My rating 4 stars
This is one of the most creative and beautifully presented books I’ve seen from an Australian publisher. It is visually stunning combining artwork and food in a gorgeous way.
This relatively slim volume covers modern Italian Australian cuisine in a tasteful semi-posh way. This is an ideal book for anyone who fancies themselves a cross between Picasso and Jamie Oliver (but grown up).
Check out these photos from the book:
Importantly, how does this book cook?
I had to make the orange/choc jaffa cake. Its the first cake I’ve ever made that uses a food processor!
Jaffa Cake from “Hungry” by Guy Mirabella
- 60 g pine nuts
- 200 g caster sugar
- 200g butter softened
- 200 g plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp bicarb
- 5 free range eggs
- zest and pulp of 1 orange, shopped
- 100 g dark chocolate buttons chopped
- 400 g dark couverture chocolate roughly chopped.
Orange Frosting
- 1tbl cocoa powder
- 2 tbl boiling water
- 350 g icing sugar
- 200g unsalted butter, softened
- Juice of 1 orange
Preheat the oven to 180C. Butter a 28 cm round cake tin and line the base and side with baking paper.
Combine the pine nuts and sugar in a food processor and process to a fine grainy texture. Add the butter, flour, baking powder, bicarb, eggs and orange zest and pulp and process to a smooth batter. Add the chocolate buttons and pulse for 10 seconds.
Spoon the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 40 – 45 mins or until the top is golden and a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 15 mins then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the orange frosting, dissolve the cocoa powder in the water. Place the sugar into the food processor and pulse until free of lumps. Add the butter, cocoa mixture and orange juice and process until blended and smooth.
Place the chopped chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring in between. Keep heating until most of the chocolate has melted. There should be some lumps still. Remove from the microwave and stir continuously until smooth and completely melted. If not using a microwave, place the chocolate in a steel bowl that sits over simmering water. Stir chocolate occasionally until it has completely melted.
Pour the melted chocolate onto a work surface covered with a sheet of baking paper. Using a wide pastry spatula spread the chocolate out to form a thin sheet. It doesn’t have to be completely smooth, the rougher the swirls the better. Allow the chocolate to set, and then break into shards. Using a large bread knife, cut the cake horizontally. Place the bottom half on a serving plate, spread with a third of the orange frosting, then lay the other half on top and cover the remaining with the frosting. Be a little messy, so that it doesn’t look perfect. You want it to look thick luscious and creamy. Decorate the top with the chocolate shards. The more theatrical the better.
NOTES: I skipped making the chocolate shards. Note: When I opened up the cake in half I noticed the choc chips had migrated to the bottom or side of the tin. Not sure why. Also the cooking time was longer than expected.
I think because of the nuts this cake had a coarse almost oily texture. Very “continental”. The flavours were subtle and complex. This is a fantastic grown up’s cake that sparks a lot of whimsical memories. Delicious!
Shopping
I received this book gratis but found the cheapest copy online at fishpond – click on image to go to site: