lemon and passionfruit mini cakes

lemon and passionfruit mini cakes

20 Jul 2026

 

It's passionfruit season here so I decided to make a batch of lemon and passionfruit mini cakes inspired by this Edd Kimber bundt cake recipe. I was going to bake the mini cakes in a friand tin but instead I dusted off my Texas muffin tin. 

I used passionfruit in all it's form, juice, seeds and pulp to flavour and decorate the cakes. I topped the cakes with lemon flavoured cream cheese icing but of course you could flavour the cream cheese icing with passionfruit if you prefer.

Here's the recipe for you which makes 6 mini cakes, adapted from this Edd Kimber recipe. The cream cheese icing recipe comes from Natalie Paull of Beatrix Bakes fame. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced, you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C. 

Lemon and passionfruit mini cakes - makes 6
Passionfruit Syrup
2 passionfruit
55g caster sugar 
50 mls water

Tiff’s Zingy lemon stuff (optional)
2 small lemons
2 tbs (40ml) water

Cake
3 eggs
185g caster sugar 
zest of 1 lemon
100ml light flavoured olive oil 
65g full fat yoghurt 
85g self raising flour
35g almond meal
35g fine semolina
¼ tsp baking powder
pinch sea salt flakes

Icing
125g full-fat cream cheese, softened
125g unsalted butter, squidgy soft
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
40g dried milk powder
pinch sea salt flakes
125g icing sugar
50g passionfruit pulp or  50g Tiff’s zingy lemon stuff 

To decorate
2 passionfruit

Passionfruit syrup
Put the passionfruit pulp into a small food processor and process to loosen the seeds. Pass through a sieve, separating the seeds from the juice. You should have about 20mls of juice. If it’s a bit less then top it up with some lemon juice.

Place the seeds in a small saucepan with the sugar and water, bring to a simmer, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Cook on low heat for about 5-7 minutes or until syrupy. Pass the liquid through the sieve again reserving the syrup but this time discarding the seeds. Let the syrup cool before stirring through the reserved juice. Avoid heating the juice to retain its freshness.

Tiff’s zingy lemon stuff
Juice one lemon and place the juice in a non-reactive saucepan with the water. Trim the stalk end off the other lemon, halve it, and remove any visible seeds, then slice into thin half-moons and add to the lemon juice in the saucepan. Cover the saucepan with a lid and simmer over a low heat until all the pith is translucent. Take care the lemon doesn't catch any colour as it simmers. You can also use the microwave - cover with a lid and zap for 3-5 minutes on high. Cool, then whiz to a paste in a small food processor. Scrape the paste into a small container, doing a final seed check, and chill.

Cake
Preheat the oven to 180°C, conventional. Grease a 6-cup Texas muffin tray with softened butter, then sprinkle with some flour and rotate to cover the entire tin. Turn the tin upside down over the sink or a bin to remove the excess flour then set aside in a cool place. If you like you can place a square of baking paper in the base of each tin. Set aside.

Place the eggs, caster sugar and lemon zest into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk on high speed, for about 5 minutes or until the mixture is pale and light. Meanwhile, in a jug mix together the oil and yoghurt. Add the oil mixture to the egg mixture and whisk briefly to combine. In a separate bowl mix together all the dry goods, then add to the liquid goods and mix briefly just until evenly combined. 

Using a large spoon, divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin tins ~ 100g/cake. Bake for 30 minutes on the centre rack or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. 

Place the muffin tin on a wire rack and loosen each cake with a knife. Let the cakes sit on the rack for about 10 minutes before turning out onto the cooling rack. Return the cakes back to the tin before pouring about 1 tbs of the passionfruit syrup over each cake. Let the cakes rest for 30 minutes to absorb the syrup before turning them out onto a tray lined with baking parchment. Let the cakes cool completely before icing.

