Vanilla Cake Recipe

This is a recipe from the blog Preppy Kitchen, by John Kanell.  He actually calls it Vanilla Cake Recipe for some reason, so I will stick with that.  Mr P.'s birthday was coming up, and he loves vanilla cake, so this was perfect.  And I have to say, this is a fabulous cake, which Mr P. said was the best cake I'd ever made!  High praise indeed!  It went down well with the neighbours too.

This is a bit of a personal note here: Mr P. has a long term neurological disease plus the recent cancer diagnosis.  He is always chirpy, and still working hard.  He's a bit of a legend really!  Big thanks to everyone who has asked about him, and sent best wishes.  We really appreciate it.

sweet, fruity and vanilla deliciousness

Serves quite a few :=):

ingredients:

For the cake:

300g./2½ cups plain flour

2¼ tsp baking powder (such an odd amount!)

¾ tsp salt

170g./¾ cup butter, at room temp.

333g./1⅔ cups white sugar

3 large eggs, at room temp.

1 Tbs vanilla extract  (yes, you read that right!)

240 mL/1 cup buttermilk, at room temp.

yep, it's flour

I decided not to go with John's buttercream icing (600g. of icing sugar!!), but instead went with a white chocolate ganache from Emelia Jackson's new book: You had me at cake.  And then I made a Chantilly cream to go in the middle of the two layers.  And added heaps of fruit in the middle and on top!  

For the Chantilly cream:

200 mL/7 oz whipping/thickened cream

50g./2 oz icing sugar

1-2 tsp vanilla extract

For the white chocolate ganache:

65 mL/2 oz whipping/thickened cream

165g./5¾ oz white chocolate, chopped

7g./⅓ oz butter, at room temp.

½ tsp vanilla extract

you can use vanilla paste or extract

For decoration: 

1 x punnet of raspberries and 1 punnet of blackberries (or your fave berries) to fill the middle and to decorate the top layer   see Notes

blackberries (but use your fave)

Method:

For the cake:

Turn on your oven to 180C/350F to heat up

Butter and flour two round cake tins - 20 cm/8 inch sized- and add a layer of baking paper to the bottoms

Grab a medium mixing bowl, and whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together

Now grab another mixing bowl, throw in the butter, and beat with an electric hand beater (or your stand mixer) till smooth

Then you add the sugar, and beat again on high till light and fluffy

You know what happens next - add the eggs one at a time, and beat them in, then in goes the vanilla, and beat it in briefly

Now on a low-speed, you beat in the flour in 3 batches, alternating with the buttermilk

And to finish off, you grab a spatula and give it all a good (but gentle) mix - don't go crazy!

Pour the batter into the two tins, and bake for around 30 minutes - stick a cake skewer into the centre and when it comes out clean - you are done :)

Let 'em cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then tip them out onto a cake rack, take off the baking paper and allow to cool completely

In the meantime, you are making the Chantilly cream and the ganache!

For the Chantilly cream:

Pour the cream into a mixing bowl, grab your beaters and beat till you have lovely soft peaks

Then add the icing sugar and vanilla, and beat them in, but not too frenziedly - just till combined nicely

For the ganache:

Cream goes into a small saucepan, and you bring it to a simmer (says Emelia)

Your white chocolate is in a heatproof bowl, so you tip the hot cream over it and let it melt the chocolate for a minute or two - then give it a good stir till combined

Add the butter and vanilla, and stir madly (or with a stick blender) till 'smooth and glossy'

Let it sit and cool for a bit, before spreading over your delicious cake

Throw on all the berries!

Notes:

Throw on as many berries (or your fave fruit) as you desire to the middle layer and the top of the cake!

gather your ingredients

beat the eggs into the creamed butter and sugar 

in goes the vanilla 

and the flour mixture and the buttermilk

into the cake tins for baking

and baked!

let 'em cool right down

find a lovely cake plate (our mate Brooke from Red Door Studio made this!)

slather on the Chantilly cream and throw on the berries

and on goes the top layer

you've poured over the ganache and thrown on the berries!

it didn't last long!

so good! (as a certain English cook says all the time!)

(A quick update re. Mr P.'s health - treatment is going well; two weeks down and three to go!)  And hopefully that will be it, at least for now.  Thanks again to all those who have sent their best wishes.)

