Belgian Bun

A favourite cake that Nonna baked when we were young, I can still smell the nuts roasting on top as it baked.  A really simple recipe that doesn't appear in her recipe books. I think Mum knew it so well she didn't need a copy in latter years.  So I'm delighted that my sister Lucy can supply the recipe, the photos, and her experiences!

Belgian Bun, baked golden brown

Extract from Lucy's cooking book,
with Mum's recipes copied when aged 17

From Lucy...
"Herewith the Belgian Bun creation.  It is so simple as per recipe in my book pictured.  I have pictured each stage to show the dough etc.  You literally just fold everything together and press into the tin.  I used the electric hand beaters for a minute just to blend in the butter and egg and then used my hands to meld it together.   Mum used a round cake tin and I like that but didn't have one available so used a small baking dish 30cm long and so I doubled the recipe to fill it.  Mum said white caster sugar but I found raw caster sugar the other day for the first time so used this instead.  The jam can be anything - in this case it was strawberry mixed with left over fig and ginger jam.  The nuts Mum used were either walnuts or skinned almonds.  Baking temp was 170degrees centigrade and for about 30 mins till golden brown.  Too much baking makes it dry and uninteresting!  Hope you like this!  It was so often cooked in Mum's kitchen and a favorite for family picnics."


Belgian Bun

½ cup Castor Sugar

75g Butter
1 egg

1½ cups Self Raising Flour

Raspberry Jam
Walnuts or Blanched Almonds for topping


1. Preheat oven to 170ºC
2. Cream the Butter and Sugar until well combined
3. Add Egg and mix well
4. Fold in Flour , until all combined and divide mixture in half
5. Press one half into greased round cake tin
6. Spread Jam over the mixture
7. Press 2nd half of mixture over the jam
8. Press nuts onto the top and bake 30 mins
9. Enjoy and eat same day

Dough ingredients

Dough texture

First layer with jam

Second layer on top of jam; ready to bake

Lemon Yogurt Cake

Nonna's Book Recipes 15 - 19

Lemon Yogurt Cake

Creaming Butter and Sugar

125g Butter (4oz)

1 cup Sugar

1 tsp grated Lemon rind

2 Eggs separated

2 cups Self Raising Flour

250g tub natural Yogurt

½ cup Sultanas

1. Cream Butter and Sugar until light and fluffy

2. Add Lemon rind and Egg yolks, beat well

Folding all ingredients together

3. Sift Flour and fold in alternatively with Sultanas and Yogurt

4. Whisk Egg whites until almost stiff

5. Lightly fold into rest of mixture

6. Pour into greased 23cm x 12cm loaf tin

7. Bake moderate oven 180º C for about 45 mins or until skewer comes out clean

Butter and Sugar creamed

Tip ▲ Years ago when I worked part-time for a large South Australian flour mill, selling bread machine bread mixes to retailers, I learnt a lot about flour.  Bakers recommend  ‘good’ cooks should never rely on the quality of bought Self Raising Flour (SR Flour). The thorough mixing of baking powder through a packet is unreliable and may explain why sometimes a cake fails to rise.  All ‘good’ cooks will use plain flour and add 1 teaspoon of baking powder per cup of flour.

Just out of the oven! The Cake looks a bit swollen as the red silicon
cake 'tin' is flexible, I find silicon is wonderful to use for baking.

Baked Coconut Pudding

Baked Coconut Pudding

1 cup desiccated Coconut

1 cup stale Breadcrumbs

4 cups Milk

4 tabs Sugar

2 Eggs

1 Lemon, grated rind only

2 tabs melted Butter

eggs, sugar and breadcrumbs

1. Make Breadcrumbs in food processor, or grate stale bread like Nonna used to, messy but it works, trim off any hard crusts. You can use any bread, I use gluten free bread these days. 

2. Soak the Breadcrumbs in a cup of the milk, warmed.

3. Add Coconut to remainder milk in a large mixing bowl

4. Beat Eggs and Sugar together until smooth, not fluffy

5. Add soaked Breadcrumbs and Egg mixture to Coconut mix

ready for the oven

6. Add Lemon rind and Butter

7. Pour mixture into well greased 1½ litre or 2 litre oven proof dish

8. Pace this pudding dish into a water bath (bain marie). Which is a baking dish filled with water.

9. Bake in oven 180°C for 30 – 40 mins until set.  It is starting to over cook if you can see small bubbles in the custard.

10. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

11. Best served at room temperature with fresh cream and stewed fruit

Nicely browned and ready to cool down

Simple and delicious