Icing
Place the cream cheese, butter, vanilla bean paste and milk powder in the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Sift the icing sugar on top. Beat with the paddle attachment for 10 minutes on speed 4 until fluffy and pale. Stir through the passionfruit pulp or 50g of Tiff’s zingy lemon stuff. Store covered in the fridge until needed. 

If refrigerated, rewarm in the microwave in 20-second bursts until softened. Load the softened icing into a piping bag with a medium plain nozzle in place (I used my home made St Honore tip) and pipe onto the top of the cakes. Decorate with the passionfruit pulp.

I expected a syrup soaked cake to be a bit dense but the mini cake was lovely and fluffy and a genuine delight to eat.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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almond rocher cake

almond rocher cake

13 Jul 2026

I did mull over whether to post this recipe for Nadine Ingram's Almond Rocher cake as it's unlikely you'll ever make it. I made this for my neighbour's birthday and I do like to go all out for birthdays. The recipe is very long. There are many steps, though none are difficult. Nuts are toasted; egg whites are whipped; praline is made; custard is made; mascarpone is whipped and chocolate is melted to make ganache. Most of these steps need to be done the day before you assemble the cake, so you'll need lots of storage tins and try not to count how many eggs you'll be use.

Nadine's Note

The almond rocher really is best eaten on the day it's assembled, because the praline melts and the custard fades to a matt colour overnight. All the components of this cake can be made the day before in preparation for assembly the next day. Keep the sponges and rocher at room temperature overnight and the praline will need to be kept in an airtight container to avoid the humidity melting it away. Make the ganache on the day of serving, as it’s so quick to make.

Jillian's Notes

The cakes are best baked in springform pans but you'll need 4. If you only have 2 or 3 tins like I do, I suggest baking the Almond Rochers first. Once they're cold they're easy to remove from the tins and stored in airtight containers freeing up the tins for the flourless chocolate cakes.

The recipe is pretty faithful to the original except for the custard recipe. I made the custard from the recipe and it split dramatically. Rather than tempting fate and wasting double cream, single cream and 3 more egg yolks I turned to Natalie Paull and used her cold start custard recipe. It's definitely not as rich as the original custard recipe but it still tasted lovely.

Here's the recipe for you which makes a 20 cm cake, adapted from Love Crumbs by Nadine Ingram. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced, you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C. 

8 inch Almond Rocher Cake - serves 10-12

Roasted almonds

80g skin on natural almonds

200g flaked almonds

Almond praline and paste

80g roasted natural almonds

80g caster sugar

Almond custard

60g caster sugar

20g cornflour

pinch salt

40g pure cream

2 egg yolks

200g full cream milk

1 tsp vanilla paste

80g almond praline paste (from above)

250g mascarpone

Flourless chocolate sponge

6 egg yolks

220g sifted pure icing sugar

7 egg whites

pinch salt

90g sifted cocoa powder

Almond rocher

200g toasted flaked almonds

5 egg whites

pinch salt

200g pure icing sugar, sifted

½ tsp vanilla paste

Chocolate ganache

100g roughly chopped dark chocolate

100g pure cream

Roast the almonds

Preheat the oven to 170°C, conventional or 160°C, fan forced. Line 2 trays with baking paper. On 1 tray scatter the raw almonds for the praline and on the 2nd tray, evenly scatter the flaked almonds for the almond rocher. 

Toast the raw almonds for 10 minutes then remove from the oven. Toast the flaked almonds for 15 minutes or until the flaked almonds are dark golden, checking halfway through and giving the pan a shake to ensure they colour evenly. Once you are happy all the almonds are coloured nicely, remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Once cool, store the almonds in separate airtight containers until required.

Almond praline and paste

Line a tray with baking paper and set it aside. Place the roasted raw almonds and caster sugar in a frying pan or medium-based saucepan and toss together to combine, then place over medium heat. Shake the almonds occasionally and when you start to see the sugar turn glassy and melt around the outside, use a wooden spoon to gently stir the nuts every so often to distribute the melting sugar. 

