Decadent banana cake, arty finds and simple forays. A weekly newsletter by Melbourne photographer and writer Sally Frawley.
Hey there....
I hope you’ve had a good week. Everything’s blooming here. The flowers and buds are poking through emerald green foliage lush from a just right mixture of rain and sunshine. Herbs are lush and abundant and my small collection of potted vegies are still thriving, keeping everything crossed that continues.
Earlier in the year I was lucky enough to receive some very lovely bottles of champagne for my birthday. For this week’s foray I have one of those on ice for the simple pleasure of raising a glass with dear friends to celebrate the end of lockdowns in Melbourne.
What would you do with a spare $1000? Some beautiful ‘Finds’ for you this week on how I’d dispose of spare cash like that. Maybe you might enjoy my daydreaming and the work of some very talented Australian artists too.
There are classic recipes that are always crowd pleasers. Recipes that, when googled, present a mind-boggling number of results yet they’re very reliability make them faultless crowd pleasers. This week I’m adding to that insane number of results and sharing my version of banana cake with a twist. There’s always room for another version of a classic and Banana, Pecan & Caramel cake is my contribution to the Banana Cake pile of recipes. A bit decadent, a lot delicious. I hope you enjoy adding it to your own banana cake repertoire
Food
Banana, Pecan & Caramel Cake
“Banana Cake Sally?”
“Does the world really need another Banana Cake recipe Sally?”
I know, I know I can hear you all from here but trust me there’s always room for one more and you quite possibly will be glad I did it. This is Hubby’s favourite banana cake which coming from a man who’s not a big cake man I take that as high praise. It’s, as a banana cake should be, very moist. It has a satisfying texture with the inclusion of sweet, fresh Australian pecans and finished with subtle smooth hints of caramel flavours from the rich Panela Sugar and Date syrup. It’s a quick mix style needing just a bowl and spoon and is ready from go to woe in under an hour. What’s not to love?
Ingredients:
2 eggs
100 gm panela sugar
1/3 C olive oil
¼ C milk
2 Tbs date syrup
100gm wholemeal spelt flour
100gm self raising flour (White)
½ tsp baking powder
¼ allspice
2 very ripe bananas mashed
½ C chopped pecans
Pinch of salt
Cream Cheese Frosting:
250 gm block of cream cheese
100 gm soft butter
1 cup icing sugar/mixture
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 pinches of ground cardamon (you could do this to taste if you wish. I like a hint of cardamon as an enhancer rather than it being the prominent flavour in this)
Bought Caramel like Bonne Maman or similar to serve.
Method:
Grease and line a loaf tin or 20 cm round spring form tin and preheat oven to 180c.
Combine all dry ingredients and set aside. Whisk together eggs and sugar until lightly thickened. Add milk and date syrup and whisk to combine well. Tip in flours, spice and baking powder and stir through gently. Don’t worry if it’s not completely combined, the addition of the banana and pecan with finish that off. Add banana, pecan and salt. Fold through until just combined. Tip in to preferred tin, bang on the bench a couple times to disperse any air bubbles and bake for 40 minutes or until that reliable old skewer comes out clean.
**Check the cake after 30 minutes to ensure the top is not browning too quickly. If it is, loosely cover with foil for last ten minutes.
Frosting:
Whip all ingredients until smooth. Use on cake when it's completely cooled. If you're feeling pour over some caramel and sprinkle with extra chopped pecans.
Notes:
Panela sugar is also known as rapadura sugar. I use Grounded Pleasures sugar, it’s a family owned aussie company who source the best organic ingredients so it’s quality is always reliable. If you’re unable to source Panela Sugar for this recipe substitute ½ & ½ white caster sugar and brown sugar.
My favourite pecans are Hickson Pecans from northern NSW. They have a lovely sweet flavour and are always super fresh.
Wholemeal spelt flour can be substituted with regular wholemeal flour.
Date syrup can be subsidised with golden syrup but you may like reduce the amount as it’s a bit sweeter than date.
If you prefer to make your own caramel I use the Stephanie Alexander recipe from her Sticky Toffee Pudding recipe. It makes a huge amount and is perfectly balanced.
Finds
A few weeks ago my youngest son (he’s 19) was a contestant on game show Hot Seat. He was lucky enough to be the last man standing but sadly missed the last question and came away with the consolation prize of $1000 instead of the 50k he was playing for. At the dinner table we were all discussing what we’d do with $1000 and when he asked me my instant response was “I’d buy art!” You see I’ve always loved and been fascinated by art. As a child I fancied myself as an artist constantly drawing but my talent sadly didn’t quite match my ambition or perhaps even my self belief. I’m fascinated by the personal vision of artists and the evolution of their personal style. Equally I’m drawn to the individual’s ability to express their vision in their own unique discipline be it painting, sculpture, photography or even fabric. So if I had a spare 1k lying around or falling from the sky like my lad I’d put it towards something form one of these exceptionally talented ladies.
Full disclosure, I’ve known Kelly Kondis since our boys were mates in Grade 2. Her and her family moved away and as happens we lost touch. When I knew her she was a creative soul with an incredible talent for interiors and was busy with little kids and her family business with hubby. Since her move to the hills outside Melbourne she’s found the time to explore her creativity more and discovered her passion and talent with a paint brush. Kelly captures the drama of landscape and skies as if you’re standing in nature yourself in the breeze of the trees or beaches she paints with such beauty. Her pieces are truly captivating like a window into a scene you’d love to be amongst.
The most recent edition of Australian rural magazine Graziher featured stories about sisters. One of the articles featured artistic sisters Jacqui and Julia Roche. Now I’m not an art expert I just know what I like so I may or may not offer apt descriptions. I share with you my impression and apologise if it doesn’t represent the artist’s intent. Julia’s work, to me is also landscape with a somewhat abstract representation of the scene. There’s something about her representation of colour and the scale of her pieces that has really captured me leaving me stalking her on Instagram and dreaming about one of her works hanging on my walls. You could listen to her and her sister talk about their bond here if the magazine isn’t available near you.
The evolution of an artists work is particularly interesting to me. How, like athletes, artists can begin in one genre and turn their hands to another and grow. Camilla Gough originally studied sculpture in her fine arts degree but serendipity and a commission request led her down the path of sculpture of a smaller scale working with precious metals and gems. Some would call her a jeweller and to some degree she does herself but there is nothing ordinary or mainstream about her work which is indeed a form of art. She’s an amazing drawer which is always where her pieces are born. She spends time with her clients harvesting their story and creates wearable pieces of art which represent their love and journey. A self-confessed romantic her work is colourful, embracing all of nature’s extraordinary creations, architectural and always charismatic.
Forays
My eldest son noted this week that it’s lucky my ankle and foot injury happened during lockdown while our forays from home are restricted and we’re meant to be bunkered down. I’m not much of a sitter and really do enjoy getting out and about and exploring new places and old favourites and there’s loads of places I’m looking forward to visiting. But when he said this to me, I was struck with one overwhelming realisation that it’s not the gadding about and discovering I’ve missed the most, unlike him and his adventurous spirit, it’s people. It’s the making of memories, the sharing of old times and many laughs along the way that I’ve yearned for the most. So this weekend when movement returns to Melbournians and we begin enjoying our city and state again I’ll be in the company of some dear friends, popping an overdue birthday bottle of Bolli and dreaming of sinking my toes into sand and salt water very soon. I hope you enjoy similarly heart-warming forays this weekend too xx
