a feijoa sponge fit for royalty
an easy cake for autumn afternoons, quick feijoa jam, and other brain food
I’m writing this having had my first ‘sick day’ off from work in what feels like forever. It’s curious how this tends to happen with seasonal change, the dropping of temperatures bringing with it a flex or fracture of equilibrium in our bodies and minds. It’s got me thinking that we’re certainly entering the season for warming broths, soups and stews ~ so keep an eye out for these types of recipes in the coming weeks.
Leaning further into the feijoa theme from last week’s newsletter, today I’ve got a couple more feijoa offerings to tempt your tastebuds and make the most of the brief but brilliant season in Aotearoa ~ apologies if feijoas aren’t your thing, I promise there will be non-feijoa recipes in the next edition.
I’m the type of person who likes to have some form of home baking in the tins at all times. While it’s not that often I get visitors at home, if someone does come round, I want to be able to offer them some home baked goodness to go with their cup of tea. Perhaps part of that is living in what used to be my Grandmother’s house, where she would always have something on offer from the dark green square biscuit tin for those who came by. Or maybe it’s just the simple fact that baking is an expression of love and care.
Now I am very aware that even having the time to bake can be a luxury for some people, and with rising food prices, it’s becoming less and less affordable to bake. But a baking recipe doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive to be fancy ~ often the most simple recipes actually bring the most satisfaction.
This week’s recipes were prompted by that same crop of feijoas I scurried down from Auckland to Dunedin the week or two prior, with the last few stragglers starting to turn in the sun on the dining room table. One of the best ways to use fruit that is slightly past its prime is making jam! So it’s a quick feijoa jam from some less-than-perfect feijoas that inspired the thrifty recipes I’m sharing today. This jam plays off the flavours of feijoa, ginger and lime (what an iconic trio!), and can be made in less than 10 minutes on the stovetop.
Quick feijoa jam
I’m all about using the whole fruit or vegetable where possible these days, as food waste sucks. This jam is great as it uses the whole feijoa, skin and all, which actually gives it a nice subtle texture once blitzed. Because it uses brown sugar and the whole fruit, you need to boil this for less time than an ordinary jam. Make sure you stir it regularly, as the brown sugar is more likely to caramelise and burn than a regular jam. If limes are unavailable, use the zest and juice of 1 lemon.
Hands-on Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes (plus cooling time)
makes one medium jar (about 400g)
Cost Estimate: $4 (or cheaper if you can find free feijoas)
Ingredients
400g feijoas, ends trimmed
200g caster sugar
200g soft brown sugar
finely grated zest and juice of 1 large or 2 small limes
1 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
Method
Place the whole feijoas (skin and all) into a food processor and blitz to form a slightly chunky purée. Transfer to a medium saucepan. Add the sugars, lime zest, lime juice and ginger, stirring to combine. Place over medium heat and warm for a couple of minutes to dissolve the sugar. Increase the heat to high, bring to the boil and cook vigorously for about 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until a jam-like consistency is reached and the jam is starting to catch a little on the bottom. The jam will thicken further as it cools. Pour into a wide shallow bowl and set aside to cool completely.
Now having made the above jam, I found myself sitting at the table, peering out the window without purpose, and having the overwhelming feeling that I wanted a slice of cake. Does anyone else get this feeling? It seems to be at minimum a weekly occurrence for me. So with feijoa jam in hand, I needed to figure out a bake that could utilise the jam but be mellow enough to let the flavours of the jam shine. In comes brain sparks to finally crack my Victoria sponge virginity and we were away laughing. The highlight being that I was then able to share the sponge the following day with my whānau, and have them sit there and scratch their heads to figure out what kind of fruit was in the jam. The disappointment on my Dad’s face when he realised there was no cake left after his first slice speaks volumes to how delicious this simple cake is ~ scroll down for the recipe below.
I’ve also got a few useful links to articles to share with you today, from how to best store fruits/vegetables, to some NZ social enterprises doing good things with kai in our community. I hope you’re all keeping warm and doing better than myself to avoid the seasonal ills. Until next week…
Enjoy,
Alby xx
Muscovado Victoria sponge with quick feijoa jam and yoghurt cream
This might sound surprising, but before last week I had never made a Victoria sponge, or ‘Vicky’s Sponge’, as it’s charmingly termed by the Brits. Back in January I was planning a wedding cake for friends and when I asked what sort of flavours they were into, the Irish half replied, “I just love a Vicky’s Sponge”, and it’s been on my mind to make one ever since. It’s the classic quintessential British bake, easily remembered by its equal ratios of butter, sugar and flour. Inspired by the Brown sugar Victoria sponge recipe in Claire Ptak’s latest cookbook, Love is a Pink Cake, my version goes even further down the caramel route, using muscovado sugar in the sponge, which is then paired with a brown sugar quick feijoa jam that goes particularly well with the flavours of the dark golden sponge. Another trick here is my yoghurt cream, which brings some welcome acidity to the cream in the form of Greek yoghurt, the perfect balance to the sponge and jam.
Hands-on Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes (plus cooling time)
makes one two-layer 20cm cake, serves 10-12
Cost Estimate: $14
Ingredients
Sponge
250g butter, softened to room temperature
250g muscovado sugar (or use 250g soft brown sugar if you can’t find muscovado)
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