Continue to cook until all the sugar has dissolved and there is a golden caramelised coating on the almonds. Turn the heat off and scatter the almonds onto the prepared tray. If you can, separate the almonds by using the tip of your wooden spoon to flick them apart, so that you have individual almonds to decorate the top of the cake. Allow the praline to cool completely.

Once cooled, crush 80g of the praline into a paste using a small food processor or a pestle and mortar or place it in a plastic bag and smash using a rolling pin until as fine as possible. Choose the almonds that are clumped together and save the singular ones for the top decoration. Cut the remaining almonds in half lengthways using a very sharp knife and set aside to decorate the cake later. Store the praline and sliced almonds in separate airtight containers

Almond custard

In a medium bowl, weigh the sugar, cornflour, salt and cream. Add the egg yolks last and hand whisk to make a creamy paste. Stream the milk in then the vanilla and whisk well. Scrape the mix into a small saucepan.

Place the saucepan on a medium-high heat and hand whisk at a slow pace to allow the heat to suffuse through the mix. Work the small balloon whisk into the corners of the saucepan (where the custard thickens first). After around 3 minutes of whisking, the custard will start to look like a creamy liquid. Speed up the whisking now the custard will thicken fast. It will look lumpy but just whisk quickly and it will all come together into an evenly thick paste in another 1 minute. Keep whisking to achieve silky, evenly thick success.

As soon as it looks smooth and thick, slow down the whisking and wait for a few burp-like bubbles to pop over the surface. It's a super thick custard and your whisk should leave obvious furrows as it moves through the mix.Take the pan off the heat. Scrape the custard into a bowl and press a piece of plastic wrap on the surface of the custard to prevent a rubbery skin forming. Cool the custard in the fridge overnight or for a minimum of 4 hours.

French flourless chocolate sponge

Preheat the oven to 170°C, conventional or 150°C, fan forced. Grease and dust 2 x 20-cm cake tins with cocoa then line the bases with baking paper.

Place the egg yolks and half the icing sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whip until pale and thick. Decant the sabayon into a larger bowl, so you can use the electric mixer bowl to whip the whites. Ensure the bowl is clean and dry and place the whites and salt in the bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, then whip on high speed until soft ribbons form. Reduce the speed to medium and gradually add the remaining icing sugar, 1-tablespoon at a time. Continue to whip the meringue until firm peaks form, but don't overbeat.

Using a spatula, fold the meringue into the sabayon one-third at a time, alternating with the cocoa, also one-third at a time. Sift the cocoa over the surface of the sabayon again before folding it through to prevent any lumps finding their way into the sponge. Meringue lumps may start to form as the meringue sits dormant in the stand mixer bowl. To prevent this, use a spatula to first smooth them over the surface of the sponge before actually folding them through. Trying to remove a lump of meringue from the sponge after it’s folded through will result in over-working the batter. If you can see lumps, use a whisk in a folding motion to remove them.

Pour the sponge into the prepared cake tins and smooth the surface gently with an offset palette knife. Bake for 15-18 minutes. (My sponges took 25 minutes) The sponge is ready when the middle bounces back when pressed with your finger. Remove the sponges from the oven and allow to cool in the tins.

Almond rocher

Preheat the oven to 170°C, conventional or 160°C, fan forced. Line the base and sides of 2 x 20-cm cake tins with baking paper. 

Place the egg whites and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whip on high speed until soft ribbons form, then reduce the speed to medium and gradually add the icing sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, allowing a few seconds between each addition. Whisk the meringue for 5-7 minutes or until thick and glossy. Remove the bowl from the electric mixer. Roughly crush the toasted flaked almonds using your hands, then using a spatula fold through the meringue along with the vanilla paste until thoroughly combined. Divide the meringue between the prepared tins and bake for 30-45 minutes or until the top is crisp and golden. Remove the rochers from the oven and allow to cool in the tins.

