drinking up the last of July

Oh hello August, I didn't see you there.

It feels like it's been a busy time of late. Work, life in general, a wee spot of travel - it all adds up and all of a sudden you realise you haven't gone grocery shopping or written anything interesting in weeks...oops.

So July has come and gone and here we are in the eighth month. We're getting into the business end of the year now, birthday festivalling, warmer weather, spectacular amounts of sunshine, spring just around the corner... parties on the horizon. But before I get ahead of myself, let's take one last sip of July.

Yesterday we joined the entire rest of Sydney down at the Aroma coffee festival and imbibed a giddy, giggly share of caffeine and sugar before lunching down at the pub. There we enjoyed an accidental free meal featuring halloumi (the best kind of accidental free meal in my opinion) and it could only go up from there. A stellar afternoon really, the kind that holds the promise of spring and summer barbeques in its grasp. We rounded it out with some soup and toast, classic Sunday night fare, and a bit of Project Runway - hell yeah.

...

on the third day of june we drank coffee

Just when I thought it was going to get all wintery, Sydney pulls out a stunner like today. I forget sometimes just how nice June can be. There was nothing for it but to get outside. Since I had the day off, I happily joined Kristian in a trip to the Workshopped Shop in Surry Hills and then we walked around, checking out design stores, bookshops and cafes until we found a tremendously cute little place on Albion Street for lunch, Bruschetteria. I recommend it if you're in that part of town. They serve lots of great paninis and bruschettas and a nutella coffee that was unexpectedly good. All in all a pretty fine day!

Hopefully this weather keeps up for the weekend. There was an ambitious Ikea trip planned but I suspect it'll be a low key weekend with a focus on brunching, friends and sunshine. Hope you have a lovely weekend, whatever your plans!

...

vegetables with a side of deja vu

Today, I took a stroll around the city, spotting citrus eye candy and strange lists;
finalised details of an exciting new job;
met my friend Gianna for lunch at the building of my old job (a bizarre bit of deja vu) and enjoyed chocolate dipped ginger and coffee, as well as some laughs (hence the blur);
got out all the vegetables in the house and made vegetable and halloumi skewers with lemon rice, as suggested by a friend Jacqui a few days ago;
and enjoyed devouring the above skewers, whilst cosying up on the couch to watch Fringe with Kristian.

...

sunshine

Sydney sure knows how to put on an autumnal show. It's been a bit of a sunshine party these last few days and we've been soaking up those warming rays and enjoying the amazing light at every opportunity. Yesterday I enjoyed a glass of wine in the sun with my friend Sarah at the Sydney Writers' Festival and this morning, breakfast at Clipper Cafe in Glebe, where we watched inquisitive dogs and enjoyed homemade baked beans and poached eggs. Delightful.

All this outdoorsyness has not kept me away from the kitchen though because the minute the sun goes down, the oven goes on. There have been more pies and a few more crumbles and some vegetables too, that I will share with you soon. Until then, grab some sunshine where you can and here's to a wonderful weekend!

...

in anticipation of citrus

The women in my family have an interesting relationship with marmalade. My grandmother loved it, I love it, my mother can't stand the stuff. Her condiment of choice is apricot jam which, as it happens, I don't mind either. But my first love is marmalade and when it's cold and rainy out or I'm having a bad day and having a flashback to being 10 and ardently not wanting to go to ballet class (this can sometimes happen when it rains a lot for some reason), it's marmalade on toast (with occasional cheese involvement) that I turn to. The ultimate comfort food.

That's why when I heard about a cake incorporating whole oranges, I almost gasped in excitement. It was marmalade in cake form. I was already tasting the saturated citrus flavours in anticipation. And so, when our friend came over on Friday night, I had the perfect excuse to make it. 

This cake makes a great dessert, with its moist and dense texture, resembling that of a baked cheesecake, but I think it truly shines as a mid-morning tea accompaniment - a small slice to go with a strong cup of Earl Grey and perhaps an Austen or a Brontë.

Whole Orange Cake with Yoghurt Topping

Adapted from The British Larder

For the cake
2 whole fresh oranges
100ml of the cooking water from the oranges
6 whole free range eggs
250g unrefined caster sugar
100g plain flour
200g ground almonds
1tsp baking powder

For the yoghurt topping
2 Tbs natural yoghurt
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
 zest of one orange

Wash the oranges; place them in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring the oranges to the boil and simmer for approximately 1 ½ hours, until completely soft. Let the oranges cool completely in the cooking liquid.

Preheat the oven to 150°C, grease and line a 9-inch round springform pan with baking paper. Place the boiled oranges (skin and all) in a food processor with 100ml of the cooking liquid and puree till a very smooth. Transfer the orange puree to a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and sugar and mix well. Fold the ground almonds into the batter. Sieve the flour and baking powder over the batter and fold the flour in with a metal spoon. The cake batter will be very runny.

Spoon the cake mixture in to the prepared tin, place on the middle shelf of the preheated oven and bake for 1 hour, or until a metal skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Let the cake cool for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.  For the topping, combine the yoghurt with the confectioners sugar and spoon over a generous slice of cake and garnish with orange zest. 

And another thing, this cake improves with time. Day 2 or 3 is a real treat.