feijoa, ginger & coconut loaf

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coconut, feijoa, ginger, loaf

New Zealand feijoas are in the shops here in Queensland but the price is simply too high for me to be cooking… they remain luscious and slightly guilty treats, because of the designer price tags. But I know a lot of you in New Zealand have what I dream of… which is bucket loads of feijoas.

Here is a variation on a banana loaf, featured on a blog called baking = love, created by Wellington based foodie Nessie. She has some lovely stories about gathering feijoas all across the country and credits her inspiration to a recipe by Susan Fleischl in A Treasury of New Zealand Baking.

If you want a bigger feijoa flavour, swap out the bananas for more feijoa flesh and adjust the ginger depending on whether you’re a ginger lover or not so much.

FEIJOA, GINGER & COCONUT LOAF

Ingredients

• 1 cup mashed feijoa flesh (~ 20 small feijoas)
• ½ cup mashed banana (~ 2 big bananas. Use really ripe bananas if possible)
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 325ml canola oil
• 125g plain unsweetened yoghurt
• 420 g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 460g (1 lb) flour
• pinch salt
• 1-2 Tbsp ground ginger (adjust to your taste)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda

Method 

1. Preheat oven to 170°C.  Line two loaf tins.  Mix together the mashed feijoa and bananas with lemon juice and set aside.
2. Sift together, flour, ground ginger, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
3. In a separate bowl, beat eggs, sugar, oil and yoghurt until smooth.
4. Fold in sifted flour mixture to the egg mixture. Then fold in the shredded coconut and mashed feijoa, banana lemon mixture.
5. Bake for 60–80 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out on to a wire rack.

Serve cut into thick slices; cold, warm or toasted on a griddle pan.

 

coconut feijoa cake

Tags

cake, coconut

Here’s the recipe for the exquisite cake I enjoyed recently at Hinterland Feijoas… it was perfectly wonderful and Sally knows the secret of baking with feijoas – chop the feijoas a bit on the chunky side so the fruit retains its unique flavour and the feijoa-ness just bursts across your taste buds. If you mash the fruit or cut it too fine, then the other flavours (like the coconut) can take over. It depends what you prefer, of course, but we’re all about the feijoa here.

The source of this cake is credited to New Zealand cook and face of the TV show ‘Food in a Minute’ Allyson Gofton, who received it from her friend Shirley.

COCONUT FEIJOA CAKE

Makes 1 cake

Ingredients

• 150g butter
• 1½ cups caster sugar
• 4 eggs, separated
• 2 cups desiccated coconut
• 2 cups self raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup peeled and chopped feijoas

Method

1. Beat the butter and sugar together until light in colour and creamy in texture. Beat in the egg yolks.
2. Fold in the coconut and sifted dry ingredients with the milk and fruit.
3. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold into the cake mixture.
4. Turn into a well-greased and lined 23 or 25cm cake tin.
5. Bake at 180ºC for 1 hour or until a cake skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before turning out.
6. Dust with icing sugar before serving or cover with a lemon icing prepared from icing sugar, grated lemon rind and lemon juice.

feijoa & coconut cake

Tags

cake, coconut, feijoa

This.looks.delectable.

I found the recipe on a fabulous Kiwi foodie blog called Two Spoons but the story about where it originally comes from gets somewhat convoluted. Personally, I think that’s a highly successful recipe, one that is passed fondly from feijoa lover to feijoa lover.

Two Spoons has some superb recipes and a long list of New Zealand foodie blogs that is begging to be explored. Be sure to check it out.

FEIJOA & COCONUT CAKE 

Makes 1 round 8″ cake

Ingredients

• 75g softened butter
• ¾ cup caster sugar
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1 cup dessicated coconut
• 1 cup plain flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• pinch salt
• ¼ cup milk
• ¼ cup sour cream
• ¾ cup (about 170g) feijoa flesh, scooped out and roughly chopped in the measuring cup so you don’t lose too much liquid

Method

• Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F), arranging a rack in the centre. Heavily grease your springform cake tin, then sprinkle with coconut and flour to prevent sticking.
• Beat butter and sugar until pale, then beat in yolks one at a time, for a minute after each addition. The mixture should not keep trying to separate before the next step. Add the coconut, and sift over the flour, baking powder and salt. Fold through and when it’s about half done fold the milk and sour cream through as well. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Fold through the yolky batter until mostly incorporated (a whisper of egg white is ok), then fold through the feijoa.
• Pop in the oven and let bake 50 minutes to an hour, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out moist but clean. Cool until warm to the touch, then turn out.

Coconut drizzle

• 200ml coconut cream (shake the can first!)
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar

On medium low heat, bring the mixture to a bare simmer, until the sugar dissolves, and stir with a whisk constantly to break up any lumps in the cream. Drizzle over cake while warm if possible, and store covered in the fridge for later use.

feijoa coconut gems

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coconut, feijoa, gems

I don’t believe I’ve ever had a gem – we’ve certainly never had gem irons to hand – but the coconut and feijoa combination certainly has my tastebuds tantalised. The recipe comes from the New Zealand Herald.