Chocolate ganache

Place the chocolate in a bowl and have a whisk at-the-ready. Place the cream in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil, then pour the cream over the chocolate. Set aside for 5 minutes for the chocolate to melt then whisk until smooth and glossy. Set the ganache aside at room temperature until you are ready to assemble the cake.

To assemble

Whisk the mascarpone until firmly whipped. Use a spatula to soften the almond custard, removing any lumps. If the lumps are persistent use a stick blender to smooth out the mixture. Using a spatula, fold the custard through the mascarpone in three batches. The aim here is to retain the thickness you have whipped into the mascarpone by adding the custard slowly. Once you have finished, you should have a thick filling that holds up firmly and will be spread over the cakes, not poured over them. If the finished almond custard is not as thick as you had hoped, return the entire filling to the stand mixer and whisk on medium speed until firm.

Carefully remove the sponges from the tin, then peel off the baking paper. Place one sponge onto a serving platter and pour over half the ganache, and then spread it evenly over the surface using an offset palette knife. Remove the rochers from the cake tins by pulling up the paper liners to lift them out. Place one of the layers on top of the ganache, then spoon over half the almond custard and spread it all the way to the edges. Sprinkle with half the sliced almond praline. Repeat the layers again: sponge, ganache, rocher and custard, finishing the cake by standing the remaining almond praline decoration upright. Any crushed praline resulting from the slicing process can be sprinkled on top for contrast.

Cutting a clean slice from such a tall cake is tricky. I'd suggest refrigerating the cake to firm the custard and ganache and then use a sharp serrated knife to saw through each layer. Let the slice come back to room temperature before eating.

 

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen. 

btw, my neighbour loved his birthday cake.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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blackberry walnut crumble cake

blackberry walnut crumble cake

6 Jul 2026

I bought a punnet of blackberries and intended to make Julia Busuttil Nishimura's Blackberry Yoghurt Loaf Cake. Whilst thumbing through my copy of 'Love is a Pink Cake' by Claire Ptak I spied her recipe for a Blackberry and Rose Walnut Crumble Cake. 

I was torn and couldn't decide which of the cakes to make so I combined the 2 recipes to make this blackberry walnut crumble cake. The batter is from Julia's recipe whilst the crumble comes from Claire's recipe. Unfortunately, Claire's recipe isn't available online and I did make some changes to the crumble recipe.

Here's the recipe for you which makes a small loaf cake. The batter was a bit too much for my tiny little tin, so next time I'd use one of the other larger loaf tins in my collection. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced, you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Blackberry walnut crumble cake
For the crumble
50g fine semolina
¼ tsp sea salt
35g chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp ground cinnamon
35g caster sugar
50g toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped

Cake
135g room temperature unsalted butter
175g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
2 eggs
100g full-fat plain yoghurt
115g self-raising flour
50g almond meal
½ tsp baking powder
pinch seasalt flakes
125g blackberries, fresh or frozen

Crumble mixture
Put all the ingredients except the walnuts into a small food processor and pulse to combine. Add the walnuts and pulse a few times to incorporate. Chill until ready to use.

Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C, conventional. Grease and line a small loaf tin with baking paper. Place the butter, sugar, and vanilla in the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream together on high speed for about 5 minutes, or until pale and fluffy, scraping down the side of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition. 

Place the flour, almond meal and salt in a small bowl and mix to combine, then reduce the mixer speed to low. Add the yoghurt and mix to combine then add the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Do a final mix with a spatula.

Spoon half the mixture into the prepared tin and top with the blackberries and half the crumble topping. Carefully spoon over the remaining batter then top with the remaining crumble mixture. Transfer the tin to the oven and bake on the centre rack of the preheated 180°C, conventional oven for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean and the top springs back when gently pressed.

Cool the cake in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. The cake is best eaten on the day it is made, but will keep in an airtight container for 2-3 days.

