iced vovo cake

iced vovo cake

19 Jan 2026

Australia Day is just around the corner and although it might be a polarising public holiday, I use the day to celebrate Australian recipes. 

Apart from the Tim Tam,  I don't think there's a biscuit more Australian than the iced vovo biscuit. The iced vovo biscuit is a very plain biscuit topped with pink fondant icing, raspberry jam and desiccated coconut. I wasn't much of fan of the old iced vovo growing up. I only liked the raspberry jam portion and would peel it off and give the biscuit back to someone else to finish. A few years ago my friend Amanda gifted me a small iced vovo pin which now holds pride of place on my fridge. I guess Amanda must have been the recipient of a raspberry jam free iced vovo.

However when I saw a picture of this Iced VoVo Cake by Natalie Paull in the much missed now discontinued print version of Delicious magazine I was sold and knew I had to make it. The base is a classic butter cake flavoured with coconut, topped with raspberry flavoured frosting and some raspberry jam then coated in shredded coconut. I didn't make the raspberry jam from the recipe as I already had a small pot of homemade rhubarb and raspberry jam in the fridge.

The icing used to decorate the cake is a classic American style 7 minute frosting which is bright white. However the addition of freeze dried raspberries to the frosting turns it a kind of mauve colour. So if you want a bright white icing to match the picture shown in Delicious Magazine don't add the freeze dried raspberries but you will lose out on the flavour they impart.

Here's the recipe for you adapted from here which makes a small loaf cake. If you'd like to make a larger cake then refer to the original recipe. For all my recipes, I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. All eggs are 60 grams and my oven is a conventional oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C.

Iced VoVo Cake – Natalie Paull
Ingredients
145g caster sugar
75g unsalted butter, at room temperature
25ml vegetable oil 
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 large egg at room temperature
1 large egg, separated, at room temperature
150g plain flour, sifted
¾ tsp baking powder, sifted
1/4 cup (22g) desiccated coconut
1/3 cup (80ml) coconut milk
Shredded coconut, to decorate

Raspberry jam
120g frozen raspberries
1/2 cup (110g) caster sugar
1 tbs lemon juice

Raspberry rose royal frosting
2 egg whites (1 reserved from cake)
3/4 cup (90g) pure icing sugar, sifted
10g freeze-dried raspberries, crushed
½ tsp rosewater or vanilla extract

Method
Preheat the oven to 170°C conventional/150°C fan-forced. Grease base and sides of a small loaf pan and line with baking paper.

Add sugar, butter, oil, zest and vanilla to a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on high speed for 8 minutes, scraping side of bowl occasionally, or until mixture is fluffy. Combine the whole egg and egg yolk (reserving the egg whites for the frosting) in a bowl and gradually add to the mixture, beating until combined and fluffy.

Place flour, baking powder and a pinch of fine salt in a medium bowl. Add desiccated coconut and stir to combine.

Using a large spatula, fold in half the flour mixture until almost fully incorporated. Fold in half the coconut milk until almost fully incorporated. Repeat with remaining flour mixture and coconut milk until thoroughly combined. Transfer mixture to prepared pan and smooth top. Bake for 1 hour or until the top is golden and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then gently remove from pan to cool completely on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, to make the jam, place all ingredients in a small heavy-based saucepan over high heat and boil rapidly, stirring frequently, for 6-8 minutes, until thickened. Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until required.

For the icing, place the 2 egg whites, the icing sugar and ¼ tsp salt flakes in the bowl of a stand mixer placed over a saucepan of gently simmering water (don’t let the base of the bowl touch the water). Using a whisk, stir the mixture until it's warm to touch. Place the bowl in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk on high speed until mixture is fluffy and thick, 5-7 minutes. Reduce the speed to low, add berries and rosewater or vanilla and whisk until combined.

To assemble, place the cake on a serving platter. Cut a long 2.5 cm-wide strip of baking paper to sit lengthways along the top of the cake. Secure each end with toothpicks. Smooth the icing across the top (including over paper) and long sides of cake. Lift the cake up and over a large bowl, pick up handfuls of shredded coconut and press into top and sides, letting excess fall back into the bowl.

Place cake back on serving platter, peel away the paper strip to expose the strip of cake. Spoon jam over exposed strip (if jam is too thick, add 1 tsp of water to loosen it up). Smooth frosting onto short edges and dust with more shredded coconut. 

Slice as desired.

