A local Cairns Market tour at the iconic Rusty's Market

Red Dragonfruit and Custard Apples in the background

 There is no shortage of signage at Rusty's market.

Whenever we are visiting the Far North Queensland city of Cairns, a visit to the Rusty's market is a must for me. This market is in the Cairns city heart, and very easily accessible from Sheridan Street, one of the main thoroughfares in Cairns. The market runs from Friday to Sunday every week and offers a wonderful venue for local producers from Innisfail, south of Cairns, right up to Mareeba on the Atherton Tablelands to sell their local produce, handicrafts, breads and much more each week. What I love about Rusty's is that whilst it starts early each morning, it also finishes later in the afternoon, which means unlike a lot of smaller regional centre markets, it's not essential to do your market shopping early in the morning if not convenient. It is also within walking distance of most of the inner-city accommodation for the tourist.

Easter Chocolate Fudge Cake with Malted Buttercream

This fudgy chocolate cake with a decadent Malted Buttercream icing is the real deal for an Easter extravagance. It's not too late, this cake doesn't take long to make. I've previously posted this Chocolate cake with Nigella's Coffee Buttercream, and because I am absolutely smitten with this cake, I am posting it again with the Malted Buttercream. 

In My Kitchen April, 2023

The Easter Long Weekend starts tomorrow, and as I write this, I am under the lifesaving ceiling fan, as the Northern tropical heat hasn't abated like it's supposed to over Easter. I am in beautiful Cairns, in Far North Queensland at our daughter's home, and I know there is lots of chocolate "hidden" in the refrigerator waiting for Easter Sunday to be enjoyed by all of us. I the Easter bunny coming to your house? Delicious chocolate goodies and Hot Cross Buns are the theme of foodies and food bloggers around the world leading up to Easter, there's so much Easter excitement. However, my go-to fudgy, double layered Chocolate Fudge Cake will be our baked chocolate indulgence of choice over Easter. It will be the third time I've baked this beauty over the last few weeks. Whether it's iced with Malted Buttercream, or with Nigella Lawson's Coffee buttercream, it's a winner. 

This is my April submission to the #IMK series hosted by the wonderful Sherry from Sherry's Pickings. Each month food bloggers from around the world gather to share what is new in their kitchen.  I don't buy a lot of new merchandise for my Kitchen, just mainly food ingredients, but I love cooking and baking. This is a sample of what I've been very happily cooking In My Kitchen.

Chocolate fudge Cake with Nigella Lawson's delicious Coffee Buttercream

Mr. HRK prefers Nigella's Coffee buttercream version for icing. I also love a chocolate cake with just the old-fashioned chocolate icing which is so easy and very heat tolerant. It was almost Death by Chocolate when I made the Malted Buttercream version of the Chocolate cake for Jenny's birthday recently, so delicious, chocolatey and fudgy, and slightly challenging to transport in the North Queensland heat but we made it. Buttercream needs to be refrigerated, so as soon as I iced this cake which is the photo at the top of this post, it was in our frig, and she stayed there until it was transported very carefully over to Jenny's refrigerator to be eaten for dessert that evening. Here's the link to the Chocolate Cake and Coffee Buttercream recipe, and I'll post the Malted Buttercream recipe shortly.

On a more Savoury note, I made these cheesy vegetable muffins four days ago and I am thrilled with them, not only for how they tasted when first baked, but how after being refrigerated for a few days and now being reheated in Cairns for morning tea they are still light and fluffy in texture and even more improved in flavour. If you take a look at the recipe, you will see the various vegetable combinations that are possible for these muffins.

I baked a few loaves of sourdough bread in the morning and made Herbed Mushrooms with Goats cheese for lunch which was delicious on toasted sourdough.

I found a silver Beetroot server when I was in Brisbane shopping at my favourite Antique shop in Annerley. It's perfectly designed for serving Pickled Beetroot allowing all the beetroot juices to drain through. Let's face it, beetroot juice can be very messy. Here's a batch of my Pickled beetroot which is infused with cinnamon. It was really tasty.

And on a cooler, rainy day at home I made chicken soup. Here's a photo of the stock in the soup pot.

I think of Boiled Fruit Cake as contingency baking. If there's a boiled fruit cake in the pantry or the refrigerator there's always cake on hand to have with a cuppa for surprise visitors. 

This Cherry and Brandy Fruit cake recipe makes two 20 cm cakes. One has travelled to Cairns with us, and the other one is in the refrigerator at home. It'll be there on our return. I've made this cake so many times, as whole round cakes and muffins, it's my friend Mr. P's Mothers recipe and is a real goody. 