In My Kitchen - May 2026

This is a quick post this month, friends.  I am writing this at the beginning of a big week ahead.  Mr P. starts his radiation treatment at the hospital, and there are many other things happening. The weather is finally getting cooler thankfully, after a very long and hot summer.  In fact, I am about to shut all the windows as it is freezing!  Well, for Queenslanders used to sunny and humid days, the current temp. of 20C is very bracing.  

I have to confess to being in a stinky mood lately, feeling stressed-out and tired and full of anxiety.  Mr P. is always very calm and collected and cheery, so I am taking up the slack for him - hehehe ...  Happily though I have been busy this past month with creative endeavours.  I have sent off three artworks to a couple of shows, and also three short stories to competitions.  Fingers crossed!  So not much cooking has been done, but I will get back to it.

   

just had to show you my new T-shirt from Bad Batch!

In My Kitchen:

bought these in a cute (but expensive) country homewares store

love me a bit of furikake

you guessed it!  another visit to the Japanese grocery store 

Japanese ice cream! That's a delicious wafer with green tea ice cream and red bean paste

goodies from the Asian store (not the Japanese one)

made a delicious citrus loaf! (Recipe from David's Spiced blog)

and there was chocolate slab cake

That's it for another month.  Hope to see you all for this month's IMK, my global and virtual friends!

Oops! Nearly forgot the curveball! Another vase by Nat from The Austin Flowers!

For those who don't know, Milo is a hugely popular malted chocolate drink, invented by a young Australian chemical engineer back in the 1930s!  Aussie kids still love it, and it's great on vanilla ice cream too.  Our mate Nat has added this vase to her fabulous, handmade collection!

c. Sherry M.

Be a part of our friendly IMK community by adding your post here too - everybody welcome!  We'd love to have you visit.  Tell us about your kitchen (and kitchen garden) happenings over the past month.  Dishes you've cooked, preserves you've made, herbs and veg. in your garden, kitchen gadgets, and goings-on.  And one curveball is welcome - whatever you fancy; no need to be kitchen-related.  

The link is open from the first of the month to midnight on the thirteenth of the month, every month.

Options for adding your post to IMK:

1. Add via the Add Link button at the bottom of this post.  Instructions can be found on the sidebar of this page, under the  Add your IMK link OR:

2. Comment on this post, providing a link to your post so I can add it manually to the list below OR:

3. Email me: sherrym1au@gmail.com, with your link or any queries about the link process, or if you would like it to be added after the 13th ('cos I'm happy to add it for you later)

Mae's Food Blog

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Coconut Bircher Müesli

I have fond memories of our mum making Bircher müesli when we were kids.  We came from a meat and 3-veg. type of family, so this was very daring of her.  And dessert was usually just tinned fruit and bought vanilla ice cream.  She also bought orange juice (with pulp!), and made chow mein (beef mince and lots of cabbage) in her electric frypan.  What a kitchen whizz! Or is that wiz? - short for wizard ...

This is another recipe from Donna Hay's cookbook Sunshine, lemons and sea salt.  It took me quite a few years to enjoy Donna's books and recipes; not sure why, but I think due to using them for Cookbook Clubs, I have started to really get with the program, so to speak.  

I often make bircher müesli, usually in Summer, but this one with coconut milk is a first for me.  And delicious it is!  Of course, Bircher should be said with a hard 'c' sound, rather than the 'ch' sound we have all been saying for years.  It's kind of fun rolling the 'r', and the 'ch', I have to say :=)  Go with your fave kind of milk, my friends, though.  And whatever fruits, and so on you prefer.  

Day 1 - looking fabulous

Serves 4:

ingredients:

2 cups (180g.) rolled oats (not instant)

2 Tbs (or less!) of white chia seeds

1.5 cups (375 mL) coconut milk

1.5 cups (375 mL) coconut water

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbs maple syrup

1/2 cup (125g.) coconut yoghurt

Serve with: toasted coconut flakes (see Notes), more coconut yoghurt, fruit of your choice and honey (I think honey is optional)

Method:

Place the oats, chia seeds, coconut milk and water, vanilla and maple syrup into a large bowl, and give it a good stir

Then pour this into an airtight container, and into the fridge it goes overnight (or for a few hours if you are very hungry)

The next morning, you open it up and gaze on the chia-ed thickness with wonder, before you toast the coconut flakes by placing them into a small, cast-iron frypan and swirling them around for a few minutes till they go golden-brown and fragrant

Then fold the yoghurt through the müesli, and top with the coconut flakes, fruit and honey (if using)

Will last for several days in the fridge!

coconut!

