A delicious yet simple cake, from Maria & Eva’s childhood, and their new book, Kindred.

This delicious, yet simple cake has been shared with us by sisters Maria and Eva Konecsny, founders of the beloved Gewürzhaus spice stores. It comes from their new book Kindred. Maria and Eva know that spices have the power to transform our everyday cooking. They also believe that cooking to feed our kin can be a deeply nourishing and connective force in our lives.

Next time you are in Daylesford, pick up these spices, or choose from hundreds more at the new Gewürzhaus store in the Rex Arcade, in the heart of Vincent Street.

25 minutes prep | 45 minutes cooking | 10 servings

Ingredients

150g salted butter, at room temperature, plus 30 g melted butter
150g white sugar
3 eggs
3 tsp ground cassia*
¼ tsp ground cloves*
¼ tsp ground nutmeg*
1 tsp dried rose petals, crushed by rubbing between your fingertips*
150g (1 cup) self-raising flour
75g (¾ cup) ground almonds
1–2 tbsp full-cream milk, if needed
4–5 small to medium apples
2–3 tsp icing sugar
Ice cream, cream or custard, to serve
*SPICE SHORTCUTS use 4½ tsp Gewürzhaus Apple Cake Spice

Method: 

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan-forced. Grease and flour a 23 cm round springform cake tin and tap out the excess flour.
2. Using electric beaters, cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl for about 5 minutes, then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Once combined, add the spices and rose petals and beat thoroughly for a few minutes.
3. Sift in the flour and add the ground almonds, then beat until combined. The batter should be quite firm. However, if it is too stiff, you may need to add a few tablespoons of milk to loosen it. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared tin.
4. Peel the apples, cut them in half and remove the cores. With their flat-sides down, cut slits a few millimetres apart into each apple half, stopping just shy of the centre. Take care not to cut right through.
5. Place the apple halves, slit-side up, in a circle around the edge of the cake, with one in the middle, and gently press them 5 mm into the batter. Brush the apple with some of the melted butter and bake for about 30 minutes.
6. Remove the cake from the oven and brush with the remaining melted butter, then bake for a further 10–15 minutes, until golden brown. Insert a wooden skewer into the centre of the cake and if it comes out clean, the cake is cooked.
7. Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. When the cake is cold, shake the icing sugar over it with a sieve.
8. The cake is best served with ice cream, cream or custard. It will keep for one week in an airtight container stored in a cool place.

COOK’S NOTES: To make this gluten free, replace the flour with buckwheat flour and add 2–3 tsp gluten-free baking powder.

Hero image by Armelle Habib

“Once upon a time, there was a Persian woman madly in love with a prince. To make him fall in love with her, she baked him this cake, filled with magical love powers. So the story goes… With hints of cardamom, pistachio, and orange, this Persian Love Cake wins our hearts every time – and it’s so easy to make.”
– Maria & Eva Konecsny, Gewürzhaus

15 minutes prep | 30-35 minutes cooking | 12 servings

Ingredients

3 ½ cups almond meal
¾ cup demerara sugar
¾ cup Gewürzhaus Cardamom Pistachio Sugar, plus extra to serve
120g unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
250g natural yoghurt, plus extra to serve
½ tsp Gewürzhaus Nutmeg Ground
1 tsp Gewürzhaus Cardamom Ground
Zest of 1 orange
50g raw pistachios, chopped
Gewürzhaus Pyramid Flake Salt

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 26cm cake pan.
2. In a food processor, pulse together the almond meal, sugars, butter and a pinch of salt until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
3. Spoon half the mixture into your prepared pan and press down to form an even base.
4. Add the eggs, yoghurt, half the orange zest and spices to the remaining crumb and pulse until smooth and creamy. Pour over the base, and tap the tin to level the top of the cake. Scatter the top with pistachios and bake for 30-35 minutes or until cake is golden.
5. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Mix together yoghurt, remaining orange zest and 1 teaspoon of Cardamom Pistachio Sugar to serve.

Recipe Note

This cake will keep in an airtight container for up to a week.

