The Easiest Cake Recipe In The World: As Seen on Everyday Gourmet

As seen on Everyday Gourmet Season 8, with Justine Schofield on Channel 10.Click here to watch the episode!

As seen on Everyday Gourmet Season 8, with Justine Schofield on Channel 10.

Click here to watch the episode!

Everybody needs a simple, please everybody pudding you can quickly throw together when entertaining, or just because. This baked pudding is part cake, part cobbler, with golden, almost crunchy bits on the outside and fabulously crumbly and cakey on the inside. And the best bit is you can use any fresh or tinned fruit you like. You could even swirl a few spoons of your favourite jam in, instead! 

The basic principle is EQUAL WEIGHTS of butter, sugar, eggs and flour. Only one egg in the house? Just weigh it and mix it with the same of the other three! Then add your favourite fruit (tinned, fresh, frozen, it doesn’t really matter! You can even add a swirl of your favourite jam, some extra cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger or vanilla…. whatever you like, really!

Batter

125g butter, softened 

125g caster sugar

2 large free range eggs

125g self raising flour 

Pinch of salt 

1 tsp vanilla paste (optional)

Flavouring

Let’s do one with something seasonal: 1-2 pears, peeled, cored and quartered. 

Method 

Preheat oven to 180c. Meanwhile, combine the butter, sugar and eggs in a stand mixer and whisk until thick and glossy. Sift in flour gradually and combine thoroughly. Add in the vanilla and salt at the end and quickly combine. 

Place the pear pieces in a buttered and floured cake tin, then carefully pour the batter over the top and shake the pan a little bit so that everything settles evenly. 

Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a skewer when inserted into the centre, comes out clean. Let rest for a few minutes before serving. Serve warm, with whipped cream, custard or ice cream. 

Warm Peach Pudding

Baked Peach Pudding Fooderati

Everybody needs a simple, please everybody pudding you can quickly throw together when entertaining, or just because. This baked pudding is part cake, part cobbler, with golden, almost crunchy bits on the outside and fabulously crumbly and cakey on the inside. And the best bit is you can use any fresh or tinned fruit you like. You could even swirl a few spoons of your favourite jam in, instead! 

Batter

125g butter, softened 

125g caster sugar

2 large free range eggs

125g self raising flour 

Pinch of salt 

Syrup

2 tablespoons brown sugar 

120ml water

1 vanilla pod

Fruit of choice, I used 3 large fresh peaches, but you could you can use almost any fruit you like. Stone fruit, citrus, pears or poached quinces work well. 

Method 

Preheat oven to 180c. Meanwhile, combine the butter, sugar and eggs in a stand mixer and whisk until thick and glossy. Sift in flour gradually and combine thoroughly. 

Thoroughly combine the syrup ingredients in a saucepan, add the fruit and poach over a medium heat for 5 minutes, tossing the fruit around so that it is evenly covered in the syrup. Transfer most of the poached fruit and a spoonful of the syrup to a lightly greased and floured baking dish. Spoon the batter over the top of the fruit and shake the pan a little bit so that everything settles evenly. Add the rest of the fruit on top, nestling it in a little. 

Bake for 30 minutes. Let rest for a few minutes before serving. Serve warm with whipped cream, custard or ice cream. 

Tom Yum Sausage Rolls

Adding a Thai twist to one of Australia’s favourite meaty pastries, lemongrass and ginger add zing, while the shrimp paste and coriander adds to that savour flavour we all love. Best of all, you already know this recipe…just add (tom) YUM!

Makes: About 16 rolls 

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Chilling/freezing time: 20 minutes

Level of difficulty: easy

Ingredients

 500 g pork and veal mince

2 tbsp tom yum paste

1 small carrot, peeled and finely chopped

1 brown onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 stick celery, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tbsp potato starch

½ tsp ground white pepper

2 sheets frozen puff pastry, partially thawed

1 egg

Nuoc cham (or if you’re feeling super Aussie, sweet chilli) sauce, to serve

Method

In a large mixing bowl, combine the mince, tom yum paste, carrot, onion, celery, garlic, potato starch and white pepper and mix well with clean hands to combine until everything is emulsified. Throwing the mixture vigorously against the side of the bowl or on a clean bench top will help. Work quickly, keeping the mixture as cool as possible, then cover and refrigerate until needed. When you are ready to assemble, place a sheet of thawed puff pastry onto a clean surface and cut in half, lengthways.