Sometimes it's handy to have a retro recipe up your sleeve, and Salmon Rissoles or fishcakes are very retro, but these have a couple of optional surprise ingredients. Anyhow they were really good, coated in egg and breadcrumbs and pan fried and very crispy, what's not to love. Besides being tasty, retro food generally also stretches the budget, that's pretty important right now don't you think?

Those of you who know me well will be expecting a new Traybake in this edition. Here it is my friends, Moroccan Baked Chicken with Fennel and Chickpeas.  Very tasty.

Creamy French Tarragon Chicken transported me to France, which was my intention and this dish lived up to expectations. I'm hoping the airlines do the same for me in a couple of weeks. I'm off to France, to visit our son and my beautiful grandchildren, and hopefully sample some delicious French cuisine while I'm there. Did you know Cuisine is the French word for cooking? Seems obvious, doesn't it? 

Mr. HRK gave a couple of little visitors a tour of our beehive. They loved it, morning talk about bees coming up. We're hoping there will be fresh honey to harvest in Spring. Usually our bees are quite placid, no gloves needed, however they didn't appreciate being visited at 4 pm in the afternoon and were quite angry for some reason. Mr. HRK was stung twice, once on his face and on his hand. His hand really swelled up for a couple of days. Thankfully the girls were well covered and were standing right back from the hive. After all, bees are wild insects.

Gracing my daughter's dining area, is this newly acquired and endearing painting and drawing of an owl gifted to her for her birthday, by a talented friend. Aren't the eyes just full of so much expression? 

Mr. HRK picked these flowers from the garden this morning while he was pruning. Tropical flowers are just so colourful.

Hoping you have a very special, restful and meaningful Easter. Safe travels if you are travelling.

Warm wishes,

Pauline

Light and Fluffy Weekend Cheese Muffins with Roasted Capsicum, Basil and Baby Capers

Homemade Savoury Muffins are at their best eaten on the weekend for an easy relaxing lunch. Are you feeling a bit peckish? As with most muffins the basic ingredients of flour, salt, cheese, oil or butter, eggs, and buttermilk, cream or sour cream need to be used with these, but then after that they are one of the most versatile baked goods on the planet. I made these this morning rather impulsively after I had baked a cake, using up bits and pieces left in the refrigerator.

Herbed Mushrooms on Home Baked Toasted Sourdough

The unique umami of edible mushrooms combined with fresh herbs, garlic and balsamic vinegar shines through in this recipe in both taste and nutritional benefits. Essentially it is a simple dish to make but every element within brings wonderful savoury richness to the plate. This recipe evolved after I had baked two loaves of rye sourdough bread in the morning. I felt like celebrating the success of the bread with a tasty lunch to compliment toasted sourdough. 

Salmon Rissoles with a delicious Herb and Spiced Yoghurt Dressing

Call them Salmon rissoles, fish cakes, fish rissoles, or salmon cakes, they've been called all of these names over the years, because this is a retro recipe which I've been eating as long as I can remember. I've revamped these with a few optional ingredients, but the basic combination of mashed potato, beaten egg, flour, breadcrumbs and tinned red salmon remains the same.

Chocolate Fudge Cake with Coffee Buttercream

"If the answer is chocolate, who cares what the question is."

Chocolate Fudge Cake with Coffee Buttercream

I'm in "Chocolate Heaven" with this cake. I might have mentioned previously that I've been working through chocolate cake recipes in my quest to find what I think is the perfect chocolate cake for all occasions, my go-to no fuss chocolate fudge cake, my signature cake. This is it for now, my perfect chocolate cake. MasterChef Winner Emelia Jackson says that this cake will always produce the same amazing result, whether it be for a birthday party, or a casual get together with friends where dessert is required, just decorate it accordingly. Dress it up with a heavenly ganache or go simple with a dusting of cocoa or icing sugar, and a serving of cream. Bake it into cupcakes, use it in a trifle, loaf cakes, there is no limit to how you can bake it or use it. Instant coffee is the secret weapon in this cake, it enhances the flavour of the chocolate without adding its own coffee flavour. I also like that there's no melted dark or milk chocolate in this cake batter, just rich, dark Dutch cocoa.

I have been debating whether or not to post this recipe just yet as there is another buttercream that I would like to fill and cover this cake with, and hopefully that is coming when the weather continues to cool down. I'll let you know when that happens, because Emelia's Malted Buttercream that I'm talking about looks like a real showstopper for a special occasion. This cake recipe is extracted from "First Cream the Butter and Sugar", by Emilia Jackson, and I can't wait to try some more of her recipes, because I love this cake. Needless to say, I couldn't wait and had to share the recipe with you.