Hero image by Gewürzhaus

Big on flavours, yet minimalist on ingredients, this picture-perfect meal is sure to impress your special someone. Developed at Sault Restaurant, it’s a teaser of what one can expect when visiting this popular Daylesford dining establishment.

40 MINUTES PREP | 25 MINUTES COOKING | SERVES 2 

Ingredients

• 400g beef eye fillet 
• 100ml grapeseed oil 
• 1 medium size celeriac (to make 600g cubed celeriac) 
• 200g butter 
• 60ml olive oil 
• 200ml water 
• 4 small pickling onions 
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• Handful of seasonal micro herbs to garnish 

Beef Jus 

• 600ml beef stock 
• 60g butter 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180^o C and line a baking tray with baking paper. 
2. Slice the leafy tops off the celeriac, before slicing off the bottom and the outer layer until it is fully peeled. Then cut into small cubes, approximately 1cm in size. 
3. Place celeriac cubes in a sauce pan with the butter. Sauté until tender, then add water and thyme, allowing to simmer for approximately 20 minutes. Once cooked, remove the thyme and transfer celeriac to a blender, blend until smooth, adding salt to season. 
4. Place pickling onions in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, then simmer with a sprig of thyme for approximately 15 minutes. Slice in half to serve. 
5. Heat grapeseed oil in a hot pan, season eye fillet with salt and pepper each side. 
6. Cook beef for 3 minutes on each side (to brown/sear) and then transfer to pre-prepared baking tray and place in the oven for 4 minutes. 
7. Remove beef from oven, allow to rest for at least 4 minutes, before slicing to serve. 
8. To make the beef jus, bring the beef stock to boil, then add butter. Reduce to serve. 
9. Plate celeriac, beef and pickled onion on a large plate to serve, before pouring over the beef jus. 
10. Garnish with seasonal micro herbs and serve with optional side salad or roasted spuds. 

This simple, yet delicious recipe draws on the sweet and buttery flavour of boiled chestnuts. You can pick up these seasonal delights at one of the many Farmers’ Markets or providores within our region (chestnuts are in season from March to July). Or take it one step further and join a chestnut foraging workshop with the creator or this recipe, Mara Ripani. This is just one of the many sustainably focused workshops available at her Blampied based artisanal cooking school, Village Dreaming.

30 minutes prep | 30 minutes cooking | Serves 4

Ingredients

• 700g chestnuts, scored on one side
• 16g salt
• Olive oil
• 15 fresh sage leaves, 10 finely chopped, 5 kept whole
• 100g salted butter
• Juice from 3 lemons
• 5 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 200g flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 150g of high quality freshly grated parmesan
• Pepper to taste
• 400g spaghetti (no.5)

Method:

1. Set oven to 80°c, place oven proof dish (large enough for all ingredients) in oven.
2. Score chestnuts by cutting the skin on one side on a chopping board with a small kitchen knife.
3. Place chestnuts in a steamer and steam until very soft inside. Test by prizing one open after 30mins of steaming. If not completely soft continue steaming.
4. Use a teaspoon to scoop out the soft nut.
5. Place cooked chestnuts in a food processor, add 8g of salt and lightly process until crumbly but coarse. Place chestnuts in a large bowl.
6. Boil a large pot of water (for the spaghetti), adding the remaining 8g of salt.
7. As you wait for the water to come to the boil, fry finely chopped garlic in olive oil, remove before the garlic browns. Mix the garlic with chestnuts, adding the finely chopped parsley, freshly grated parmesan and lemon juice. Mix well using your hands. Add pepper to taste.
8. Place spaghetti in boiling water and cook for just under 5mins. Drain, leaving approximately ¼ of the water. Place the spaghetti and the saved water in hot oven dish. Leave oven dish out and turn off oven.
9. In the same pan used for frying garlic, gently and slowly fry chopped sage in 50g of butter until the butter begins to brown. Remove and place buttered sage with the chestnut mixture. Combine well before adding the spaghetti, mixing through with your hands.
10. Gently fry whole sage leaves with the remaining 50g of butter until butter browns lightly. Be careful not to burn the butter to avoid losing flavour and sweetness. Place whole sage leaves with their butter mixture in a small bowl to use as garnish.
11. Plate spaghetti on large plates and garnish with buttered whole sage leaves and serve. Buon appetito cari amici!

