I actually baked this cake a few months back, when the New Zealand winter was edging in and I wanted to bake something warm and spicy.
The typical New Zealand gingerbread loaf is sweetened with bucket-loads of golden syrup (a paler version of treacle) which I personally find a little overwhelming as it tends to dominate all the other flavours. Don’t get me wrong, golden syrup has it’s uses (especially in ANZAC cookies), but I can’t really appreciate it in gingerbread loaf.
This recipe is inspired by a slice of gingerbread loaf I tried years ago that was instead sweetened with applesauce. Without the overwhelming flavour of the golden syrup I could really taste all the bits of candied ginger and carefully balanced medley of spices.
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Last year I had the pleasure of working with Annabelle White for a project at work. I was instantly captivated by her sparkling passion for food and the work that she does. Annabelle has a contagious enthusiasm that can lift up even the least confident cook, like myself at the time, and get them buzzing about whatever culinary delight she’s got on her mind.

On one occasion, I spent the best part of a day with Annabelle at Rangiora Bakery where we sat in a tiny room and sampled a colossal mountain of cookies, bars, scones, cakes and tarts all in the name of research. Now I realize that to your average punter this may sound like a whole lotta fun, but you have no idea. I swear I never thought it to be true, but there is actually such a thing as too much cake. And we had way too much. I know – who would’ve thought?!?!
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I love the sunshine in mid autumn. The rays are more reserved, lacking the intensity and pushiness of their summer counterparts. Today I sat out on the veranda for lunch and let it warm me. It’s gentle rays intersecting the slight chill in the air and sparking a glow that seemed to warm me from the inside out. I needed that. And I needed the golden luster it cast just a few hours later, intensifying the deep reds, yellows and browns that dominate the trees on our street this time of year. Did you ever notice how perfect everything looks in the autumn sunlight?
Yes, I had a moment. After spending last weekend sick in bed, the following days snowballed and left me a sleep-deprived, exercise-lacking, poorly nourished mess. I couldn’t sleep, and thus lacked energy to exercise or cook. I compensated with tiny cups of perfectly extracted caramelly-sweet espresso which, unsurprisingly, dealt only short term appeasement and left me reeling in a moody, sleepless haze. I lay in bed wide awake at night, convincing myself that my recent career move was quite possibly one of the worst ideas of all time, right up there with spray cheese and comeback tours.
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We’re well overdue for some smoothie lovin’ on this site. I love how smoothies are so gosh-darn easy and filling. You can generally throw whatever you’ve got in the blender and, unless you really ham it up, you’ve got yourself a super tasty, nourishing glass of goodness.
Smoothies have always got my back when:
● I’m running late and need breakfast on the run
● I get home from a jog
● I get home from work starving and need something to eat before cooking dinner
● I’m feeling sick or running low on energy and can’t face preparing a meal
My smoothie preferences vary wildly depending on my mood. I’ll often add some superfoods to a smoothie – such as acai, goji berries, cacao, or chlorella – and sometimes even greens such as kale or spinach. But lately I’ve been favoring nice, simple combinations like pear and ginger, banana and blueberry, or almond and chocolate.
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I wasn’t planning on sharing this with you just yet because I’m not 100% happy with the photos. Yes, I am actually that vain. I knew the stores would be closed today for Good Friday, so yesterday I got me some dried cannellini beans, chard, and pearled barley, with a vague plan to creating something totally different, though I’m not exactly sure what it was to be.
However my plans have been thwarted by a nasty cold, confining me to bed all day while everyone else is frolicking around at the easter fair and enjoying the early autumn sunshine. We are close enough to the fair grounds that I can actually hear people squealing on the rides. Not fair people. Not fair and not cool.
So from my comfy bed I share with you this fig and grape quinoa salad I made last week.
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It took me five batches to nail this recipe. Thankfully I’ve had the house to myself most of the weekend so I’ve been able to go hard, mixing, melting, kneading and proofing over and over. The kitchen is a total write off. I’ve never made such a mess. But I don’t care because these buns are the shiz. Actually they are beyond shiz. They are what shiz aspires to be when it grows up.