This was a delicious morsel I have to say and adaptable to any in season fruit. As its such a versatile recipe I can see other versions popping up on the blog in the future.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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roasted rhubarb almond and polenta muffins

roasted rhubarb almond and polenta muffins

29 Jun 2026

Last month I shared a recipe for roasted peach almond and polenta muffins. They were delicious and I planned to make a rhubarb version as soon as it was rhubarb season. Well it's rhubarb season in Sydney so I bought a bunch of rhubarb and set to work adapting the recipe.

First things first, oven roast the rhubarb. Please don't skip this step because raw rhubarb turns into tough inedible nubbins when baked for 30-40 minutes. If you have any leftovers they're delicious topped with yoghurt. 

I made a few changes to the batter - a little more sugar, a bit more egg and I added some chopped uncooked rhubarb because too much rhubarb is never enough. I ran out of muffin liners and discovered the new liners I bought were much smaller. Instead of 6 muffins I ended up with 9 muffins.

Here's the recipe for you adapted from a Claire Ptak recipe which will make 9 muffins. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced, you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Roasted rhubarb almond and polenta muffins - makes 9 muffins
Oven roasted rhubarb

400g trimmed rhubarb
2½ tbs sugar 
1 tbs grated orange rind
½ cinnamon stick
juice ½ orange

Batter ingredients 
125g caster sugar plus raw sugar for sprinkling
125g room temperature unsalted butter
The grated rind of 1 orange (minus the 1 tbs used in the rhubarb)
2 eggs 
165g almond meal 
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt 
112g polenta flour
60g diced rhubarb
icing sugar to serve 

Oven roasted rhubarb
Preheat the oven to 190°C conventional, or 170°C, fan forced. Trim the fruit to fit into a roasting pan and sprinkle with the sugar. Grate the orange before juicing. Sprinkle over 1 tbs of the rind and then reserve the rest to use in the batter. Add the cinnamon stick and the orange juice to the tin, then roast uncovered for 10 minutes. The rhubarb should still be quite firm as it needs to be trimmed to the size of your muffins. Remove the tray from the oven and cool completely before storing the roasted rhubarb in an airtight container the fridge. Reserve any juice.

Method
Preheat the oven to 190°C conventional or 170°C, fan forced. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with 9 paper liners. (I was aiming to make 6 muffins but my new paper liners are much smaller and I ended up with 9 muffins)

In a stand mixer, cream the butter, sugar, and orange zest until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs slowly and mix well.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the almond meal, baking powder, salt, and the polenta flour. Add this to the butter mixture and mix well then fold through the diced rhubarb. Scoop the batter into the lined muffin pan and top with 3 or 4 rhubarb slices then sprinkle generously with raw sugar.

Bake the muffins for 30-40 minutes on the centre rack of the preheated 190°C conventional, or 170°C fan forced oven or until an inserted skewer comes out clean and the tops of the muffins spring back to the touch. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before removing from the tin. 

If you like, you can simmer the reserved rhubarb cooking juices in a small pan to form a syrup. Just before serving, glaze the rhubarb pieces with the syrup, then dust the muffins with icing sugar.

These muffins will keep for up to 4 days in an airtight container and I think they actually taste better the day after baking.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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mandarin hazelnut syrup cake

mandarin hazelnut syrup cake

22 Jun 2026

It's citrus season here and my fruit bowl is loaded with oranges, mandarins and limes. It seemed a shame not to take advantage of this bounty so I looked online for some inspiration which is where I found this mandarin flavoured hazelnut cake.

I looked through the fridge, my pantry and the fruit bowl and I had everything I needed to make the cake. It's a simple melt and mix cake and I'm sure it could be made using olive oil instead of melted butter. I've made many similar cakes before so I changed the method a little to reflect how I usually make a melt and mix cake.