Any recipe from Natalie is guaranteed to be delicious and this iced vovo cake was no exception. Every element was delicious and when combined even better.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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strawberry all in one pavlova

strawberry all in one pavlova

27 Jan 2025

It's the Australia Day public holiday today, so I decided to make a pavlova topped with whipped cream and some fresh strawberries. I've been making pavlovas my whole life using the tried and trusted method of slowly incorporating 60g of caster sugar for every 30g of egg white before adding a little bit of vinegar, cornflour and vanilla, that was until last year when I saw Adam Liaw make an all in pavlova on The Cook Up.

It was a revelation. There was no gradual adding of caster sugar, instead he used icing mixture instead of caster sugar and just put all the ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisked it for 8 minutes and hey presto, he had meringue. As icing mixture already includes starch, there's no need to add any extra cornflour, you just need egg whites, a pinch of salt and some vinegar and vanilla extract. 

Since then I've made a batch of meringues and and a pavlova using this method but I found the pavlova very sweet so I've reduced the sugar a little in the recipe. It's still a struggle baking a pavlova in my gas oven. It doesn't have a temperature option below 160°C. It just has 'minimum' and it took 3½ hours in the oven at minimum before the pavlova was cooked enough to remove it from the baking paper.

Here's the recipe for you which makes a 16cm pavlova. If you'd like to make a bigger pavlova just increase the quantity of egg whites and icing mixture. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C. 

All in One Pavlova

90g egg whites, from approximately 3 egg whites 
Pinch of salt
135g icing mixture 
¾ tsp white vinegar 
¾ tsp vanilla extract

 
Topping
200mls thickened cream, whipped to soft peaks
1 punnet strawberries, washed, hulled and dried
Icing sugar

Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C conventional. Line a flat baking tray with baking paper and using a 16cm tin as your guide, mark out a circle on the paper. Flip the paper over and use this as your template. Place the paper onto the baking tray.

Place the egg whites into the bowl of a stand mixer with a pinch of salt and whisk on low speed until just combined. Add the icing mixture to the bowl and beat at high speed to form a glossy stiff meringue. This will take about 8 minutes. Gently fold through the vinegar and vanilla extract.

Spoon the meringue onto the baking paper to form a 16cm circle with a slightly flattened top. This will subside during the baking process creating a well for the cream. Place the pavlova in the oven and immediately reduce the oven temperature to 130°C, conventional, or the lowest setting for your oven and bake for 1¼ - 1½ hours or until the pavlova is dry and very lightly coloured. Turn the oven off and allow the pavlova to cool for a further 1 1⁄2 - 2 hours in the switched off oven, wedging the door open very slightly with a chopstick.

When cool, remove the pavlova from the baking paper and store in an airtight container. Just before serving, top the pavlova with the lightly whipped cream and berries and a dusting of icing sugar. 

This pavlova didn't make it into work. I shared it with my neighbours who were very pleased that I did. It was simply delicious. 

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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mango passionfruit lamingtons

mango passionfruit lamingtons

21 Jan 2024

It's become a tradition on the blog to make something lamington inspired for Australia Day. Last year I made raspberry lamingtons; this year I made a batch of tropical flavoured mango and passion fruit lamingtons.

I used the brown butter sponge recipe from Beatrix Bakes and dipped the lamingtons in mango jelly inspired by this recipe here. The cakes were sandwiched with passionfruit curd and unsweetened whipped cream. If making curd isn't your thing, just buy some lemon curd and stir through some passionfruit pulp. The lamingtons are best made over 2 days giving time for the cakes to firm up before they're dipped.

Here's the recipe for you which makes 12 lamingtons. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C. The cake and curd should be made the day ahead and the mango jelly prepared a few hours before dipping the lamingtons.

Mango passionfruit lamingtons – makes 12

Brown butter sponge
160g plain flour
½ tsp salt
4 room temperature eggs 
150g caster sugar
85g unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

Passionfruit Curd
2 eggs
60 ml passion fruit pulp, reserve 1 tbs
60 ml lemon juice
80g caster sugar
60g unsalted butter, softened and cut into small cubes

Mango Jelly
1 mango, peeled
85g pkt mango jelly crystals
250mls boiling water

Topping and filling 
1 cup each shredded coconut and desiccated coconut 
½ cup passionfruit curd
300ml thickened cream, lightly whipped with ½ tsp vanilla bean paste

 
Sponge
Preheat the oven to 180°C, conventional. Grease and flour the 12 holes in a friand pan. Set aside while making the cake batter.

