Time to celebrate a wee milestone (insert crowd cheering). This is my 300th recipe posted on this blog!! Yep, that’s 300 cakes, cookies, desserts, meals and drinks made, photographed, and then consumed (let’s not even go there!) by yours truly. Which is kind of funny given I never had any intention of starting a blog.
The only reason I did was because I joined The Daring Kitchen back in 2013 and they encouraged their members to start a blog and post the recipes they’d made. So I started up a simple WordPress free site and, of course, had to come up with a name. Given that I was the only New Zealander in The Daring Kitchen at the time, I simply chose ‘The Kiwi Cook’ to differentiate myself from the other international members. Some time later, I questioned the choice of name as it seemed rather pretentious outside the confines of The Daring Kitchen community but, by that stage, a name change would have caused a fair bit of disruption, so ‘The Kiwi Cook’ remained.
The plan, for the first several months, was simply to share my culinary endeavours with my fellow Daring Kitchen colleagues. There was never any intention for it to be seen by anyone else so when it started gathering a modest following, there was no-one more surprised than me. The truth of it is that this blog represents my personal food journey. Since starting it, I’ve learned how to cook and bake, eaten food I’ve never even heard of before (let alone make), and developed a greater awareness of the food-health connection. It’s a diary of sorts, tracking my emotional and physical relationship to food. And, as it happens, it’s become a darned useful recipe ‘book’ that I can delve into whenever I’m stuck for ideas! 🙂
This 300th recipe showcases the sort of food I love to make and eat. It’s simple, delicious and full of wholesome ingredients. But, even more importantly, it’s the sort of food you share with loved ones alongside good conversation and a nice, hot cup of tea. I saw the recipe for this Upside Down Peach & Passionfruit Cake on New Zealand chef Nadia Lim’s website and knew it and I were destined to become friends. And, it certainly didn’t disappoint. The cake was lovely and moist and the peach and passionfruit (both in season here in New Zealand) made for the perfect topping. Something we all loved was how the combination of muscovado sugar and fruit juices naturally caramelized the sides of the cake – yummo!
The recipe is fairly adaptable as well. You can substitute the fruit according to whatever’s in season – stone fruit and pineapple are particularly good, given their firmness. And, you can make the recipe gluten-free as I did – simply use gluten-free baking flour instead of all-purpose flour. Enjoy!
Upside Down Peach & Passionfruit Cake
Ingredients
For the cake
- 9 oz melted butter
- 1/4 cup brown or muscovado sugar
- 3 firm ripe peaches, halved, stoned & sliced
- 3.5 oz softened butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar or honey
- Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
- 3 free-range eggs (at room temperature)
- 1/2 cup plain flour (I used gluten-free flour blend)
- 1/2 cup almond meal (ground almonds)
- 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
For the passionfruit syrup:
- 1/4 cup passionfruit pulp (about 3 passionfruit)
- 1 tbsp honey or sugar
To serve
- whipped cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160C (320F). Line an 18-21cm (7-8 inch) spring-form cake tin with a large piece of baking paper to cover the bottom and sides (this will ensure the liquid at the bottom of the cake doesn't seep out of the tin while baking).
- Drizzle melted butter over the base of the cake tin and spread it evenly using a pastry brush. Scatter over brown sugar (or muscovado sugar). Arrange sliced peaches on top in a circular pattern.
- In a medium-sized electric mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar (or honey), and lemon zest until thick, fluffy and pale. Beat in eggs, one by one, making sure they are fully incorporated after each addition.
- Gently fold in flour, almond meal, baking powder and lemon juice until well incorporated and batter is smooth (be careful not to over-mix).
- Pour batter over top of peaches and roughly smooth out the top. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until cake is light golden and springs back when lightly pressed in the centre. Place on a wire rack for a few minutes to cool slightly.
- Place a serving plate on top of the cake tin, then holding both plate and cake tin firmly together (use a tea-towel to avoid burning your hands) and carefully invert/ turn upside-down in one smooth motion – the cake will drop onto the plate. Release cake spring latch, remove sides and base of cake tin and peel off baking paper.
- Allow to cool for about 10 minutes, during which time you can make your passionfruit syrup.
For the passionfruit syrup:
- Boil the pulp from the passionfruit with 1 tablespoon honey or sugar for a few minutes in a small pot, or microwaving on high for a minute until hot and syrupy.
To serve:
- Drizzle the passionfruit syrup over the cake once it's rested for 10 minutes. Serve while still warm or at room temperature, with a dollop of cream.
My daughter is allergic to all nuts. So can I substitute 1/2 almond meal for all-purpose flour? If so, do I need the reduce the number of eggs to two? Thank you.
Hi, sorry I’ve never done this so can’t say whether or not that would work. Probably best to search online to find nut free recipes.