Lemon & Yoghurt Cake with Lime & Coconut Ice Cream

Sunday required a shop at the South Melbourne markets for some fresh ingredients for baking. Last week I purchased some vintage cutlery from Etsy and have been so excited to use it in my food shots.

Lemon & yoghurt Cake

1. Mix 1 cup sugar and grated rind of two lemons with an electric beater

2. Then add 2 eggs and 1 cup oil (I used vegetable oil) and beat well

3. Then add 1 cup natural youghurt and 1/4 cup lemon juice and beat well

4. Then add 2 cups SR flour and beat well with electric beater

5. Pout into greased and floured fluted ring tin.

6. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius

7. Turn onto place and prick with skewer - evenly spoon hot syrup over cake.

Lemon Syrup

Bring to the boil 1/4 cup lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar. Stir until dissolved.

Coconut lime Ice Cream

1. ¼ cup (25g) desiccated coconut

2. 1 ½ tablespoos grated lime

3. 1/3 cup (80ml) lime juice

4. 4 tablespoons coconumt milk powder

5. 1 litre of good quality vanilla ice cream (softened)

Combine the desiccated coconut, grated lime rind, lime juice and coconut milk powder in a bowl and mix well.

Add the coconut miuxture to the ice cream and fold through with a large metal spoon, untilo evenly incorporated.

Work quickly so that the ice cream doesn’t melt.

Return the mixture to the freezer and freeze for 30mins

Serves 4.

all images  © victoria robertson

lemon tart monday

Philip Lawton not only sells the finest French cookers in town, he also knows how to cook the most appealing lemon tart I have tried, and yet to differ. After been given a large bag of freshly picked lemons, Phil insisted on making his famous (with our family) lemon tart. We were lucky enough to be home when a visit, very kindly included two of these little beauties of which I could not help but shoot. 
Together with my yellow bird towels found at Bahamonde in Elwood, thanks to my dear friend Anna of Violet & I who assisted my purchase of these treasures, the little tarts took form, and as delightful as ever gave the perfect food shot for my weekend. I am thoroughly satisfied to get a shot in, as the weather has been dark, wet and gloomy, but with today's sunshine, my Nikon D60 was waiting to get to work.

image © victoria robertson

tea anyone?

I was drinking my sleep time tea last night and not only enjoyed the sweet treat that accompanied it, and the smell of fresh yummy freesias, but most of all I was enjoying my hot tea in front of the fire on a cold winters night. I am a bit of a homebody when it comes to winter and there is nothing more I love than feeling warm and cozy. I decided it was time to stock the cupboard with peppermint, sleepy time, earl grey and soy milk, so that my rainy nights in, will be one with guilty-less pleasures.

            Images © Victoria Robertson  

After last weekends superb outing at the Edible Tapestry Tales, I am slightly perplexed with what this weekend will hold, other than drinking tea..... Y3K gallery is on top of the list, and maybe even some baking thanks to a lovely inspiration from one of my favourite food photographers Katie Quinn Davies.

Image thanks to Katie Quinn Davies

Maybe even a Rhubarb Crumble with vanilla bean ice cream; and did I mention Lamb Shanks, or was this just baking... I think as main lamb shanks and as desert Rhubarb Crumble. A beautiful foodie weekend of warmth and good foods. I am already looking forward to it.


Have a beautiful weekend; and keep warm. Unless you are in Europe then you should be outside having picnics xx

orange juice muffins

All photos © Victoria Robertson

Orange Juice Muffins
(12 servings)

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon grated orange zest
2/3 cup fresh orange juice (or the juice of 2 large oranges and enough water to make 2/3 cup)
1/2 cup melted butter
2 large eggs - lightly beaten
1 Tablespoon melted butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup ground walnuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare 12 standard muffin cups with muffin papers or cooking spray.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, white sugar and orange peel.

Stir in orange juice, 1/2 cup melted butter, eggs and chopped nuts.

Pour batter evenly into 12 muffin cups.

In a small bowl, mix together the single Tablespoon melted butter, the brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle evenly over the top of each muffin.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean (no batter).


So good served warm with butter and honey. Trust me... fresh juice makes all the difference.

A Christmas Chocolate Treat!

Now with Christmas on the nigh, I am sure we are all thinking about gifts and good foods for the table. I believe that as well as the roasted turkey, leg of ham and freshly prepared seafood, it is important to serve some quality special treats for desert; hmmm well... I have managed to get my hands on a sweet ol' recipe that should charm the boots off any guest!!!

Minty Chocolate Christmas Cookie Recipe

Try to use Dagoba cacao powder for these cookies, but its not mandatory. Try to seek out organic powdered sugar, which isn't as bright white as typical powdered sugar, but once you beat a bunch of air into it, it brightens right up (see photos). This recipe calls for whole wheat pastry flour, but you can use unbleached all-purpose flour if you like.

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup nonalkalized cocoa powder

1 egg white

3/4 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt

1 1/2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour

Peppermint cream filling:

2+ cups powdered sugar, sifted

10 - 15 drops peppermint extract (to taste)

1/4 cup half and half (or water if you are going to keep the cookies around unrefrigerated for a while)

Pre-heat the oven to 350F degrees, position the racks in the middle of the oven, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a Silpat.

Using a stand mixer or handheld mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and cream some more, scraping the sides of the bowl a time or two. Stir in the vanilla extract, cocoa powder, egg white, and salt and mix until the cocoa powder is integrated and the batter is smooth and creamy and the consistency of a thick frosting. Add the flour and mix just until the batter is no longer dusty looking. It might still be a bit crumbly, and that's okay.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface, gather it into a ball, and knead it just once or twice to bring it together into a smooth mass. Divide into two pieces place each into a plastic bag and flatten into disks roughly 1 inch thick. Put the dough in the freezer for 20 minutes to chill.

One bag at a time remove the dough from the freezer. On a well floured surface roll it out very thin (remember these are going to be sandwich cookies) - roughly 1/8 inch thick. Or you might find it easiest to roll it out between to Silpats or pieces of plastic. Stamp out cookies in whatever shape you like - I used tiny scalloped circles here. Place on the prepared baking sheets, and bake for 7-10 minutes, or until they small of deep warm chocolate with toasty overtones. Larger cookies will take longer to cook than smaller ones. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack (if you have one).

While the cookies are baking, go ahead and make the filling. Using a stand mixer or handheld mixer, whisk together the sugar and half and half until nice and fluffy. You want the filling to be thick enough that it doesn't ooze out the sides of the cookies after they are filled, so if you need to add more powdered sugar, do so in small increments. If you need to thin out your filling, add more half and half a few drops at a time. Whisk in the peppermint extract a bit at a time, and taste as you go, the peppermint flavor shouldn't be overwhelming. When the cookies have completely cooled slather a bit of filling on half of the cookies. Top each slather with another cookie and enjoy!

Makes about 3 dozen 1 1/2-inch sandwich cookies.