I’ve never been their biggest fan of hot cross buns. Don’t get me wrong – they’re nice and all – but, well that’s just it: they’re “nice”. Anyone can throw some cinnamon and raisins in a bun but is that really worthy of Easter, a national holiday in many lands? According to some sources (read: google), hot cross buns have been made since the pagan times, and it is widely held that Queen Elizabeth I declared, back in the sixteenth century, that they must henceforth be enjoyed only on Good Friday – to mark this holy day towards the end of the Lent fast. My guess is that she was simply over the freakin’ things and wanted to put a stop the spiced bun madness for the other 364 days of the year.
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I was grocery shopping a few days ago and came across a splendid assortment of squash that have just come into season. There were squat little round and big fat ones, stretched ones and twisted ones, fiery orange, mild yellow and rich green ones. A squash to suit every mood or personality. Of course, being a gemini I couldn’t decide what I felt like and ended up taking six of the best looking squash I could find. So I now have six five chubby little squash to explore over the coming weeks. This couldn’t be better because as the air gets a little cooler and the days shorter I’m starting to crave warming foods like soups, stews, and curries and I’m sure all that squash will come in handy…
So first up I made this stew. It’s Ethiopian-inspired but heavily adapted (read: bastardized) to my liking. It’s got roasted chickpeas, winter squash, kale, tomato, lots of ginger, spices and all sorts of other goodies. Apparently in Ethiopia they make it with roasted, ground chickpeas. I love the idea but I like my chickpeas whole so that’s how I used them. And I had a few tablespoons remaining of the spice mix I made recently for the Red Lentil Dahl so I decided to use it for the spice base here.
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My dad and step-mum have a home in Thailand where they escape the New Zealand winter, and it has become one of my favourite places to visit. Their home is in a humble farming village called Bankor, close to the Laos border. A beautiful spot where the water buffalos still rule the rice paddies and meals are mostly made of what is grown or raised in the village. Being there allows me to completely unwind. Outside of our family, no-one speaks english and, except for my step-mum, we speak terrible Thai so communication with villagers is reduced to friendly smiles, waves, and random hand gestures that we make up as we go along. But I love it. Not being able to speak the language doesn’t seem to be much of a problem – good friends are still made through the sharing of food, laughter, and rice whiskey!
It was during my visit to Thailand two years ago that I met my partner, Sun, who now lives with me in Auckland. He works in a Thai restaurant and can cook wonderful curries, som tum (papaya salad), sankaya (steamed pumpkin custard), and many others I forget the name of.
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If you read my last post, Dark Chocolate Ginger Scones, you may be glad to know that I did get around to making the curd. After eating inhaling more than my fair share of scones Saturday night, my attention began to wane on Sunday when faced with the day-old version. No matter how good the recipe, day old scones are just not the same.
Re-enter passionfruit curd. So easy. So incredibly easy. Why have I waited this long to attempt making curd?!? Be prepared for more my friends, because I’m a jumpin’ on the curd train. We’ll have lemon curd, blackberry curd, mango curd, gooseberry curd. Ooh ooh, and raspberry curd! Yes, raspberries in curd! Seriously people – RASPBERRY CURD.
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Sometimes I get fixated on an inspiration or recipe for days. But, like a dog with a bone, I only obsess until I find something prettier and shinier and forget why I wanted it so bad in the first place. This week it was passionfruit curd. I stumbled across the recipe online and could already taste it: wonderfully thick and creamy, tart but slightly sweet passionfruit curd. Oh, how I needed that curd. My humble little condiments shelf would not be complete without it.
I even made it to the market and got me a big bag of passionfruit before I got distracted. You see, I got to thinking: If I’m going to make a batch of passionfruit curd, I have to be able to enjoy it immediately. Cooking is all about instant gratification and I needed something else that would worship my curd the minute it thickened. First thought: swirl it into a loaf cake. Too much work. Second thought: Scones. Yes, this was it. Fluffy buttermilk scones with a big dollop of fresh curd.
At this point I should have known there would be no curd. At least, not this weekend. My buttermilk scones quickly became dark chocolate ginger scones. But, before you get to thinking I completely lost the plot, this was still tangentially related to the curd: a while back I tried a chocolate mousse with a hint of ginger and served with passionfruit syrup. Unusual sounding combination, yes. But it worked. Actually, it shone. And so, the idea for dark chocolate ginger scones was born.
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