This week we’ve been enjoying the food and cafe culture in Melbourne, having flown here from the Sunshine Coast for the next stage of our travel around Australia.
Coffee is a central part of the Melburnian way of life – the many, many independent coffee shops across the city doing a busy trade every morning.
The regular fix for me on this trip has been a creamy hot latte. The main photo above shows the barista at work while I waited for my drink to be made at a cafe in the Glenferrie district.
We’ve also been sampling some modern Australian cuisine at a restaurant called Mister Sandrino in Hawthorn. This pairing of locally made chorizo and lima beans, with a fresh parsley pesto-like dressing, tasted great.
On the same menu, we chose the classic Aussie fish, barramundi. It came with a crispy, edible skin, which I liked, and found interesting as I usually just discard the skin on a fillet of fish. Served also with slices of crispy pancetta and a pea puree, it complimented the soft, just-cooked flakiness of the tasty fish.
Another imaginative combination I liked was this creamy buffalo mozzarella, with dusting of pistachio crumb, served with figs and salad leaves.
I find it very inspiring to see how innovative chefs from other cultures come up with new ways of cooking and pairing ingredients. You never know – you may see some of these ideas reflected in future creations from the ADK kitchen!
While on a theme of taking a fresh look at things, here’s a photo I took one evening of the Melbourne city skyline, from high up above the banks of the Yarra River.
Time to feature an indie band from Melbourne whose raw sound I’ve come to like. This is Drunk Mums with New Australia.
Hats off to our friends at Waitrose for this week’s recipe bake, an ideal cake for coffee lovers. With a sponge base made from real coffee, topped with a coffee cream frosting and a sprinkling of cocoa powder, it’s no surprise that this is given the title of Cappuccino Cake.
Servings
About 8 generous slices.
Timings
15 mins to prepare, 40 mins to bake.
You Will Need
100g butter
3 tbsp single cream
2tbsp black coffee (made from ground coffee if poss, but instant will do)
75g caster sugar
50g light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g self-raising flour
half tsp salt
100g mascarpone
3 tbsp icing sugar
cocoa powder for dusting
Method
Warm the oven to 170C. Grease and line a 450g (1lb) loaf tin.
Heat the cream and coffee in a microwave till mixed, then allow to cool.
In a separate bowl, take 1 tsp of the cooled coffee cream and mix with the mascarpone. Set aside to chill in the fridge for use as frosting.
Cream the butter and sugars with an electric mixer. Gradually beat in the eggs, vanilla and the rest of the coffee cream.
Fold in the flour and salt, and combine to a smooth batter. Scrape into the lined loaf tin and bake for 40 mins.
Transfer to a rack to cool.
While the cake is cooling, finish off the frosting. Combine the chilled coffee mascarpone with the icing sugar and beat together with an electric mixer. Spread over the top of the cooled cake, and dust with the cocoa powder for that cappuccino effect.
Customise it!
If you are ok with nuts, you could add around 75g chopped walnuts to the sponge batter, effectively turning this into a cappuccino-topped coffee and walnut cake.
You can make the black coffee as strong as you wish – why not take the 2 tbsp required from a dark espresso, while you drink the rest.
Turning to choice of music, this week we heard the sad news of the passing of Andy Rourke, bass player in The Smiths. Andy was responsible for many wonderful bass lines in the band’s music, and here is one example – This Charming Man.
I want to share with you some of the great art in public places I’ve come across in Australia.
For reasons I can’t quite explain, my experiencing of art is inextricably connected with the consumption of coffee and pastries. Visit to a gallery? Sooner or later my wristwatch will be telling me it’s time to visit the coffee shop. Walking on a public art trail? I guarantee at some point there will be a minor detour to take in that nice, funky looking cafe over there. More about Australia’s cafe culture in a moment – let’s first take a look at some of the art.
I’ll start with the art deco entrance to Luna Park, Sydney’s retro amusement park that dates back to 1935, shown in my main photo above. It is a joy to behold – the huge grinning face is visible all the way from the other side of Sydney Harbour, getting progressively larger as you approach it on the ferry. If you look closely you will see visitors walking through the mouth to enter the amusement park, giving a sense of its vast scale.
My next photo below was taken at the graffiti wall which lines the promenade at Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach – a place where chic boutiques and upmarket cafes co-exist with the bohemian grunge of the local surfing community. Our visit here soon led to a visit to one such cafe (see, what did I tell you), from which we enjoyed the free entertainment provided by the surfers. This was easily the best surfing I have ever seen – well-poised riders catching a wave for a good 10 – 15 seconds before diving neatly into the water, then doing it all again.
Back in Melbourne, Hosier Lane is known as Spraycan Alley, making it a popular tourist attraction – see below. It is positioned in the Lanes and Arcades quarter chock full of fiercely independent cafes. A visit to at least one of these is inevitable (for me, that is) when in this part of town.