FEIJOA COCONUT GEMS

Makes 12

Ingredients

• 60g butter, plus 25g extra
•  ¼ cup caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 ½  tablespoons golden syrup
•  ½ cup chopped feijoa
• ¾ cup plain flour
•  ¼ cup coconut
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
•  ½ cup warm coconut milk

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200ºC. Put the gem irons in the oven.
2. Beat the first measure of butter with the sugar until pale. Beat in the egg and then the golden syrup. Fold in the feijoas.
3. Sift the flour into the mixture and fold in with the coconut.
4. Stir the baking soda into the warm coconut milk then quickly stir into the mixture.
5. Divide the second measure of butter into 12. Remove the gem iron from the oven and drop in the pieces of butter, then spoon in the mixture. Bake for 10 minutes or until well risen and golden.

feijoa & coconut cupcakes

Tags

coconut

There’s nothing like a cupcake for a wee snack, if you can stop at one! These coconut flavoured little cakes are topped with slices of feijoa for a dash of flavour. The recipe comes via a blog called Wee Treats by Tammy, an Auckland-based mum, lawyer and foodie.

FEIJOA & COCONUT CUPCAKES

Makes 15

Ingredients

• 150g butter
• ¾ cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 ⅓ cup flour
• ¾ cup coconut
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 6 feijoas, peeled and sliced

Method

1. Cream butter and sugar; beat in eggs, one at a time.
2. Stir in flour, coconut and baking powder.
3. Spoon into cupcake cases and top with a few slices of feijoa.
4. Bake at 170ºC for 25 minutes.

When cold, spoon over a hot syrup made by stirring ¾ cup each of sugar and water and juice of 3 lemons over low heat until sugar is dissolved, then simmer for 5-10 minutes.

lorna’s moist feijoa and coconut cake

Tags

cake, coconut, feijoa

I apologise for the fact that I do not know who Lorna is – I discovered this recipe on the New Zealand Food Lovers website and it sounds divine. Here and there I find people talking about their favourite feijoa and coconut cake and wonder if this is the same recipe, or if there are (probably more likely) a number of variations of the recipe out there.

LORNA’S MOIST FEIJOA AND COCONUT CAKE

Ingredients

• 2 cups feijoa flesh in chunks
• ¼ cup lime juice
• 150g butter
• 1 ½ cups caster sugar
• 3 eggs, separated
• 2 cups desiccated coconut
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons creme of tartar
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 cup milk (if necessary)

Method

1. Scoop the feijoa flesh into a 2 cup jug and pour over the lime juice. Set aside while you continue with the recipe.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy. Beat in the egg yolks.
3. Fold in the coconut and sifted dry ingredients. Add the fruit. If necessary, add some milk, bit by bit.
4. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold into the cake mixture.
5. Turn into a well-greased and lined 23 or 25cm cake tin.
6. Bake at 180°C for 1 hour or until cooked,  putting several layers of newspaper under the tin after about 30 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before turning out.

little feijoa and coconut cakes

Tags

coconut, lemon

This delicious recipe for miniature cakes also comes from the New Zealand Listener (now behind a paywall, sorry). A note says, ‘In these little cakes, the feijoa slices caramelise during the cooking, which gives the fruit a more intense flavour that is heightened by the tangy lemon syrup.’

LITTLE FEIJOA AND COCONUT CAKES

Makes 6

Ingredients

• 100g butter, softened
• 1⁄2 cup caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1⁄2 cup fine desiccated coconut
• 3⁄4 cup plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 4 feijoas, peeled and sliced

Lemon Syrup

• juice of 6 lemons
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar

Method

1. Heat the oven to 160°C (fan bake). Grease and lightly dust with flour six 1-cup-capacity cake tins.
2. In a bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
3. Stir in the coconut, sifted flour and baking powder.
4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tins. Arrange a few feijoa slices over the top of each cake.
5. Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
6. Cool the cakes in the tins. Once cold, remove from the tins and saturate with hot lemon syrup.

To make the syrup, heat all the ingredients in a saucepan until boiling, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Simmer hard for 3 to 5 minutes or until thick and syrupy.

coconut and feijoa cake

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Annandale Manor, coconut

I have been dreaming lately of staying at Annandale Manor, an elegant bed and breakfast tucked away – wait for it – on a feijoa plantation in New Zealand!! The romantic 1917 colonial manor is set amidst meandering gardens and four and a half acres of feijoa trees. Their website has a few delicious recipes too, and I am craving the coconut and feijoa cake because I just happen to love coconut as well.

COCONUT AND FEIJOA CAKE

Ingredients

• 150 grams butter
• 1  1/2 cups caster sugar
• 4 eggs, separated
• 2 cups desiccated coconut
• 2 cups self-raising flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup peeled and chopped feijoas

Method

1. Beat the butter and sugar together until creamy. Beat in the egg yolks.
2. Fold in the coconut and sifted dry ingredients with the milk and fruit.
3. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold into the cake mixture.
4. Turn into a well-greased and lined 23 or 25cm cake tin.
5. Bake at 180°C for 1 hour or until cooked. Cool for 10 minutes before turning out.