Remove the sausage mixture from the fridge and roll a log about 2.5cm in thickness and place it lengthways onto the pastry, closer to one edge. Carefully roll the pastry, making sure the filling is snug to the pastry with no gaps, and seal the edge where the pastry meets with egg yolk. Set aside in freezer to allow the mixture to firm up.

Repeat until you have used all of the filling. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 200˚C. Remove the sausage roll logs from the freezer and allow them to thaw slightly. Cut into desired size, brush with remaining egg yolk and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden. Set aside to cool slightly, then watch them disappear!

Note

Tom yum paste can be found in the Asian aisle of most major supermarkets and Asian grocery stores. Because the paste is very salty, there’s no real need to season with additional salt. These sausage rolls work really from frozen to the oven, so make a batch ahead of time and just pop them in the oven when unexpected hungry visitors come calling.

Marmalade and Ricotta Teacake

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When I lived in rural Tasmania for two years, I had the great fortune of living for part of that time on an organic sheep dairy. Owned by my dear mate Nicole Gilliver, her mother Diane Rae and their amazing family, Grandvewe Cheeses is situated in Birchs Bay, located an hour south of Hobart overlooking Bruny Island. 

One of the perks of being mates with a cheesemaker...is obviously access to cheesy delights...including recently, a huge wedge of sheep milk ricotta. With zero preservatives, the shelf life of produce like this is extremely short, and without wanting to waste it, I decided to bake what I didn't use into a ricotta cake. Add to this a couple of tablespoons of my mother in law's excellent home grown cumquat and blood orange marmalade, this cake was made with a whole lotta love. 

It's a not-too-sweet, citrusy slice is great as an afternoon tea accompaniment and is even better served with a dollop of yoghurt or creme fraiche. 

Ingredients

250g fresh ricotta

2/3 cups caster sugar

2 large organic eggs

100g butter, melted

Zest and juice of 2 lemons

1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup almond meal

1 1/2 cups self raising flour, sifted

1 pinch salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tbs marmalade

Icing sugar, for dusting

Greek yoghurt or creme fraiche, to serve

Method

Preheat an oven to 180c. In a food processor, add the ricotta, sugar and eggs and blitz until smooth. Pour in the butter, lemon zest, lemon juice and orange juice and pulse again, to combine. In a clean mixing bowl, add the almond meal, flour, salt and cinnamon and stir to combine. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, about a third at a time, until combined.

Line a 20cm spring form tin with baking paper and pour the batter into the tin. Shake to level and then carefully swirl in the marmalade, then even out the top. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before releasing the cake from the springform, and rest on a rack until cool. Dust with icing sugar and serve with yoghurt or creme fraiche. 

Gluten Free Gingernut Biscuit Berry Crumble

As seen on Channel 10's The Cook's Pantry

As seen on Channel 10's The Cook's Pantry

A lot of the food I cook for myself at home happens to err on the side of 'healthier'... simply because when I eat out, working on food shows or testing recipes, I'm not exactly going to not the pasta special, spit when judging cheese soufflé, or say no to the foie gras parfait.

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This berry crumble recipe came about one recent cold night when I felt like something warm and comforting without wanting to go OTT on the indulgence factor. I like to keep frozen berries on hand for smoothies, and quick snacks because they're a great way to get a sweet hit without reaching for the chocolate every time (not to mention, they're a great antioxidant and vitamin boost).

This recipe happens to be gluten free, but if that doesn't bother you, you can always substitute with your favourite sweet biscuits (milk arrowroot or shortbread would be ACE!). If you're dairy free, feel free to replace the butter with coconut oil, but work quickly with your hands, so it doesn't melt completely.

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Serves 1 sweet fiend or 2 normal people

Ingredients

3-4 gluten free biscuits

2 tbs almond meal

A good knob of butter

1 pinch ground cinnamon

1 pinch sea salt

1 cup frozen mixed berries

A drizzle of honey

Method

Preheat your oven to 180c. Place the biscuits inside a clean tea towel and using a rolling pin or a heavy saucepan, bash the biscuits up into uneven, crumbly chunks (you could use a food processor, but that'd be far too civilised and quite frankly, you want chunks of biscuit to exist, rather than a fine, uniform crumb). In a bowl, rub together the crushed biscuits, almond meal and butter with your fingers until it comes together as a coarse crumb. Add in the cinnamon and salt and lightly combine. 

Pour the berries into an oven proof ramekin. Drizzle with honey and top with the crumble mixture. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the top is golden and the berries are bubbling and juicy around the edges of the ramekin. Serve with Greek or coconut yoghurt...or a little double cream if you're feeling like taking it there.