Sift the flour with the salt onto a piece of baking paper and set to one side. Over a pot of barely simmering water, heat the sugar and the eggs in the mixer bowl until they are hot to the touch. Pop the mixer bowl onto the stand mixer or use an electric hand whisk and whisk for 8 minutes on a medium/high speed until the egg mix is pale, fluffy and can hold a peak. While this is whisking, brown the butter. Either heat the butter in a saucepan over a low heat until the butter starts to turn a toasty brown or do this step in a covered bowl in the microwave. It usually takes about 5 minutes on high in the microwave but check every minute or so. You should have about 75g of browned butter. Remove from heat, add the vanilla and set aside. 

Gently scrape the egg mix into a wide, large-ish mixing bowl. Sift over half the flour/salt mix and gently fold in with a whisk, turning the mix over while spinning the bowl slowly. Fold in the remaining sifted flour until it has been fully incorporated. Slowly pour in the warm melted butter mix and fold in. Divide among the friand holes and bake for 20 minutes or until light golden and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool slightly, then cut around each friand to release before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, refrigerate overnight in a sealed tin. 

Passionfruit curd
To make the passion fruit curd, place the eggs, passionfruit pulp, lemon juice and sugar in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir continuously with a wooden spoon for 8 minutes, until thick, then remove from the heat. You can also do this in a heatproof bowl in the microwave. Microwave on medium for 4-6 minutes, stirring every minute or until thickened. Pass the mixture through a sieve and whisk in the butter. Spoon through the reserved passionfruit pulp. Leave to cool before storing in a sealed container in the fridge.

Mango jelly – you’ll need to start this process an hour or two before dipping.
Put the cakes into the freeze before making the jelly. Process the flesh of 1 mango until smooth to give about 2/3 cup. Combine the jelly crystals in a bowl with 1 cup (250ml) boiling water, stirring to dissolve crystals. Stir in mango pulp. Chill until jelly starts to set around the edge of the bowl.

Assembly
Once that’s done, set up a dunking station with your sponges, bowl of jelly, a wire rack, a small bowl of cold water (this has great non-stick properties), a tray of mixed coconut, and a resting tray for the completed lamingtons.

If the cakes have risen slightly, slice off the tops to give a flat surface. Dip each lamington into the jelly mixture, place on a wire rack over the jelly bowl to drain off any excess jelly. Dip your fingers in the cold water and pick up the lamington and place in the coconut and then roll the lamington in the coconut. Place the lamingtons on the resting tray then refrigerate for about 1 hour, or until the lamingtons have set. Refresh the coconut as needed.

When dry, cut the cakes in half horizontally. Spread one half with curd (1-2 tsp each); pipe or spoon the whipped cream on top and then sandwich together. Repeat with remaining cakes. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2-3 days.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen. 

Bye for now,

Jillian

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chocolate lamington cupcakes

chocolate lamington cupcakes

23 Jan 2022

Australia Day is just around the corner and every year I like to play around with that Australian classic, the lamington. In the past I've made lamington gelato, lamington layer cakes, lamington cupcakes, classic lamingtons and lamingtons soaked with buttermilk pannacotta.

So what did I do this year? I made chocolate lamington cupcakes which I soaked in a vanilla syrup then sandwiched with raspberry jam and a cloud of vanilla flavoured whipped cream. It's the lamington you didn't even know you needed. There is no need to thank me.

 

The cake element is a chocolate Victoria sponge and the cake is quite delicate. You'll need to start this recipe the day before serving to allow the cakes time to cool and firm up prior to icing. Once the icing has dried, the cakes are split and filled. If you don't feel like going to all the effort, I'm sure the cupcakes would still be delicious just iced and decorated with coconut.

 

Here's the recipe for you which makes 11 friand size cupcakes or 12 muffin size cupcakes. For all my recipes I use a 250 ml cup, a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60 g eggs. My oven is a conventional oven so if you have a fan-forced oven you may need to reduce the temperature by 20°C. Remember its best to bake the cakes the day before icing or they might crumble.

Cake  

135g self-raising flour

20g Dutch process cocoa

½ tsp baking powder

Pinch salt

150g unsalted butter, softened

150g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 room temperature eggs, lightly beaten

¼ cup (60 ml) buttermilk 

 

Vanilla Syrup

50g sugar

50mls water

½ tsp vanilla bean paste or ½ vanilla bean, seeds scraped 

 

Chocolate Dip

5g (1 tsp) butter 

30g (1oz) dark chocolate, coarsely chopped 

1 cup (150g) sifted icing sugar 

12g (1½ tbs) Dutch process cocoa, sifted 

½ tsp vanilla extract 

¼ cup (60 ml) milk 

 

To decorate 

½ cup of desiccated or shredded coconut 

Filling

½ cup of raspberry jam 

300 mls cream, softly whipped with ½ tsp vanilla bean paste and 3 tsp caster sugar

 

Cakes 

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C conventional and grease and dust the holes of a friand tray with cocoa. I like to place a small square of baking paper in the base of each friand hole. 

