A culinary trip to Bali

Plus Jackfruit & Ginger loaf cake

Hello and welcome back to Bake Experiments. I am so glad you are here to join me for afternoon tea, cake and some experimental home cooking.

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Sadly, I have not physically been to Bali this week. I have spent my week very much in the UK. But ahhh, the joy of food… it is a means of travel when you cannot.

From a culinary perspective, I have been bathing in tropical sunshine and golden sunsets. And I have one woman to thank for my holiday.

This week, for Cooking the Stacks, I have been enjoying

Lisa McLean

’s recipes from her spectacular Spice Chronicles stack.

Australian Naturopath and Nutritionist Lisa is one of the kindest, most supportive people. She specialises in Balinese and Sri Lankan cuisine (and more!) and writes about food in a lyrical, beautiful way.

As a red headed Brit, who is quite nervous of tropical sunshine, I have no experience of Balinese cuisine (and Sri Lankan is minimal). Trying a cuisine you have absolutely no knowledge of is nerve wracking.

I’m an experienced cook and baker, but listed in Lisa's stack are ingredients I had never heard of. I had no idea what they looked like, smelt like. I didn't know where to buy some of them, let alone know how to cook with them.

Thankfully, Lisa is a generous and meticulous guide, full of passion for the food she loves. You can tell a recipe listed with footnotes of sources is well researched and tested.

Last Saturday morning, my children and I trawled round not one, but two Asian stores, searching for fresh galangal, pandan leaves, tamarind, shrimp paste and more.

The first store was pretty dark and overwhelming. I honestly didn't know what a lot of the ingredients were. But I felt… excited. I was on an adventure for unknown treasures.

My children were their usual entertaining selves. My overwhelmed daughter hid underneath my coat, tripping me at every step. I told my son we were looking for Maldive fish flakes. He walked around the shop shouting; “mouldy fish flakes! We’re looking for mouldy fish flakes!!”

Embarrassed, I shushed him and told him to look for jackfruit instead. Cue an eight-year-old boy shouting for jackfruit… while stood next to a pile of tinned jackfruit.

Thankfully, we managed to find the majority of the ingredients needed (I am still searching for pandan leaves). And I headed home to start the date night feast for my husband and I.

We decided to start with Lisa’s Bumbu Seafood feast from her Balinese Bumbu series - including:

• Tuna steak, simply poached in Bumbu stock

• Stir fry Bumbu mackerel with cashews and coconut (known as Sambal Be Tongkol)

• Fragrant Bumbu prawns on a creamy, sweet yellow curry, spiked with Bumbu infused prawn oil, and one of the best dishes I have ever eaten.

The Bumbu Seafood feast

Fragrant Bumbu prawns on a creamy, sweet yellow curry - one of the best dishes I have ever eaten

The base for these dishes is Bumbu spice paste. Which takes a bit of work to make - it is a labour of love. I started cooking at 2pm and we ate at 8pm.

But it is WORTH IT.

Full of incredible ingredients such as galangal, turmeric, shrimp paste, kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass, cloves, and macadamia nuts. This paste forms the basis for a wide range of Balinese recipes. Lisa shows you how to freeze a big batch for future too.

Oh, and did I mention, it is delicious!!

Oh, oh and I have to tell you about Bumbu butter!

Holy moly, sauté white fish or prawns in this liquid gold and you are in for a treat! Beautiful with lots of fresh Thai basil salad and coconut rice.

Bumbu Butter Prawns, with salad and tomato sambol

Bumbu butter Hake, with coconut rice and Thai basil salad

Another dish I am in love with? Tomato sambol. Jammy, zingy, rich tomato sambol.

Initially we made this to go with Lisa’s Bumbu salmon. But I absolutely love it with her Sri Lankan Potato Pancakes, they are the perfect foil for this sticky, rich sambol. Served with soft boiled egg, this is a brunch dish of dreams.

For our final day, the plan was to cook Lisa’s Sri Lankan Potato and Jackfruit Soup. Alas, my curiosity piqued, I was inspired to bake with the jackfruit instead (see recipe below).

I have much to thank Lisa for. Not just for her help and support throughout the week, but also for reigniting something in me. In my husband.

Pre-children, we were adventurous cooks and diners. Open to trying new cuisines and flavours. But, parenting comes with many challenges… and one of those is a child’s obsession with chicken nuggets, and a refusal to try anything new. It gets you down, and can keep you in a ‘safe’ food lane.

And yet, my son adores Lisa’s Bumbu prawns (I did lower the chilli content), and now my husband is keen to start exploring Japanese cooking, along with other South Asian dishes.

And for me? I am so damn happy I still have some of Lisa’s Bumbu spice paste in the freezer. I want to grill a whole fish in it.

The recipe - Jackfruit loaf cake, with a spiced brazil nut glaze

This gloriously sticky loaf cake has a wonderful moist crumb, thanks to a jackfruit and coconut milk paste in the batter.

Having never baked with jackfruit before, this loaf cake is adapted from a recipe by Malaysian food writer Jun & Tonic. With a few of my characteristic twists, including a sticky glaze, using brazil nuts roasted in spices, stem ginger syrup and a good squeeze of lime juice to freshen the palate.

I’ve kept the spicing fairly delicate, to avoid over powering the jackfruit. You can tone it down further by omitting the stem ginger.

Level: Easy

Time: Approx. 1hr

Serves: Approx. 12 slices

Equipment needed: 1x loaf tin

Ingredients:

180g tinned jackfruit in syrup

60ml coconut milk

120g salted butter, softened at room temperature

150g light brown sugar

2 eggs

2x cardamom pods, crushed

Pinch of nutmeg

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 piece stem ginger, finely chopped

200g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

For the glaze

100g brazil nuts

2x cardamom pods, crushed.

Pinch of nutmeg

1/4 tsp cinnamon

2x tbsp stem ginger syrup

2x tbsp jackfruit syrup

Juice and zest of half a lime

Method:

Preheat your oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Butter and line a loaf tin with baking paper.

Place the jackfruit in a blender with the coconut milk, and blend to a paste.

Cream the butter and sugar, either in a mixer with a paddle attachment, or an electric whisk. Beat on medium-high for 3-5 minutes until pale and fluffy.

Turn the mixer down to low and add the jackfruit paste, followed by the eggs one at a time, incorporating after each addition.

Sift together your flour and baking powder, before adding your spices. Add your dry ingredients to the cake mixture and combine until well incorporated, ensuring you have a smooth, even batter.

If adding, now is the time to incorporate your stem ginger.

Pour your cake batter into the loaf tin and bake for 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean and you can no longer hear the cake ‘bubbling’.

While your cake is baking, you can crack on with your glaze.

Place your brazil nuts and cardamom in a pestle and mortar, along with your nutmeg and cinnamon.

Crush your brazil nuts into little pieces and use this process to ensure your brazil nuts are well mixed with the spices.

Place in a small tray and roast them with your loaf cake for ten minutes, giving the tray a little shake halfway through.

Leave them to cool.

When the cake is nearly done, place the brazil nuts in a small frying pan along with your stem ginger and jackfruit syrups. Gently mix and warm them all together, before squeezing in your lime juice.

When your cake is done, take it out of the oven and place on a wire rack. Use a toothpick to make a few holes in the top so your glaze can seep in. Smooth over the brazil nut glaze and sprinkle over your lime zest.

Leave to cool for 10-15 minutes before removing from the loaf tin, slicing up and eating! It's delicious warm, or cool. And lasts up to three days in an air tight container.

Until next time…