Notes:

I had to use some almond milk too, as I couldn't find coconut water at the supermarket (I added a teensy amount of coconut essence to bump up the flavour)

And slightly less chia seeds for me - just not a fan of that mmm kinda slimy texture

yep, oats!

and maple syrup

ingredients gathered

that's the vanilla!

give it a stir

ready for an overnight stay in the fridge

toast your flakes, friends!

I think this might be pretty AND good for you :=)

this is Day 3! (Hubby doesn't eat it)

Day 5!  Nearly done; one more day to go

Pistachio Choc Chip Cookies/Biscuits

I feel for the pistachio farmers who surely cannot keep up with the current demand!  I did read that the people in countries like Türkiye and Iran (the top producers and consumers) are finding it rather difficult to produce enough, and to obtain the nutty ingredients (at a fair price) for their own cuisine.  And honestly, I think there are other nuts with way more taste and interest, in my mind (and tastebuds).  But anyways, don't mind my ramblings - these are delicious, my friends.

This is a recipe from Donna Hay's lovely new-ish cookbook Sunshine, Lemons and Sea Salt, reflecting her love of modern coastal living and cooking.  She lives on the New South Wales coast, and she wanted this cookbook to show her love of the beach, and sunny days.  Her signature colour is blue (her homewares range are mostly blue), which is a fave colour of mine too. Oops, this sounds like an ad.  Nope, just me enjoying her recipes and accoutrements.

these didn't last long!

Makes 12:

Ingredients:

120g./4.2 oz pistachio spread    see Notes

335g./12 oz plain flour

1.5 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bi-carb soda (baking soda)

1 tsp cornflour

180g./6.5 oz brown sugar

110g./4 oz caster sugar

225g./8 oz butter, chopped and left to sit out for a bit to soften

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp sea salt flakes

250g./9 oz milk chocolate, chopped

150g./5.3 oz toasted pistachios, chopped

pistachios

Method:

Line a small baking tray with baking paper

Scoop/spoon out 12 x 1.5 teaspoons of the pistachio spread and place them on the baking tray in delightful little mounds or balls

Freeze for an hour, or till nicely firm (took about 2 hours here)

Turn on your oven to 180C/350F to heat up

Grab a mixing bowl, and your whisk, and throw in the flour, baking powder, bi-carb soda and cornflour

Whisk well, then set aside while you grab another mixing bowl, and beat the 2 sugars and butter together - Donna says for 8 minutes, or till light and fluffy    see Notes 

Now beat in the eggs, one at a time, then beat in the vanilla and salt for 3-4 minutes till beautifully incorporated

Then add in the flour mixture bit by bit, beating but not over-beating

And chuck in the chocolate and nuts, and stir!   see Notes

Being in muggy Brisbane, I decided to put the dough into the fridge for about 20 minutes to firm up, before rolling it out into 12 rounds of about 1/2 cupful/110g./4 oz, and flattening slightly   see Notes

Your frozen nutty paste balls get pressed into each of the rounds of dough, which you gather around to enclose the paste

Now place the nutty doughy rounds onto 2 large baking trays lined with baking paper, allowing plenty of room between them - Donna says to leave 10cm/4 inches between each cookie!

Bake for 12-14 minutes (or 16 in my oven), till the edges are lightly golden-brown

Cool 'em on the trays, and enjoy

you guessed it!

Notes:

Pistachio spread is sweetened, whereas pistachio paste is just the ground pistachios

Donna says to use a stand mixer; I don't have one so used my electric hand beaters, and for a few less minutes than 8.  And it was just fine!

I used a mixture of white, and dark, and Lindt milk chocolate rather than all milk chocolate

Donna says to freeze the cookie dough rounds overnight if you want fudgier cookies!

My dough was so soft, I could not roll it out, so had to use spoons to shape it, then put them back in the fridge again to firm up.  I should have shoved 'em in the freezer for a bit, I guess

ingredients gathered

spoon/scoop out the pistachio paste onto the trays

beat the sugars and butter together

eggs and flour mixture in; ready for the choc chips and nuts

stir in the chocolate and nuts

get ready to enclose the frozen pistachio paste

golden-brown goodness

oozy and chocolatey

dive in!

baking soda aka bi-carb soda

make sure it's within date! No old baking powder here!