Here's the recipe for you which makes a 17-cm cake, adapted from a Matt Moran recipe. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced, you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Mandarin and hazelnut syrup cake 
Ingredients
250g mandarins, about 2 small mandarins
150g caster sugar
125g unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
65g eggs
125g plain flour
60g hazelnut meal (I used a combination of hazelnut and almond meal)

1 tsp baking powder
large pinch seasalt flakes
90g thick natural yoghurt, plus extra to serve

Mandarin syrup
180g caster sugar
Peel of 1 mandarin
Scraped seeds of ½ vanilla bean
180mls water

35mls lemon juice

To serve
2 - 3 mandarins, peeled and thickly sliced into rounds, reserve the peel of 1 mandarin for the syrup

plain yoghurt

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C, conventional or 160°C, fan forced. Grease, flour and line the base of a 17cm cake tin with a round of baking paper.

Peel 1 mandarin, then remove and discard any fine fibres from the skins. Blitz the skin and sugar in a small food processor until fine and smooth, transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Blitz the flesh of the mandarins you’ve peeled in the food processor until pureed, discard any seeds (I had 150mls of mandarin puree). Add the butter to the sugar mix, followed by the egg mixture and whisk to combine. 

Whisk the flour, hazelnut meal, baking powder and a pinch of salt together in a bowl. Add to the mandarin mixture alternating with the mandarin puree then whisk in yoghurt and mix until smooth. Spoon into prepared cake tin and bake on the centre rack of the preheated 180°C conventional oven for 55 minutes – 1 hour until risen, golden brown and a skewer inserted withdraws clean. Cool in tin for 10 minutes then transfer the tin to a wire rack. Loosen the cake with an off set spatula and invert onto the cooling rack. Remove the baking paper from the base of the cake, then invert and return to the tin.

Meanwhile, to make the mandarin syrup, blitz the sugar with the mandarin peel until fine, then combine in a wide saucepan with vanilla and the water. Stir over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves, bring to the boil, reduce heat to medium, simmer for 5-6 minutes until lightly syrupy, skimming off any scum that comes to the surface. Remove from the heat, add lemon juice, stand to cool slightly. 

Peel the remaining mandarins, and take off any fibres, then thickly slice and combine in a container with half the syrup. Refrigerate to chill.

Pierce several holes in the cake then pour the rest of the warm syrup over the warm cake. Let the syrup soak in (this could take more than an hour) and cool to room temperature before serving.

Serve the cake with the mandarin slices, the syrup and extra yoghurt.

The cake was as delicious as you'd expect a nut cake doused with mandarin syrup topped with yoghurt would be. Could you make this using oranges? Absolutely.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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apple pie with an olive oil crust

apple pie with an olive oil crust

15 Jun 2026

Is there anything better than a piece of homemade apple pie? I think not. Each year my Grandma Sonie made apple pie for her Mother's Day morning tea and her pie was delicious. Grandma only read and wrote in Russian, so I don't have a written version of her recipe, though there may be a copy in my Mum's hand written recipe book. I created my own version when I was a teenager, adapted from a Women's Weekly recipe and since then I have made many, many apple pies.

Phil Khoury specialises in plant based baking, and I was keen to try his apple pie recipe. The filling uses both the apple flesh and the peel, something I'd not seen before, whilst the pastry is olive oil based, something I've not made before. I was intrigued, so as soon as it was apple season, I got to work making my own version of Phil's apple pie.

Here's the recipe for you which makes a 16-cm tart, adapted from a Phil Khoury recipe and you can watch Phil make the pie here. To make a larger tart please refer to the original recipe. For all my recipes I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60 g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced, you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Apple Pie with an olive oil crust

Apple filling
500g apples (I used a mix of Pink Lady and Granny Smith apples)
75g caster sugar 
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp vanilla bean paste
1½ tsp finely grated lemon zest and 1 tsp lemon juice
15g cornflour

For the flaky pastry
225g plain flour
½ tsp fine salt
15g caster sugar
90ml olive oil
15g cooked sweet potato, cooled (see Recipe Tips below)

To assemble
¼ cup apricot jam
Soya milk or cream 
Demerara sugar, for sprinkling
Vegan ice cream or cream, to serve

Filling
Peel and core the apples, reserving the peel. Either chop the apple peel finely by hand or blend in a small food processor. Set aside.