Indigenous art influences are strong wherever we go. The tall three-legged, two headed Angel (by artist Deborah Halpern) is situated in Birrarung Marr, the public park that stretches out along the River Yarra from Federation Square to the home of the Tennis Open.
Again in Melbourne, the whole of the ground floor of the Ian Potter Centre (free to enter) is given over to indigenous people’s art. The paint used is generally derived from rocks, minerals and clay, giving it an earthy feel, and a colour palette based around an ochre spectrum. The abstract designs and patterns evoke the meditational nature of the aboriginal philosophy known as the Dreaming. My photo below is an example, by artist Willie Gudabi.
And so to the world of coffee and pastry that I associate with these images. Cafe culture is big in Australia. They are nearly all independents – you will only very occasionally see a Starbucks or other chain. Baristas take their work very seriously, and the making of a hot drink has itself been elevated to something of an art form. I can honestly say I have never had a bad cup of coffee since arriving in Australia.
At first the coffee menus were like a different language, but I now understand my way around them. There is no such thing as an americano – it is a long black and, if you want it white, you ask for a small jug of milk (specifying whether it should be hot or cold, and dairy, oat or other) on the side. A batch brew is a filter coffee, and a cold drip is an iced version – usually a latte served over ice cubes and, in some places, a scoop of ice cream.
Cappucino and flat whites are as you would find in the UK but, surprisingly, decaff is nowhere to be found on the menus. Seemingly this is because the serious coffee aficionados do not consider it to be a credible option. While there is no doubt that Australia makes great coffee, I do think this is one area where the approach is a little out of step with modern times.
So boil the kettle, or fire up your espresso machine, and fetch a nice coffee while enjoying these images. Which one is your favourite and why? Please feel free to leave a message in the comments section below, if you like.
The title of this post has probably given away the latest track I’ve chosen for the ADK Playlist. Paint Me Down is not one of Spandau Ballet’s biggest hits, but I have always really liked Martin Kemp’s bass line, which kicks in right at the start and stays prominent thoughout. Take it away, lads..
It’s a great pleasure to introduce our latest guest post this week on A Different Kitchen. My good friend, and master baker, Kelvin, shares with us his recipe for Coffee and Walnut Cake. He has treated me to a slice of this and I can confirm it is delicious, with a creamy coffee coating and a walnut crunch.
Hi, this is a cake that I have made a few times now. It has always been very popular with my family, and I have developed it to take account of their feedback. In particular, I have added more coffee cream filling to coat the top and sides of the cake (not just the middle), and more walnuts. This latest version was well-received at my wife’s birthday party recently. My little 3 year-old grand-daughter liked it a lot, having a second slice and asking for me to make her next birthday cake. A satisfied customer indeed!
Timings
15 mins to prepare, and around 40 mins to bake.
Servings
I used a 24cm diameter size baking tin, enough for around 16 generous slices.
You Will Need
For the Cake
225g softened butter
225g caster sugar
4 eggs
275g self-raising flour
1 teaspoon (tsp) baking powder
4 tablespoons (tbs) milk
2 tsp vanilla essence
80g walnuts (chopped)
1 tbs instant coffee granules with 1 tbs boiled water
For the Filling
150g softened butter
400g icing sugar (sifted through a mesh sieve)
4tsp milk
2tsp instant coffee granules with 2tsp boiled water
50g walnuts halved for decorating the top of the cake.
Method
For the Cake
Grease cake tin with a thin layer of butter and pre-heat a fan oven to 160C.
Beat the eggs well in a cake bowl until fluffy. Add butter, sugar, finely chopped walnuts, flour, baking powder, milk and vanilla essence. Dissolve the coffee granules in the boiled water, and add to the bowl once cooled. Mix well.
Spread mixture evenly into the cake tin.
Bake until ready in oven for 30/40 mins. Check to make sure it is no longer moist inside.
For the Filling
Beat softened butter and gently add filtered icing sugar (and when all icing sugar added) add milk. Dissolve the coffee granules in 2tsp water, and add when cooled. Beat together until smooth.
After the cake has cooled, cut it into half. Inside one half thinly spread filling. Place other half on top and cover with the remainder of the filling and around the sides (as shown in the photo).
Finish by decorating halved walnuts over icing on top of cake.
Keep in the fridge to harden the icing.
Take out of the fridge 30 mins before serving.
Slices can be frozen to retain freshness.
My choice of musical track for adding to Kevin’s ADK Playlist is The Sounds of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel. I particularly like this version, recorded live. The wonderful harmonies, the lyrics and the simple accompaniment on acoustic guitar combine to make this a favourite song of mine.
A Different Kitchen 