Jaggery Banana Bread with Cashew Crumble

I’ve never had a fondness for banana bread because I find them bland, not worth the calories and unexciting. It seems completely contradictory to begin a post about banana bread and then declaring that I don’t fancy any. There’s an explanation for that. Most Asians, and that includes me, have a predilection for lighter, sponge-like,…

Quadruple Salted Chocolate Loaf Cake

  There is something quite poetical about this cake- the way the centre ruptures like an abundant cleavage is poetical because it speaks of its hidden sumptuousness and decadence that would only reveal itself when its cut open. And this is a special kind of chocolate poetry as it involves very minimal work – everything…

Pistachio Fig Yoghurt Cake

  My first taste of fresh figs was years ago. I’d bought some from the supermarket out of curiosity. Without knowing any better, I bit into an unripe one which tasted so terrible that it left me with a distaste for figs for a long time. Then a few months ago at the Auckland Food…

Spiced Banana Cake with Salted Gula Melaka Frosting and Caramel Peanut Popcorn

  The idea for this layered decadence came when I read about a cake version of a banoffee pie. But it quickly got out of hand when I thought to put a south-east asian twist to it. So in came the spices, gula melaka and peanuts. Can too much of a good thing really be…

Disco Ball Chocolate Cola Cake + Cupcakes & Curries turns 2 !

Super moist, chocolatey and addictive layer cake

Salted Milk Caramel Fudge Brownies

  I’m not quite sure when I ate the first brownie but it must have been from a bakery in my neighbourhood. I remember that I was not particularly pleased with its cakey, dry texture and weird tasting walnut. But then, later in my teens, I discovered the Betty Crocker brownie box mix and my…

Brûléed Citrus Pound Cake

  Last weekend, we took a trip up north to the Mahurangi Peninsula and drove around Matakana, Warkworth and Scandrett Regional Park. It is the ideal weekend getaway just an hour drive from Auckland Central with many interesting local primary industries like cheese and honey factories, the famous Matakana Farmers’ Market and tons of regional…

Carrot Cake Jumbo Muffins

As I grow older, I find myself returning to familiar flavours I enjoy a lot. Sometimes I look for inspiration in new cuisines and dishes but very often I tend to seek flavour combinations that seem familiar. One such flavour combination is carrots, spices and cream cheese frosting in an all-American Classic Carrot Cake. So…

Decadent Chocolate Banana Loaf

What do you do when you return from a holiday to find a bunch of overripe bananas staring at you? This bunch of bananas were almost blackened and squishy but not spoilt. There’s only one solution-make banana cake, of course! This banana loaf recipe stands out from the other countless banana loaves I’ve made as…

Marble Pound Cake

  A pound cake always reminds me of my childhood years when my mum used to stash Sara Lee pound cake in the freezer. It was a treat, especially during the school holidays. I ate it cold or toasted. Have you tried lightly toasting your cake slices on  a pan and then finishing it off…