Lockdown baking with Anna King Shahab. Sultana cake and coconut creme caramel

Sultana cake. Photo / Supplied

I was supposed to be writing one of Canvas' lovely brunch reviews here but brunching out is not a thing right now – or anytime too soon, it seems. I'll be saving the money I'd normally spend eating out to do just that, and looking forward very much to that first meal outside the house. In Lazy Susan, the Facebook group/food community I co-founded with Antony Suvalko, members share raves on where and what to eat around Auckland and beyond. In ordinary times. In alert level 4, our attention turns to what we can make ... and a little bit of how we can make do.

Baking seems to be particularly therapeutic but I'd like to think the sourdough obsession has peaked and we might see a little more variety this time round. Yielding the old wooden egg beater can be just as cathartic as kneading dough, I reckon.

Sultana cake is not actually something my nana or granny made, from memory, but it has grandparental, comforting vibes nonetheless. It's a pretty good "make do" cake if, like me, you always have a packet or three of sultanas in the pantry. I had a craving for this exact cake (preceded by a ham sandwich on squidgy white bread with lots of mayo, and alfalfa sprouts, please) shortly after hearing the news about the discovery of a community Covid case in Auckland on Tuesday. A slice of this cake and a cup of tea will, I promise, put your world to rights even if just for a moment.

Antony's recipe for Vietnamese banh caramel is a bit classier; a beautiful dessert to cap off a special bubble dinner.

Another way to bring a bit of excitement into your diet in lockdown is to cook your way through our first Lazy Susan cookbook - Auckland Eats: Recipes and Stories from a Vibrant Food City. It features 41 favourite recipes from 41 brilliant hospo spots across Auckland – make the dishes (and drinks!) you're missing most, and others you've yet to try … then go out and support all those restaurants by ordering those dishes again when we can. Copies are on sale on our website, lazysusan.nz

Sultana cake

Makes 1 22cm cake
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 45-55 minutes

Ingredients
400g sultanas
Zest of 1 lemon
200g butter, diced
Enough water to cover sultanas
1 cup caster sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1½ cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line a 22cm springform cake tin.

2. Put sultanas and lemon zest in a medium saucepan, cover with water and bring to boil over high heat on stove top. Turn heat down to a slow boil and cook for 8 minutes or so, until some of the liquid has cooked off and the sultanas are nice and soft.

3. Carefully drain off the water (you'll lose a bit of the lemon zest but it's already done some good work imparting flavour). Place butter in to melt with residual heat.

4. In a mixing bowl, beat sugar and eggs until light and frothy, then beat in vanilla. Sift in flour, baking powder, and salt and fold to combine. Fold in drained fruit-and-butter mix until evenly combined.

5. Pour batter into prepared tin and bake for 45-55 minutes, until cake is golden on top and there's no wobble. Cool in tin for 10 minutes before turning out on to a wire rack to continue cooling. This cake is superb when still slightly warm. It keeps for days and freezes well, too.

TIPS:
You can make this in a loaf tin if preferred; you may need to reduce the cooking time by 5 or so minutes, just see how you go.

Coconut creme caramel (Vietnamese - banh caramel)

Serves 6
Prep: 20-25 minutes
Cook: 30-35 minutes

Ingredients
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1/3 cup water
1 x 400ml can coconut milk
1 cup cream (use milk if you prefer)
1/2 cup brown sugar (or use palm sugar, or coconut sugar)
5 eggs, lightly whisked
2 limes, finely zested (optional)

Method
1. Preheat oven to 160C.

2. Combine the sugar and water in a medium saucepan and place over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to the boil. Boil, without stirring (you can shake the pan from time to time) for 4-5 minutes or until it's a deep golden colour (you want it a little dark to get that slightly bitter flavour — but not burnt). Pour the caramel evenly into six lightly oiled ramekins (use any neutral oil), or you can use cups, glass jars — whatever you have on hand that can go into an oven. Place ramekins in a deep-sided oven dish and set aside. Be careful, toffee melts skin!

3. In a medium-sized pot, add the coconut milk, cream and brown sugar and warm over a low heat to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and whisk in the eggs. Strain through a fine sieve into a jug and pour evenly into each ramekin.

4. Place the tray of ramekins in the oven (middle shelf) and pour enough boiling water (use your kettle) into the oven dish to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins (this way you're not carrying a tray of boiling water to the oven, we don't want any A&E trips in lockdown). Cover with foil and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the custard is just set.

5. Remove from the oven, and carefully place the ramekins on a wire rack to cool for about an hour. Cover with a tea towel (or plastic wrap) and place in the fridge for 2-3 hours or until completely chilled.

6. To serve, run a small knife around the inside edge of the ramekin and carefully turn (invert) on to a serving plate. Give them a shake and slowly remove the ramekin. They should slide out (if they don't, then eat them from the ramekin, it works). Zest some lime over the top and you're good to go.

TIPS:
You can add lime leaves, lemongrass, etc to infuse the milk if that's your gig; toasted shredded coconut to serve works well.