Yipeeh, a toast to the Queen and her birthday celebration which brings us a public holiday on Monday. I love the fact that since we moved to Australia, no public holiday is lost. If a public holiday falls on a weekend, the following Monday is free nevertheless.
Perfect for holding a high tea ceremony or less formal just to invite friends over to a Kaffeeklatsch (coffee and gossip). This cake recipe uses grated zucchini which may sound a bit unusual but it will keep the cake moist for days. The pistachios add a delicious crunch and the cardamom and lemon aromatic flavour.
I guess this is not your ordinary cake for high tea but very yummy indeed. It will go well with black tea and coffee but also chai tea is great served with this cake. The Finns mix cardamom also into their ground coffee, which is nice as well.
Zucchini cardamom cake with lemon cream cheese filling
Recipe for Zucchini cardamom cake with lemon cream cheese frosting
Ingredients
185ml vegetable oil
220g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
75g unsalted pistachios, finely chopped, plus 35g unsalted pistachios, roughly chopped, to decorate
60g almond meal
2 cups grated zucchini (about 3-4)
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
225g self-raising flour
75g plain flour
Lemon frosting
180g unsalted butter, softened
200g icing sugar, sifted
250g cream cheese, softened
Finely grated zest and juice of 1/2 lemon, plus extra lemon zest, to decorate
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 22cm springform pan and line base and sides with baking paper.
Using an electric kitchen mixer, whisk the oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla until thick. Stir in chopped nuts, almond meal, zucchini and spices. Sift over soda and flours, and stir to combine. Pour into pan and bake for 70 minutes or until a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool in pan for 20 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack and cool completely.
For the lemon frosting, use electric beaters to beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. With motor running, gradually add cheese, beating well between additions. Add zest and juice and beat until smooth.
Using a bread knife, slice the cake into two rounds and set top aside. Spread a third of the frosting over the bottom half, then replace top and spread cake with remaining frosting. Decorate with chopped pistachios and lemon zest.
Yipeeh, a toast to the Queen and her birthday celebration which brings us a public holiday on Monday. I love the fact that since we moved to Australia, no public holiday is lost. If a public holiday falls on a weekend, the following Monday is free nevertheless.
Perfect for holding a high tea ceremony or less formal just to invite friends over to a Kaffeeklatsch (coffee and gossip). This cake recipe uses grated zucchini which may sound a bit unusual but it will keep the cake moist for days. The pistachios add a delicious crunch and the cardamom and lemon aromatic flavour.
I guess this is not your ordinary cake for high tea but very yummy indeed. It will go well with black tea and coffee but also chai tea is great served with this cake. The Finns mix cardamom also into their ground coffee, which is nice as well.
Zucchini cardamom cake with lemon cream cheese filling
Recipe for Zucchini cardamom cake with lemon cream cheese frosting Ingredients
185ml vegetable oil
220g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
75g unsalted pistachios, finely chopped, plus 35g unsalted pistachios, roughly chopped, to decorate
60g almond meal
2 cups grated zucchini (about 3-4)
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
225g self-raising flour
75g plain flour
Lemon frosting
180g unsalted butter, softened
200g icing sugar, sifted
250g cream cheese, softened
Finely grated zest and juice of 1/2 lemon, plus extra lemon zest, to decorate
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 22cm springform pan and line base and sides with baking paper.
Using an electric kitchen mixer, whisk the oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla until thick. Stir in chopped nuts, almond meal, zucchini and spices. Sift over soda and flours, and stir to combine. Pour into pan and bake for 70 minutes or until a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool in pan for 20 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack and cool completely.
For the lemon frosting, use electric beaters to beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. With motor running, gradually add cheese, beating well between additions. Add zest and juice and beat until smooth.
Using a bread knife, slice the cake into two rounds and set top aside. Spread a third of the frosting over the bottom half, then replace top and spread cake with remaining frosting. Decorate with chopped pistachios and lemon zest.
