Reigniting the Passion.

For regular readers, the title of this post will make perfect sense – after having outdone myself in the laziness stakes and avoiding posting in over two weeks, I’ve finally found the inspiration needed to break free of the barbarically restrictive shackles of pure and unadulterated sloth. Or more, I’ve noticed my daily average page views have dipped to the wrong side of five.

Now for those that know me personally, you’ll know I’ve got a new flatmate. And for those that know her personally, you’ll know she loves to eat. So in an effort to both impress her and quell her relentless cries for food, I decided to whip up a deliciously moist (I hate the word but here it seems apt) banana, passionfruit and ginger cake, inspired by a recipe from The Australian Women’s Weekly’s bible, Bake.

The best part about this cake is that almost all the ingredients can be found in the fridge or pantry, or the slowly becoming moldy fruit bowl. I was happily able to continue in my constant state of humdrum lethargy and completely steer clear of the supermarket. And the other advantage was that it kept well in the fridge for almost two weeks, meaning constant nourishment for my darling demanding flatmate.

* As a side note, I will gladly acknowledge that this is my worst title to date.

 

Banana, passionfruit & ginger cake.

Banana, Passionfruit & Ginger Cake

Serves 12

125g butter, softened

3/4 cup (165g) firmly packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups (225g) self-raising flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda

1 tsp powdered ginger

1 cup mashed banana (roughly two large bananas)

1/2 cup (120g) natural yoghurt

1/4 cup (60ml) milk

Passionfruit Icing

1 1/2 cups (240g) icing sugar

2 TBSP passionfruit pulp, approximately

1 tsp powdered ginger

1. Preheat oven to 180c/160c fan-forced.

2. Grease 22cm round cake pan and line base with baking paper.

3. Beat butter and sugar in a small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy.

4. Beat in eggs, one at a time.

5. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; stir in sifted dry ingredients, banana, yoghurt and milk.

6. Spread mixture into pan.

7. Bake cake about 50 minutes and then stand in pan for 5 minutes.

8. Turn, topside up, onto a wire rack to cool.

9. Meanwhile, make passionfruit icing: Sift icing sugar into a small bowl and stir in enough of the passionfruit pulp to give a thick pouring consistency. Add powdered ginger to taste.

10. Spread the cake with the icing and serve.

Tipples for Tight-Asses.

I love a good cocktail. Whether it’s fruity, milky, delightfully refreshing or enough to rival a huge bowl of ice cream, if it’s served with a fancy garnish in an overly ornate glass, I’ll drink it.

Now sadly most cocktails in Sydney cost enough to rival eight bowls of ice cream – and admittedly don’t give you the same sickly satisfaction. I’ve seen them rise even to $25 a pop which is often how much I’ll spend on a month’s worth of alcoholic beverages. As much as I love cocktails, I simply can’t justify their ridiculous price.

But there is hope for the less financially stable among us! Quite a few places do happy hours or student nights where the price of various drinks – often including cocktails – comes down considerably. Two for the price of one deals, half price drinks, buy one get one free… look out for them. They’re definitely worth it. And yes, I realise they’re all the same thing.

My flatmate and I particularly love the $8 cocktails at The Sackville Hotel in Rozelle. The list isn’t as varied as other places I’ve been (there’s a sad lack of the creamy cocktails I love so dearly) but it contains things a little more obscure: gone are the usual mojitos and Cosmos, replaced by the unusual Pear Collins and Russian Gimley. Check out the cocktail list for a comprehensive description of each one.

The night we went, I chose the Berry Jewel, a mix of fresh berries, Bombay sapphire, blueberry liqueur and ginger ale. It wasn’t the best cocktail I’ve ever had – it had a slightly too sour tang which wasn’t tempered by the ale or liqueur. The berries were almost redundant with their lack of flavour and were difficult to drink through a straw. To give it some merit, it was definitely fresh and vibrant and cooling, just a little lacking.

The Berry Jewel.

My flatmate chose a cocktail called ‘Below the Pacific’, a tropical concoction of lychees, passionfruit and pineapple. Hers was the star of the night – sugary sweet and delicious. It was what a cocktail, to me, should be. If I want sourness, I’ll go for beer, but when that hit of sugar is all that’s needed, a cocktail is where it’s at. The mix of passionfruit, lychee and pineapple go so well together and, although I wouldn’t have thought of peach as the ideal match for fruits found in the tropics, it worked really well.

Below the Pacific.

Check out your local – most of them do good discount nights with a decent array of cheap cocktails. It’s a champagne (sort of) lifestyle on a sack wine budget.

The Sackville Hotel

599 Darling St

Rozelle NSW

Ph: 02 9555 7555