Thinly slice the peeled apples about 2 mm thick using either a sharp knife or a mandoline. Place the thinly sliced apples into a large bowl with the sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, lemon juice, zest and cornflour and toss the apples gently until everything is combined. Stand for 20 minutes.

Pastry
Prepare the flaky pastry by mixing the flour, salt and sugar together in a large bowl. Add the oil and use a silicone spatula or your hands to mix it into the flour. The oil should coat all the flour. Add the sweet potato along with 37 ml cold water and mix until the dough just comes together. Don't overmix because the dough will start to separate and become more difficult to handle.

Place two-thirds of the pastry dough between two sheets of baking paper then roll out into a large disc until it is 3-4 mm thick and about 9 inch in diameter. Roll out remaining one-third of pastry between two sheets of baking paper into a smaller (8 inch) disc that is 3 mm thick, and set aside.

Use the larger disc of pastry to line a 16 cm tart tin by removing the top sheet of baking paper and gently placing the tin on top of the pastry as a guide. Use a small sharp knife to trim the pastry around the tin, allowing for at least a 3 cm border, then remove the tart tin. Use the bottom sheet of baking paper to help flip the pastry gently into the tin, then carefully ease into the shape of the tin with your fingertips leaving any excess overhanging.

Chill the pastry in the fridge for 15 minutes, then use the tip of a small knife to ‘dock' the base with a few pricks, about 2 cm apart, to stop the base from puffing up. If blind-baking the pastry (see recipe tip), preheat the oven to 190°C, conventional/170°C fan forced. Scrunch up some baking paper, then unfurl it and press into the pastry-lined tart case and fill it with rice or baking beans. Bake for 18 minutes or until nicely golden. If the edges are browning too early, cover them with a piece of kitchen foil. Remove and allow to cool.

If not blind baking the pie, place a baking tray, on which the tart tin can sit while baking, on the middle rack. Preheat the oven to 200°C, conventional/180°C fan. 

Spoon the apricot jam over the base of the tart, then arrange the finely chopped apple peels over the jam and then gently layer the sliced apples on top, stacking to fill all the gaps. There will be some liquid leftover from the apples, so stir to agitate any settled cornflour and drizzle it slowly over the pie. You can push the apples into a slight domed shape, if you like.

Brush the overhanging edge of the piecrust with water, then place the smaller disc of pastry over the apples and press the edges together. Trim and crimp the edges as you like. Brush the soya milk or cream across the top of the pastry and sprinkle some demerara sugar on top for a tantalising crunch. Use a sharp knife to cut some steam holes – I like one in the centre then six in a little burst radiating from it.

Place the tart on the preheated tray then bake for 20 minutes. Rotate the tin and bake for another 20–25 minutes, until golden brown all over. Remove from the oven and leave to stand for at least 30 minutes. Serve warm with a scoop of vegan ice cream or regular cream or ice cream if not vegan.

Recipe tips
Prepare the sweet potato in advance, preheat the oven to 200°C, conventional or 180°C fan forced and bake whole sweet potatoes for 45 minutes. When cooked, halve and scoop out the soft potato inside. Cool completely before weighing and mashing with a fork ready to use in the recipe.

If using a metal tin, you do not need to blind bake the pastry case. Other tart dishes made from glass or ceramics do not conduct heat as well, so in this case you will need to blind bake the tart case as described above.

Once cooked, the apple pie keeps well in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 days. When it’s cooled completely, slice from the fridge then reheat in the oven or microwave. 

The apple pie was so delicious and the olive oil pastry was a revelation. I had no problem lining the tart tin but I had some trouble getting the top crust in place without it cracking. The raw sugar topping covered up any flaws and once baked the olive oil crust was really crisp and it stayed that way for a few days. This recipe is definitely a keeper.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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