Meet uimi knitwear … we think just in time to get ready for the cooler days and cold nights. Winter is approaching fast!
uimi is a small Melbourne based lifestyle brand, specialising in eco-friendly knitwear, producing wonderful throws, blankets, womens & kids wear, cushions and much much more… made exclusively from natural fibres, including extra fine merino wool and certified organic cotton.
And most importantly – all designed and produced locally in Melbourne!
Sydney is such a beautiful city known for its beaches but I am not sure if many people know about the wonderful rock pools which adorn many beaches here in Sydney. The most famous surely is the Bondi Icebergs Rock Pool but there are so many more.
This video was filmed by cinematographer Jason Wingrove at the Curl Curl rock pool which is part of the Northern beaches. Love the song too. Wonderful.
Atelier Make is a Montreal based ceramic design and production studio of artists Maya Ersan & Jamie Robson. Their design aesthetic ranges from minimal to whimsical, bringing beauty and fine craft into daily life. Maya and Jaimie reinterpret traditional ceramic forms with a contemporary twist.
We totally love their minimalist yet still playful and functional approach to creating beautiful everyday objects.
SRSLYis Alexandra Fiber and Danielle Gibson: two NY-based actors, writers, producers, and full-time BFFs, who met during their senior year at drama school. They started their blog and videos SRSLY in 2011 to show their own acting and writing skills, and to support fellow talents in the NYC comedy and filmmaking communities. They say on their own website that is was their goal ‘to create videos that are fresh, female-focused, and above all: funny’ and I think they’ve absolutely done that.
Since their launch they have created numerous videos, here are three of my favourites:
The days here in Sydney are getting shorter, the nights cooler but the last few days have been just absolutely beautiful, so let’s hang on to summer a little bit longer…
A beautiful sunrise story from Bronte Beach, Sydney, shot by cinematographer Marcus O’Brien.
Everyone loves learning, but most evening classes seem like such a commitment. Laneway Learning is different; we host cheap, informal classes in anything that takes our fancy.
Have you heard about Laneway Learning in Melbourne? Laneway Learning was brought to life by a group of friends (Mark Gergory, Kim Hay, Lucie Bradley and Tom Ding) with a passion for learning.
It is a ragtag series of evening classes held in a (laneway) cafe in Melbourne. The classes are very reasonable priced at generally $12, informal and taught by ordinary people from the local community.
So if you are interested in learning things like Collaborative Art, Creative Expression, A Very Crafty Way to Calm, Typography: Building an Alphabet or Neuroplasticity: Brains on the Starting Block, Bookbinding and many other very interesting and inspiring topics, then check out their website and book yourself a spot.
We can’t believe it has been a year but time really does fly if you are having fun :).
Tomorrow a year ago, we published our first project the Easter magazine, which we shot at Juliana & Lenny Bartulin’s beautiful home in the Blue Mountains. So today and since it is Easter Sunday, we thought a good time to reminisce and celebrate. Happy Easter Sunday.
(Please note the above publication is currently not viewable on an iPad or iPhone, as it is flash based. Alternatively you can download the s’more Easter e-mag here)
We wish you all a very Happy Easter! Enjoy the long weekend, no matter what the weather will bring!
And here is a little crafty idea which doesn’t cost much time but is very cute. Select egg cartons and remove all the stickers and labels. Get some acrylic paint and paint the cartons. Let dry. With another colour, paint dots all over the cartons. Once dried, use as gift boxes or for your kids to store the eggs in from the Easter egg hunt.
How pretty is Daisy and so in the spirit of a big Easter Sunday brunch … or really any other Sunday brunch gathering for that matter.
I have just come across Tufts and the beautiful Daisy tableware, handmade in Melbourne by Ingrid Tufts. Tufts is a small studio producing handmade ceramic tableware and creator of bespoke cafe ware.
A couple of weeks ago, we had the pleasure of personally meeting Martha and spent a morning with her chatting about and tasting beautiful artisan food and what inspired her to bring Crave to the table (literally).
Crave was born by her love for cooking and food made with passion and heart. Martha describes herself as someone who lives to eat and not eat to live. A passion that was passed to her early on by her mum.
