Words on Wednesday

Thistles and Kiwis

We’ve been in the new house for a few weeks now and there are a few things we have learned: when the sun shines in the afternoon the house gets cosy and warm; the area for drying clothes outside is really good; it really is a lot smaller than where we were before but very comfortable and the oven is very hot. As to the last of these things, I have already almost burned a few things, and am slowly adjusting to the realisation that I need to keep my eyes on things closely.

Today I tried my hand at baking for the first time in the new kitchen. I decided to make a yoghurt cake, using Julia Turshen’s recipe from her book Now and Again, which I have made before and I also had a tub of yoghurt to use. I substituted this golden plum jam I got at the market in Napier in January for the suggested fig, which I thought might work quite well.

Being a yoghurt cake, there was no need to cream butter and sugar. This recipe uses melted butter rather than oil, and vanilla essence rather than lemon. You add the jam at the end once the mixture is in the tin, then swirl it around.

Well, I didn’t manage to catch it in time and it did get a bit darker than expected. The cake was a bit of a disappointment to be honest – a bit too dense (probably the butter was too hot and I may have over-stirred the flour?) and the swirled jam got lost. It still tasted good but not my best cake to date.

Still, who would turn down a piece of cake on a Wednesday evening with a good cup of coffee?

PS – I am still finding the best place and angle to photograph things in the house – working on it!

Thistles and Kiwis is a Wellington, New Zealand based blog written by Barbara, who likes cats, summer, good food and pretends to garden.

You can find Thistles and Kiwis on Facebook, and also on Instagram @thistlesandkiwis. If you want to get in touch, email me on thistlesandkiwis@gmail.com or lofgren@thistlesandkiwis.com

Published by Thistles and Kiwis

Loves summer, sunshine and cats. Beginner gardener, likes eating, cooking and reading about food

24 Comments

  2. So much to adapt to in the new house, things that were routine in the old house. You will get into the swing of things, but there might be a few glitches along the way. Glad you could still eat the cake

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  4. You can tell how good a cake is going to be by the batter! This looks great, and you will get used to the oven in time. I’d pop in an oven thermometer just so I knew how much off you are. One of my ovens is 25 degrees F. off, which is a lot!

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  5. sunshine is a big deal for me, and i’ve actually passed on buying a certain house just because of the direction it sat on the lot.

    hoping you get the hang of your new oven soon! and definitely still looks good enough to eat 🙂

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  10. Baking cake is the best way to settle into a new house! I found that recipe on line, and may have a go. Recently I seemed to have problems with the temperature in my oven, and getting a visible oven thermometer that dangles from a shelf, has really helped. At the mid temperatures was oven was running far too high, but 150 C and below were fine, and over 190 c was fine. Now I can adjust and have no problems at all.

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  13. I love it – you are getting to know your new home!
    Ovens particularly are tricky – each one has its own quirks and strengths … may you enjoy many bakes as you get to know it.

    Liked by 2 people

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