 

Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt together into a small bowl and set to one side. Using a stand mixer or hand held beaters, cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla until the mixture is light in colour and fluffy. 

 

Gradually incorporate the beaten eggs and mix until combined. Add one third of the flour mixture to the batter and mix until just combined. Add half the buttermilk and mix well. Repeat until all the ingredients are just incorporated. 

 

Divide the batter evenly between the tins and level the tops. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cakes bounce back when pressed lightly, or a skewer inserted into the top of the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before turning out onto a rack to cool completely. When cool, place in an airtight container then chill the cakes overnight in the fridge. This will help firm the cakes and make them easier to handle when icing. 

 

Vanilla Syrup

Place the sugar and water into a small saucepan. Place over a medium heat and stir to dissolve the sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil then lower to a simmer and simmer for 2-3 minutes or until the mixture has slightly thickened. Take off the heat and stir through the vanilla bean paste or vanilla pod and seeds. Allow to cool completely before using. 

 

Chocolate Dip

Melt the butter and chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir sifted icing sugar and cocoa into the chocolate. Add the vanilla extract and enough milk to make an icing of a coating consistency. If the icing thickens too much thin it out with a little more milk or water or you can zap it in the microwave for about 20 seconds on high. 

 

Method  

Dip each cake into the chocolate icing covering the top and sides. Place on a wire rack over a tray to catch any drips then sprinkle the top of each cake with the desiccated coconut. Repeat with the remaining cakes and allow the icing to set. 

 

Assembly 

When the icing has set, slice each cake horizontally through the centre using a sharp knife. Using a pastry brush gently dab each cake half with a little of the vanilla syrup letting the syrup absorb completely before filling the cake. 

 

 

Spread the bottom half of each cake with a generous amount of jam then dollop or pipe the vanilla cream over the jam before sandwiching with the top half of the cake. Repeat the process with all the cakes then refrigerate until serving time. 

 

 

Even though I'm now back at work, I shared most of the cupcakes with my neighbours and they were pronounced delicious. Chocolate sponge, raspberry jam and cream. How could you go wrong? 

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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lamington gelato cakes

lamington gelato cakes

27 Jan 2020

I'd planned to make a lamington swiss roll for Australia Day but following 2 failed attempts I put that idea on the backburner. Then I saw a photo of a lamington gelato cake on Instagram which came from Piccolino Gelateria. It consisted of a layer of sponge cake topped with strawberry jam, followed by a layer of vanilla gelato finished with a coating of chocolate and a dusting of shredded coconut. With one failed swiss roll still in the freezer and a freshly made batch of berry jam in the fridge I was halfway there.



2 weeks ago I bought an ice cream maker as a Christmas gift to myself, so now that I can make gelato it was decided - I was going to make my own version of the lamington gelato cake in honour of Australia Day.



I wasn't sure how well the sponge cake would hold up after being in the freeze for a while, so I brushed the cake with some vanilla syrup before topping the cake layer with berry jam.



For the gelato, I made a batch of milk gelato also known as fior di latte gelato. Fior di latte consists of only 3 ingredients so you can't skimp on quality here so I bought some organic milk and organic cream with which to make the gelato. It was absolutely delicious.



I made these ice cream cakes on a 34°C day in my non air conditioned flat which was a challenge. I also made them in a single day, something I wouldn't attempt in the future as there is a lot of time spent waiting for the gelato to firm before you can move on to the next step. Next time I'd make the gelato the night before. The chocolate coating was also a bit too thick - it was the only component that set but it set too quickly! I'm not sure what I can do to rectify that though.



Piccolino Gelateria is in Melbourne and I live in Sydney so I have no idea how closely my attempt matches their version but I was quite pleased with how they looked and especially pleased with the fior di latte gelato.



Here's the recipe for you which makes six 8 cm cakes. For all my recipes I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. I use unsalted butter; all eggs are 60 grams and my oven is a conventional gas oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C.



Lamington Gelato Cakes – inspired by the Piccolino Gelateria Lamington Ice Cream Cake. You’ll need to start this recipe the day before serving.