Having extensive experience in retail, Martha saw a niche in bringing honest, simple and beautiful food to consumers who don’t live in urban neighbourhoods with a deli just around the corner. And ‘voila’, the Crave tasting box was born.
Whether it is locally and sustainably produced honey by urban beekeeper Elke, handcrafted peanut butter from a small manufacturer in Sydney or the award winning relishes by Atticus & Max, one thing is clear, Martha’s passion for great food and supporting small artisan producers catches you the minute you are in her presence and every tasting box sent out brings a little bit of that and her favourite food to your table.
The crave tasting boxes are available on a monthly subscription, as a one off sample tasting box or if you would like to surprise someone special also as a gift box. Soon there will be a gluten free option available to cater for all those with a passion for good food.
Recently we came across these remarkable two women who founded “Culinary Misfits – eat the whole crop!” in Berlin. A movement to save vegetables that is far from looking perfect (at least in the eyes of supermarkets) but still taste the same, if not even better as it has so much more character .
Approximately half of the daily crop on farms gets thrown out because of its look. The carrot may have three legs, or the potato has not the correct round shape. That’s were Lea and Tania from Culinary Misfits step in, they buy those vegetables and cook with it. They now run a catering business under the same name and sometimes are seen at the local farmers market selling pickled culinary misfits.
Soon they will also open a permanent shop in Berlin. Check out their website Culinary Misfits (you need to have a slight understanding of German though ;-) for more details.
Reprinted in Sydney and delightfully affordable – a must have for all Sydney aficionados.
This first collection available at The Common Store is sourced from the City of Sydney Archives, who have diligently kept a thorough archive of Sydney’s short but vivid history. The collection comprises of lots of Sydney suburbs from circa 1896-1899.
Originally lithographed by the firm of Higinbotham & Robinson in the late nineteenth century, each map shows the boundaries of the municipality, with the main streets, railway lines, wharves, parks and reserves.
Some suburbs are already sold out but hopefully will be reprinted soon.
I am so going to try this beet cake. What an amazing way to publish a recipe. Hat tip to husband and wife team Matt and Julie Walker from Tiger in a Jar.
I saw the beautiful work of Amber Lucy, Melbourne based Architect and founder of Thread Architecture today at Decoration & Design in Sydney. Amber knits stunning vessels, lamps and other objects out of rope. Definitely made me stop.
We seem to be totally into videos at the moment, but we could not resist to post this beautiful video from the people over at Kinfolk. Summer is still in full swing here Down Under… so go out and enjoy.
Who knew office ringbinders could be so glamorous?
Carsten Fichtel and Tobias Förtsch from the German label ad:acta turn humble old office ringbinders into glamourous and beautiful handbags.
Each binder is carefully selected and cleaned, then coated against weather and water before they are stitched up with real leather and lined with durable fabric. And all that in true German craftsmanship.
In Australia ad:acta is available through upcyclette.
This weekend on the 26 January is Australia Day, the national public holiday day in Australia. It commemorates and celebrates the arrival of the first fleet when eleven ships from Great Britain first landed in Sydney Cove (now Circular Quay).
There are lots of activities you can do Australia-wide but the funniest activity I think is the Australia Day Thong Challenge in Bondi Beach. Australian summers are hot and the most versatile “shoe” is the thong (in other countries known as flip flop). They haven’t been invented here, in fact the most popular ones are Hawaianas but it’s safe to say that almost every Australian owns at least a pair.
A picnic at the beach or the local park is also a favourite pastime on this important day and usually everyone will bring a plate and just enjoy summer. A true blue dish to have would be a pavlova. A meringue base topped with fluffy cream and fresh fruits. Absolutely delicious and very popular.
This dessert is believed to have been created in honour of the Russian ballet dancer during one of her tours to Australia and New Zealand in the 1920s. However the nationality of its creator has been a source of argument between the two nations for many years. But let’s not get caught up in this.
This recipe makes you small individual pavlovas which are easier to carry around. Make sure to keep the cream as cold as possible.
