city.
Well my Dad wandered off as he does and he came back with these amazing coloured carrots. He said “here I bought these for you”. Well I had know idea what to do with them as I had never cooked with coloured carrots, so they sat in my fridge for a couple of weeks, until they could sit no more and I really had to find a use for them. I had ideas of amazing colourful salad’s however I think I left them a little to long for that, so I threw them into a roasting dish with some other vegetables and roasted them. To be served with some Sticky Pork Chops.
Carrots

Roasted Veggies

Sticky Pork Chops

2 pork chops
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
2 teaspoons of lime juice
1 teaspoon garlic
pepper to taste

Place the sugar, soy sauce, lime juice, garlic and pepper into a brown and stir to combine. Spoon over the pork chops and leave to marinade for a couple of hours. Then cook on a griddle iron or on the BBQ, until cooked.
Serve with some roasted veggies.  

Sticky Pork Chop

Pork Chop