There were some days last week when I would wake up and feel relieved that yesterday was over. It was hard not to feel a bit mopey since the boy had been away for so long. One upside was that it gave me plenty of time to tick things off my to-do list, and subsequently to come up with a few new and silly ones.

Like my Top 5 desert island ice-creams list, which after much consideration reads as follows. In no particular order :

1) Rum ‘n’ Raisin
(A inexplicable regular feature of any of my imaginary ice-cream lists. Maybe I was abducted by pirates as a child.)

2) Bitter chocolate
(Good chocolate ice-cream is a miracle in itself.)

3) Beer sorbet
(Because after an exhausting day trying to get rescued from a deserted island, everyone deserves an ice cold refreshing beer.)

4) Raspberry vanilla ripple
(I’m obsessed with things that ripple and swirl. Also, it’s almost like cheating and having two flavours in one. One bite and it’s vanilla! Now it’s raspberry!)

5) David Lebovitz’s lemon speculoos ice-cream
(I never was a fan of cookies ‘n’ cream ice-creams, but this I could definitely get behind.)

To the uninitiated, speculoos is a spiced cookie. It is truly wonderful folded through ice-cream, or even eaten on its own. I had to make two batches of speculoos for this recipe because I accidentally ate all of the first batch! You can find the recipes in David Lebovitz’s book.

To accompany the ice-cream, I poached some peaches in ale, after buying a bag of peaches at the market. If you can’t get peaches, try preserved cherries, but really, the ice-cream is already spectacular on its own. Amazing what a little refrigeration can do for you on a desert island. Or would that be dessert island?

Ale poached peaches :

4 ripe yellow peaches, blanched, refreshed and peeled
1 x 330ml bottle pale ale
750ml (3 cups) water
1/4-1/2 cup sugar
2 cloves
1 long pepper, crushed

In a pot, bring the ale, water, sugar and spices to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Taste the liquid and add more sugar if you wish. I prefer mine to be less sweet. Lower the peaches into the liquid and simmer until just tender. This should take no more than 5-10 minutes. Remove the peaches and reduce the poaching liquid to a light syrup. Cool, then pour the syrup over the peaches and keep chilled until you’re ready to use.

My favourite baking pan is not some third generation heirloom treasure but a ten dollar bargain I once purchased from the department store. As with most things, time will eventually allow that attractive patina of age to settle into it’s spring form frame. In the meanwhile, I’m rather enjoying the fact that nothing whatsoever sticks to it. Not even a batter, sticky with threads of sugary beetroot or slightly singed and caramelised raisins.

I baked this cake a few days ago and several days later, only a small slab of it remains on the kitchen counter. Testament to our greed and the cake’s deliciousness. The recipe is based on Joanne Chang’s classic carrot cake recipe from Flour. If you don’t like beetroot, make it with carrot, and be sure to make it in your favourite baking pan.

Beetroot cake with cream cheese frosting :

2 eggs
200g light brown sugar
150g vegetable oil
3 tablespoons yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
160g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
260g peeled and grated raw beetroot
80g raisins

Preheat the oven to 175’C. Butter and flour an 8-inch cake pan.

In a small bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger.

In a stand mixer, whisk the eggs and brown sugar for about 3 to 4 minutes until light and thick. In a small jug, whisk together the oil, yogurt and vanilla. Slowly pour the oil mixture into the egg mixture, mixing on low speed.

Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture, until just incorporated, then fold in the grated beetroot and raisins. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for about 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool completely on a wire rack before removing it from the pan and covering it in frosting.

For the cream cheese frosting :

250g cream cheese, at room temperature
80g unsalted butter, at room temperature
150g icing sugar, sifted
pinch of salt

Place the cream cheese, butter, icing sugar and salt in a bowl of a mixer. Beat well until smooth and creamy. Set aside until ready to be used.

Julie Andrews can have her cream-coloured ponies and whiskers on kittens. My personal list of favourite things largely feature comestibles. Cake crusts, warm oatmeal with dried cranberries, and breakfast.

Having breakfast is like pressing the Start button to my day. Sometimes I wonder if it’s possible to eliminate lunch and dinner altogether and just stick to breakfast three times a day. That way, if you happen to be stuck in the middle of a particularly bad day, you could potentially ‘reboot’ your day by having breakfast again – a theory I’ve yet to truly test out, even though I have been known to eat cereal for dinner, in another (student) life.

On days-off when I get to indulge in late and long breakfasts, my day will typically begin with a yawn and a stretch as feet finally hit the ground. It continues as a slow shuffle across the tiled kitchen floor and concludes with emptied mugs of tea and a plate of crunchy toast crumbs.

Even in the past when I’ve had to get up at 3 or 4am to get to work, I’d attempt to keep the breakfast dream alive by legging it to the station with a stash of warm toast in hand, to sleepily nibble at on the train platform.

So it’s no surprise that the idea of a breakfast themed biscotti really appealed to me. Alice Medrich’s version is chock full of oats, very light on added sugar and perfect to have on the go. I recently cracked open my copy of Alice Medrich’s latest book to bake from and have been truly loving the results. You’ll definitely be seeing more Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy inspired posts in the near future!

Breakfast Biscotti :
(from Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy by Alice Medrich)

85g plain flour
85g whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
generous 1/4 teaspoon salt
100 – 130g brown sugar
130g rolled oats
78g milk
60g melted unsalted butter (or safflower or canola oil)
2 large eggs, lightly whisked
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
100g walnut pieces
70g dried currants [For the walnuts and currants, I used a combination of sunflower seeds and dried cranberries]
1 teaspoon cinnamon sugar

Preheat the oven to 160’C. Position a rack in the center of the oven.

Combine the flours, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl and mix thoroughly with a whisk or fork.

In a large bowl, mix the brown sugar and oats. Heat the milk and butter in a small pot or microwave-safe bowl until the milk is hot and the butter is melted. Combine the hot milk with the oat mixture. Let stand for 10 minutes. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture. Stir in the nuts and currants. The batter will be very thick and sticky.

Scrape the batter onto the prepared pan. Spread it to form a 5 x 12 inch rectangle about 3/4 inch thick. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until firm and starting to colour around the bottom edges. Rotate the pan from front to back halfway through the baking time to ensure even baking. Set the pan on a rack to cool for at least 15 minutes. Leave the oven on, turning it down to 150’C.

Transfer the loaf carefully to a cutting board. Using a sharp serrated knife and a sawing motion, cut the loaf crosswise into 1/2-inch slices. Transfer the slices to an unlined baking sheet, standing them at least 1/2 inch apart. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes to toast without overbrowning, rotating the pan from front to back halfway through the baking time. Set the pan on a rack. Cool the biscotti completely before wrapping or storing.