Method
Preheat the oven to 150°C and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
Use an electric mixer to whisk the eggwhites in a clean, dry bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition, until meringue is thick and glossy and sugar is dissolved. Rub a little meringue between your fingers, if it’s still gritty, continue to whisk until sugar dissolves. Add the vinegar and cornflour and fold until just combined.
Place 4 dollops of meringue on each baking tray, making a shallow indent in the centre of each with the back of a spoon.
Place in oven, reduce heat to 120°C and bake for 1 hour. Leave in the switched-off oven for 2-3 hours until meringues are dry and oven is completely cool. (They’ll keep for up to 2 days in an airtight container.)
Whisk cream until soft peaks form. Dollop cream on top of meringue nest and top with raspberries and passionfruit. Serve immediately.
Australia Day is just around the corner and with the wonderful temperatures and weather it is just about time for a picnic in the park. That’s at least what we are planning here at s’more.
So how about this inventive bicycle picnic basket / chair / table all in one. The designer behind this wonderful invention is Jeriël Bobbe from Bloon. Two thumbs up from us.
PS. We know we are quite bicycle obsessed at the moment (as you can see from all the recent posts)… we are very inspired by the beautiful weather here in Sydney :)
Push bikes have become quite en vogue so if you want your photo look cool just add a bike to it.
In Germany I had a Holland bike and I still miss it. Mind you I wouldn’t be able to conquer any hills here in Sydney with that. With only three gears it’s made for cruising on flat land as it is in Northern Germany.
But now I discovered Farraday Bikes &endash; beautiful design with a touch of Northern Europe plus the extra boost for those nasty hills if you happen to live in a city like Sydney, San Fran or Auckland.
I think this is the best looking electric bike I’ve ever seen cos you can’t see it’s electric!
Icy cold air, snowflakes and twinkling candles on a Christmas tree. The smell of mandarines, peanuts and cinnamon in the air. Mum or grandma baking Christmas cookies in the kitchen… These are all typical Swiss and/or German Christmas childhood memories.
Living in Australia, where we have a BBQ for Christmas and go to the beach, bringing back some of those memories inspired us to our new magazine for Christmas. So if you want to know what a Brunsli, Mailänderli or a Lebkuchen is, then look no further and get baking.
To keep you going whilst you are baking or just in case you get really hungry, there is a hearty Baked Beans recipe.
And just in case you are searching for gift ideas, why not give some beautifully wrapped home made cookies or if you would like to venture further, have a look at Juliana’s craft project.
I have a new fashion love, it is called Ti Mo and I must admit, I am head over heels! Not that my closet holds any of these beautiful creations but I wish it did. Ti Mo was created by Tine Mollatt a Norwegian fashion designer from Oslo. Right from the start in 2004 her vision was very clear.
“No financial investors, no bank loans, no compromising of the values she believes in. Merely build it her way. From the bottom up. One brick at the time. For Tine truthfulness and honesty are also guiding beacons. She does not believe in exploitation of any kind to reach her goals. Not towards the people involved on the way, nor towards the animals that provide materials or towards mother earth. She believes in sustainability on all levels. She believes the time of mass consumption is soon to be past. She believes in high quality clothing that’s long lasting. She believes there is a right way to approach the calculation of costs, without cutting any corners. She believes in the value that lies within the garment and she believes in the masterful skill that lies in tailoring. These are her values. And this is by Ti Mo. ”
And all of that leads to absolutely beautiful and feminine creations with a distinctive vintage feel. And oh yes, I absolutely love their photography… have a look.
Spring is finally here! The colours, the smell the buzzing sound of all the busy bees – it’s just so beautiful. The mornings and evenings are still quite chilly but as soon as the sun peeks out, it’s getting very warm.
Couldn’t resist but to share a few impressions of the beautiful spring in Sydney.
“Local farmer Megan Paska has witnessed beekeeping as it morphed from an illegal (and possibly crazy) habit to a sustainable, community-supported skill. Mirroring beekeeping’s own ascendance, she found more than just a living: “This is the first time in my life when I’ve just felt absolutely on the right path.”
The Beekeeper is a short film made by Bureau of Common Goods. We at s’more heart everything handmade and the people making it. Two thumbs up.