Mahjong table setup in the air-conditioning and waiting for my Mahjong friends to arrive.

I chose to make Nigella Lawson's Coffee Buttercream this time because I love it, and I've made it before with a different chocolate cake recipe. I was in a bit of a rush because I'd made this cake for the Mahjong afternoon tea at home, it comes around quickly, and I wanted a buttercream that I could depend on when made in advance. Even though the air-conditioning was on at home the day I iced this cake, there were a lot of other things going on around me. Aren't there always though?

Ingredients:

Makes a 20 cm two tier cake 

380 g light brown sugar

250 g cake flour (store bought or see tip below for making your own)

100 dark Dutch cocoa powder (I used Plaistowe premium Dutch processed from Woolworths)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon fine salt

2 teaspoons instant coffee powder

200 ml boiling water

100 ml neutral-flavoured oil, such as vegetable or canola

200 g sour cream

4 eggs

chocolate shavings to garnish (optional)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160 deg. C (140 deg. C fan forced)

Line two 20 cm round cake tins with baking paper

Whisk the brown sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt to ensure that there are no lumps. (No need to sift)

Dissolve the coffee in the boiling water in a largish jug, then add the oil, sour cream and eggs and whisk until thoroughly combined. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the egg mixture. Fold until just combined. We want a lovely tender cake, with a good crumb, overmixing will prevent this from happening.

Split the batter between the cake tins and bake for 50 minutes. This was perfect for my oven but test it with a skewer inserted into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is cooked.

Leave the cakes to cool for 15 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Pauline's baking notes:

Adding coffee to the cake batter enhances the flavour of the chocolate. You can't taste the coffee.

What I also love about this cake is that it doesn't sink in the middle as some do.

Cake flour: After making this cake, I am really on board with using cake flour, for a superior and tender cake crumb. Cake flour is a low protein flour that creates a very tender fluffy and light cake. You can make your own. Just measure out 430 g plain flour, then add 70 g corn flour and sift together. By adding the corn flour, the gluten content in the plain flour is reduced from 11 per cent to between 7 and 9 per cent. (Emelia Jackson). I've started making it in a large batch so I am always prepared for a cake making session.

For medical reasons the only nuts I eat now are walnuts as they are the softest nut, so I didn't add any chopped nuts to the photo of the cake. However, it looks and tastes lovely with chopped pistachios on top of the buttercream.

Nigella Lawson's coffee buttercream

Generally, when I make icing for a cake, I just do it the traditional way as I have always done and add the ingredients until it looks, feels and tastes right. However luscious Buttercream is a different story so I followed this recipe.

Ingredients:

350g icing sugar.
175g soft Unsalted Butter. softened
Instant Espresso Coffee Powder, 2 1/2 teaspoons, dissolved in 1 x 15ml tablespoons just-boiled water
(All of my tablespoon measurements are 20ml and that is what I probably used in this recipe with no problems)
This icing is a cinch to make in a food processor. Because it is warmer and more humid where I live than where this recipe was probable tested, I thought I might have problems with the icing melting all over the cake, but it held its consistency beautifully.

Method:

• Pulse the icing sugar in your food processor a few times to remove any lumps but make sure the feeding funnel on the lid is covered so that icing dust doesn't fly everywhere:)
• Add the softened butter and blitz to mix, scraping down the bowl once or twice.
• With the motor running again, pour the coffee down the funnel of the processor and quickly blitz. Remove the blade carefully and scrape down the blade with a spatula.
• Place one of the cakes on a serving plate or stand, flat side up. It is probably better to place the highest cake as the base. Spread the lower layer generously with half the coffee butter cream, then make a sandwich with the second layer, with the top of the cake facing upwards.
• Pile the rest of the buttercream on top and use a wide icing knife or spatula to spread the icing, over the cake. Nigella uses the word "swirlingly" to describe this technique which I love.

The bottom layer of the Chocolate Fudge Cake is iced. 

One iced layer of the cake might be enough for morning or afternoon tea, so sometimes with a double layer cake I freeze one of the layers for another occasion.

This is a different chocolate cake recipe that I made a few years ago when I used the Coffee buttercream as well.

Cake bakers say that money can't buy happiness, but a divine chocolate cake can. Decorate as you wish. I sometimes use smashed pistachio nuts, or you could use chocolate covered coffee beans as Nigella Lawson did or white chocolate buttons for contrast. It is your choice.  There is so much to choose from.

I think I need to tell you all that I'm not a chocaholic, in fact I rarely eat chocolate at all, however I love a delicious chocolate cake. How about you?

Warm wishes, 

Pauline