Traditional burnt basque cheesecake finished with candied figs & drizzled with PX Sherry glaze.

This indulgent dessert is brought to us by Heather Allen, the owner of Miss M’s Lounge in Kyneton. A mainstay on their menu since opening along Piper Street in 2020, the Burnt Basque Cheesecake is just one of the tasty Spanish tapas style options you can tuck into at this intimate cocktail lounge, wine bar and restaurant.

40 minutes prep | 45 minutes cooking | Serves 12

Ingredients

CHEESECAKE
750 gms Cream Cheese
150 gms Goats Curd
400 gms White sugar
1 dessertspoon vanilla bean paste
1 teaspoon sea salt flakes
60 gms plain flour – we use Gluten free flour for the restaurant
8 large eggs
4 cups Cream

SHERRY GLAZE
2 cups PX sherry (Barbadillo our preferred brand)

FIGS
fresh figs, halved
caster sugar to coat

Method:

Prepare a 9″ springform cake tin by lining the base and the sides.
The paper lining the sides should continue up the sides by at least 30mm to allow for the cake to rise whilst cooking.

Preheat oven to 230 (fan forced)

CHEESECAKE
Whip cream cheese, goats curd and sugar till smooth

Add flour, vanilla bean paste and salt flakes, whip to well combined

Add eggs two at a time and keep whipping to all incorporated.

Add pouring cream and blend on high for 3 minutes
Pour into prepared lined tin
Bake on highest heat for 15 minutes.
Turn oven down to 200 and bake for a further 30 minutes.
Top of cake should be darkened and cake will still be ‘wobbly’ in the centre when cook time is up.

PX GLAZE
Heat the sherry, then turn to a medium heat until its reduced by half and thickened.

FIGS
Cut fresh figs in half, coat with caster sugar on the cut face and put face down in a hot pan to glaze or use a kitchen torch to achieve sugar melt.

Refrigerate cooked cheesecake overnight for best results.
Portion and top with candied figs and drizzle with PX Sherry Glaze.

Perfect texture for a basque cheesecake should be almost ‘custard-like’ in the centre.

The first signs of Autumn are here – cooler evenings, acorns dropping, the scent of ripe apples everywhere – and generous neighbours with offerings of zucchini, tomatoes, flowers and baskets full of plums

If I had more time (and our kitchen reno was finished) I’d love to be making plum sauce – but because time is precious at the moment and my resources limited – this recipe for a simple free form fruit tart is the perfect way to use up abundant seasonal fruit.

The pastry is brilliant – short, with a hint of sweetness, but not too much – you could use it for any number of fruit crostata. And the recipe doesn’t require any special ingredients, equipment or skill – it is simple cooking at its finest.

2 hour prep/resting 

Ingredients

• 6 ripe blood plums
• 3 tbsp coarse raw sugar
• 1 egg – whisked

PASTRY

• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp chilled water
• 250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 25g castor sugar pinch of salt
• 185g unsalted butter, cut into 1cm cubes and frozen for 30 minutes

Method

• To make the pastry, crack the egg into a bowl and whisk with the cold water
• Place the flour, sugar, salt and butter in a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the beaten eggs, and pulse until just combined. Place on a clean bench and bring the mix together with your hands (there should still be some lumps of butter) to make a smooth dough. Shape into a disc, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
• Remove dough from fridge. Lightly flour and roll into a large round about 3mm thick. Place on a lined baking tray and refrigerate until needed.
• Cut plums into 6-8 wedges and toss gently with 1 tablespoon of the raw sugar in a medium bowl. Remove pastry from fridge, place plums into the centre of the pastry leaving a 2cm border all around. Working quickly, fold the pastry over the fruit, pleating as you go, leaving a large opening at the top. Refrigerate on the tray for at least half an hour before baking.
• When you are ready to cook the crostata, preheat oven to 200˚C (180˚C fan-forced). Brush the pastry with the beaten egg and sprinkle pastry and exposed plums with the remaining raw sugar. Bake for 40 minutes or until the pastry is golden. If the pastry is getting too dark, reduce temperature to 170˚C (150˚C fan-forced). When you think the pastry is ready, remove from oven and, using a spatula, lift slightly and gently. If the base has not coloured or crisped up, return to oven for another 10 minutes and check again. It is key that the base is golden to prevent it becoming soggy.