Ingredients 
1 bought sponge cake, sliced horizontally into 1 cm thick slices or a 3 egg sponge cake baked in a swiss roll tin 
⅓ cup raspberry or strawberry jam
1 batch vanilla syrup (recipe below)
1 batch of fior di latte gelato (recipe below)
1 batch of chocolate topping (recipe below)
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Vanilla syrup
¼ cup caster sugar
¼ cup water
½ vanilla bean, sliced lengthways, seeds removed

Method
In a small pan, combine the sugar, water, vanilla bean and seeds and stir over a low heat until dissolved. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and gently simmer for 5 minutes or until the syrup has thickened. Take off the heat and allow to cool to room temperature before fishing out the vanilla pod. Don’t throw it out – when dry, place it into your caster sugar.

Gelato al fior di latte adapted from this Emiko Davies recipe
550ml full-cream milk
125g caster sugar
200ml cream, chilled

Method
Combine 1 cup of the milk and the sugar in a saucepan over a low–medium heat. It should not boil, but just reach the point where tiny bubbles appear around the edges of the pan. Take the pan off the heat and stir to dissolve the sugar. Cover and allow to cool to room temperature. Add the remaining milk and the cream and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

Churn in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions until frozen and creamy but firm. If you want you can make the gelato in advance but you’ll need to let it soften a little so you can scoop it into the ramekins.

To make the cakes, line the base of six 8cm ramekins with baking paper. Cut the sponge cake into six 8cm rounds and place one sponge round in the base of each ramekin. Generously douse each cake with some of the cooled vanilla syrup. Once the syrup has been absorbed, spoon a few teaspoons of jam over each cake, smoothing with an offset spatula. Place the ramekins in the freezer to firm the cake before filling each ramekin with approximately ½ cup of the fior di latte gelato. Return the ramekins to the freezer and freeze for 3-4 hours or until firm. While the gelato is freezing, make the chocolate topping.

Chocolate Topping
300g 70% dark chocolate, chopped
60mls vegetable oil

Method
Place the chocolate and oil in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (the bowl shouldn't touch the water) and stir until melted. Allow to cool completely. 

When the gelato is firm, run the sides of ramekins quickly under hot water and unmould onto a cold saucer covered with baking paper. Remove the lining paper then invert the cake so the sponge cake is now the base and return to the freezer for another hour to harden before coating with the chocolate topping. 

Place the frozen cakes onto a wire rack placed over a tray to catch any drips. Gently pour over the topping then sprinkle each cake with some of the shredded coconut. Loosen the cakes from the tray and return to the freezer until serving time. It’s a good idea to place the lamington cakes in the fridge for about 15 minutes before serving.



I hope you're all enjoying the Australia Day public holiday. See you all again soon with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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australia day long weekend - canberra

australia day long weekend - canberra

2 Feb 2015

I found a good hotel deal online and decided to drive down to Canberra for the Australia Day Long Weekend holiday. First destination was the Australian War Memorial. I used to work in a Veteran's Hospital and heard many war stories during my time there. Both the good - the mate ship, and the bad -  prisoner of war stories from the Thai Burma railway. The AWM always has interesting displays, this time I saw Ben Quilty's After Afghanistan exhibition.



The War Memorial has a reflection pool and a Roll of Honour.




This is the Roll of Honour. Those walls of poppies and the names of the fallen, always tug at my heart strings.



The Australian War Memorial is quite an imposing construction but there are some gardens and leafy trees under which I took refuge from the heat of a hot Canberra summers day.



From there it was off to Bison's flagship store in Pialligo. 



I was given a personal tour of the store by Brian Tunks, Bison's owner and creative director.





Brian has been busily adding new items to his range and I've snapped up a few pieces in recent times both as gifts for friends and for my own home. I don't own any of the glass range yet, but I do love it so it's probably only a matter of time.





The apple jar is one of my favourite pieces.




There might be one of those jugs in my collection as well.



How could you go past one of the sweet milk bottles?



As my purchases were being wrapped Brian very kindly gave me a beautiful little wisteria bowl as a gift. I'm thinking of recipes which will highlight the colour, so look out for its appearance on the blog during the next few months.



Then it was time to check into my lodgings and check out the buzzing surrounds of New Acton.



Yes they are sunflowers and yes, those are garden beds. 




I'm pretty sure some of the produce featured in my breakfast from A. Baker. Poached eggs have never tasted so good. Last stop was the National Portrait Gallery for a wander before the drive home back to Sydney.

I hope you enjoyed my little trip to Canberra. Next week it's bake to baking on the blog.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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