Friday, April 13, 2012

ginger, cardamom & pomegranate syrup cake

Pomegranates are in season at the moment (2 for $2.50 at the markets!) and they are a fantastic crunchy addition to savoury or sweet dishes. They are also beautiful to look at! I think they look like little rubies.

Anyway, I saw this recipe in the latest donna hay magazine and knew it would be amazing! Elise and I taste tested it today and this was confirmed :)


ginger, cardamom & pomegranate syrup cake

1 cup (250ml) buttermilk *
2 eggs
1&1/3 cups (235g) dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses **
1/2 cup (175g) treacle (I used golden syrup)
100g butter, melted
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cardomom
3 cups (450g) plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of (baking) soda
2 pomegranates, seeds and juice removed and reserved ***
3/4 cup (165g) caster sugar

Preheat oven 160ÂșC. Place the buttermilk, eggs, brown sugar, molasses, treacle and melted butter in a bowl and whisk to combine. Add the ginger, cardamom, flour and bicarbonate of soda and whisk to combine. Pour into a lightly greased 24cm-round cake tin lined with non-stick baking paper. Bake for 1 hour or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Place the pomegranate juice and caster sugar in a bowl and mix to combine. Pour over the cake and allow to cool completely in the tin. Remove cake from tin and sprinkle with the pomegranate seeds to serve.

* To make buttermilk just add one tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup of milk
** I bought this very cheaply from A1 bakery on Sydney Road in Brunswick. Middle Eastern supermarkets stock it, or you could probably getting it from a fancy pants deli for double the price.
*** Pomegrantates are messy, so don't wear good clothes...Roll them on the bench to loosen the seeds from the membrane. Then cut them in half and squeeze them into a bowl to release the seeds and juice.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

easter break

Only a few more days till the Easter school holidays are over. I must say I have had a lovely break catching up with friends, reading books, playing with the dogs & swimming at the beach, but I also found enough time to finish crocheting my blanket! Well stage 1 at least...

You may remember that it started off looking like this over a year ago.


And now it looks like this!


It's a little of the small side, but at least I can use it to keep my feet warm while I keep on making granny squares to add to it!

I also got to see the puppies when I went home to Brisbane :) Toby has already doubled in size since I saw him last.


The last couple of days I've been hanging out with Elise and Adele, who was visiting from Brisbane, indulging ourselves in coffee, cocktails, good food and shopping!


We bought matching rings. How very high school of us...


p.s. thanks mum for helping me to finish the blanket!