We are a land of pork and honey here in Daylesford, with some of the best pig growers and beekeepers in the nation right here on our doorstep. We love the honey from Des O’Toole in the heart of town and John Cable out near Glenlyon and use their honey to make this delicious honey glazed ham with one of Daylesford Meat Co.’s free-range hams.

Ingredients

1.6kg ham
1.5 cups light brown sugar
125ml red gum or box honey
Large sprig rosemary
Large sprig thyme
Whole cloves

Method

Set the oven rack to the lower part of the oven so the ham will fit in a large roasting pan. Preheat the oven to 170°C / 160°C fan.

Remove ham from wrapping, rinse, cover with foil and bake for 1.5 hours.

Make the glaze by placing the sugar, honey, and herbs in a small, heavy-based saucepan and place over medium heat, covered to dissolve the sugar and absorb flavour from the herbs for 10-15 minutes. Stir frequently.

Remove the ham from the oven and allow to cool enough to handle. With a sharp knife, cut the skin on the side of the leg and around the bone joint. Peel away the skin to reveal the fat. Cut across the fat to create diamond-shaped cross-hatching. This allows the fat to render and take the glaze down into the meat. Place a whole clove on each corner of the diamonds for decoration. Remove the herbs from the glaze and brush the three-quarters of the glaze over the ham. Return the ham to the oven and bake for a further 25 minutes. Remove, brush, over the remaining glaze and roast for a further 15-20 minutes. Remove and rest for 20 minutes to 2 hours. Carve and serve with mustard, gravy and even some cranberry jelly.

This delicious dessert is the perfect addition to any dinner party menu.

Your guests are sure to be impressed as they savour the combined elements of soft roasted fruit, creamy mascarpone, crunchy hazelnut praline and crumbed honeycomb.

1 HOUR PREP | 25-30 MINUTES COOKING | MAKES 12 INDIVIDUAL TARTS

Ingredients

Sable pastry
375g plain flour
225g unsalted butter, diced and chilled
125g pure icing sugar
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk

Frangipane filling
230g butter, room temperature
230g caster sugar
280g almond meal
80g plain flour
6 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 orange juiced and zested

Roasted pears
6 Beure Bosc pears
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup brown sugar

Honeycomb
200g sugar
120g honey
2 tsp bi carb soda sifted

Hazelnut Praline
1 cup roasted and peeled hazelnuts
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water

Method

Sable Pastry
Place flour, butter and icing sugar in food processor and pulse to incorporate butter, add beaten eggs and quickly mix together. Tip onto bench and form together. Chill dough in in fridge to relax.

Frangipane filling
Whip butter and sugar together in stand mixer until pale and creamy, add eggs one at a time then fold through remaining ingredients and chill.

Roasted pears
Peel and cut pears into wedges, then place butter in pan and brown pears. Add sugar and toss, place in oven at 180c and glaze regularly for 10 minutes.

Honeycomb
Place honey and sugar in pot and stir over medium heat until dissolved, increase heat slightly until it starts to colour then remove from heat and whisk in bi carb soda. Pour out into lined tray to cool and set.

Hazelnut praline
Lay chopped hazelnuts on lined tray, meanwhile dissolve sugar and water over medium heat and continue to cook over medium heat to achieve a caramel. Pour caramel over the top of chopped nuts allow to cool and set, then roughly chop.

To make tart
Roll out sable pastry to about 3mm thick and place in tart shells and trim tops. Pipe in the frangipane mix to just over halfway and top with pear slices then place in oven at 160c for 20 – 25 minutes until golden.

To assemble
Place tart on plate and glaze with some warm honey, then a scoop of mascarpone, sprinkle hazelnut praline and crumbled honeycomb over the top.