Fig & Nectarine Frangipane Tart

I was at the markets this weekend looking for some fresh fruit for the week and there in a gleaming pile were figs on sale! Being the bargain hunter I am I couldn't possibly pass up on this opportunity. 3 punnets of figs later I was happily carrying my figs to the car when I thought ... How on earth am I suppose to eat all of these? Put it in a Frangipane Tart of course! Frangipane Tarts are extremely versatile, you can use almost any fruit you desire, it's nutty and moist with a buttery biscuit shell.

I decided to add a little twist to my Frangipane Tart by adding chopped macadamia nuts and honey to the almond mixture and instead of only using figs I also had a few nectarines lying around that I added.

Here it is!

What You Need:

Biscuit Base
- 1 cup of plain flour
- 1/4 cup of caster sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 90 grams of unsalted cold butter (chopped into cubes)
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons of milk
- 1/4 teaspoon of Vanilla bean paste

Tart Filling
- 1 cup of almond meal
- 1 tablespoon of plain flour
- 1/3 cup of caster sugar
- 100 grams of soften unsalted butter
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup of chopped macadamia nuts (plus a little extra for sprinkling)
- 1 tablespoon of Australian honey
- 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste
- 3 Ripe Figs sliced into 8 wedges
- 1 small Nectarine sliced into 8 wedges
- Icing sugar to dust


What To Do:

Biscuit Base
1. Mix the dry ingredients together
2. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles fine breadcrumbs
3. Mix the eggs, milk and vanilla together
4. Mix the egg mixture in with the butter crumbs
5. Knead for a small amount of time until the dough is smooth
6. Roll the dough out and cover a tart pan - leave a little overhanging dough
7. Refrigerate for 1 hour
8. Bake in a oven preheated to 200 degrees for 15 minutes

Tart Filling
1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees
2. Mix the almond meal, plain flour and sugar until combined
3. Mix in the softened butter until smooth
4. Add in eggs until everything is mixed through and smooth
5. Mix in the macadamia, honey and vanilla
6. Pour this mixture into the slightly cooled tart shell
7. Now Arrange the fig and nectarine wedges alternately and press in slightly
8. Sprinkle the top with some chopped macadamia nuts that you had left aside.
9. Bake for 40 mins until golden and cooked all the way through
10. Leave to cool until it is warm and serve with ice cream or whipped double cream

Enjoy!


xx Mel

COCO - NUTs!!

The other day at work someone mentioned adding coconut to their cake and ever since then I had been struggling to think of anything but coconut cake! I love coconut and I feel like I own every single form of coconut available ! Coconut oil, cream, milk, powder, essence, shredded, desiccated, etc.... The list goes on and on! Today I will be using many forms to create my coconut cake.

This cake is moist with a beautiful coconut presence with fluffy creamy whipped coconut cream icing and nice toasty shredded coconut bits. To add a another little dimension to the cake I added some strawberry jam in the center.

Here it is!

What You Need:

 Coconut Cake:
- 120 grams of soften unsalted butter
- 1 cup of caster sugar
-  2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons of sour cream
- 2/3 cups of plain flour
- 2/3 cups of self raising flour
- 1/4 cups of almond meal
- 1/2 cup of desiccated coconut
- 1/2 cup of coconut cream
- Good quality store bought strawberry jam (not too sweet)
- 1/4 cup of toasted shredded coconut

Coconut Whipped Cream:
- 1 can of coconut cream chilled (scoop out only the top hard layer of cream)
- 1/4 cup of icing sugar sifted


What To Do:
1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees
2. Mix the butter and sugar until fluffy
3. Mix in the eggs and sour cream until well combined
4. Mix in the Flour, SR Flour, almond meal and desiccated coconut until there are no lumps
5. Then add in the coconut cream and mix until smooth
6. Two options with the next step - I put my cake batter in a 5 inch round tin but I found it took too long to bake. You could use an 8 inch tin which will help with the baking time
7. For the 5 inch tin bake for 60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean alternatively for the 8 inch tin bake for 30-40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
8. Once the cake has cooked and cooled cut the cake so that you get two rounds.
9. To prepare the whipped coconut cream simply add the icing sugar to the hard coconut cream and whip until it stiffens.
10. Take the store bought strawberry jam and spread it on on half of the cake
11. Now pile half the coconut cream onto the cake and top with the other half of the cake
12. Then add more coconut cream onto the top of the cake and sprinkle with toasted coconut.
13. There you have it a deliciously moist coconut cake.

* Warning... This coconut cake is seriously coconutty not for the coconut haters!

And again...

Enjoy!




xx Mel

Cravings For Watermelon Cake

My sister at around 3 months pregnant sent me a photo of this beautiful cake, with layers of cream and hot pink, draped in glorious chunks of strawberries and grapes with a scattering of beautifully green slivered pistachios. Funnily whenever I am sent a photo I know what it means... it means Mel... you should make this? My first reaction upon hearing the name watermelon cake was one of confusion, I'd never had one before ... it was something I had heard about in passing but never had the pleasure of tasting.

After a few back and forth messages with my sister I read those words I had been expecting since I received the picture ' Mel.... you should make this for my baby shower'

Well sis if you are reading this THANK YOU ! I think I am in love with this cake.... I made a test one this weekend and now I feel everything should be soaked in rosewater, stuffed with cream and watermelon and draped with strawberries, grapes and pistachios !

Seeing as I had never ventured into the world of watermelon cakes before I decided to follow a recipe with a few small changes requested by my sister. I used the recipe by Gourmet Traveller


Here is how my watermelon cake turned out!

Click Here for the recipe :)

The only difference is where it tells you to add rosewater I only add a third of what the recipe says. I think too much rosewater overpowers all the other flavours.

Enjoy!! I know I did





xx Mel