Old fashioned blueberry semolina cake with blueberry vanilla glaze

Simple cake for a cosy weekend tea time :) This a hard combination to resist - juicy blueberries in a moist yoghurt cake. Well... just try it yourself!

Ingredients:

80 grams plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
200 grams fine semolina
160 grams caster sugar
150 grams yoghurt
3 eggs
⅔ cup melted butter, cooled
half of vanilla pod (keep the rest for the glaze)
300 grams fresh blueberries

Sift the flour, baking powder, semolina and caster sugar together and place in a bowl.

In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla and yoghurt.

Pour the eggs mixture along with the melted butter into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Add the blueberries and fold through very gently.

Pour the mixture into the cake mould and bake in a pre-heated 170°C oven until golden and cooked through - about 40-50 minutes. Also you can bake it in a muffin pan or individual cake pans. If so adjust the baking time to 20-30 min. 

Remove from the oven and let the cake sit in the mould for about 5 minutes then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool.

For the blueberry glaze:

2 tsp blueberry juice (from fresh or frozen blueberries),
half of vanilla pod,
1 tsp lemon juice,
icing sugar to the right consistency (about 3/4 cup)

To make blueberry juice mash the blueberries in a medium sized bowl releasing lots of dark blue juice. Remove the blueberry skins from the juice and discard.  Add lemon juice and vanilla seeds, then add icing sugar until right consistency. Pour the glaze over cake.

Burgers with Roasted Eggplant & Red Capsicum & Minted Yoghurt

This is a flash Mediterranean-style hamburger, without the bun. I have served the burger on a bed of crushed chickpeas for texture, but you could use hummus for a similar flavour. This makes great picnic or barbecue food and goes well with a full-bodied Shiraz. Recipe adapted from Cuisine magazine.

Ingredients
1 cup yoghurt
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely chopped mint
salt and freshly ground black pepper
400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed well
2 tablespoons tahini
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
750g minced beef
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 large (350g) eggplant, cut into 2cm pieces
2 red onions, cut into 2cm pieces
2 red capsicums, cored and cut into 2cm pieces
¼ cup olive oil, plus extra for brushing
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 cups wild rocket leaves
grilled flatbread to serve

Method
Combine the yoghurt, 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice and the mint. Season to taste. Refrigerate until serving. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Crush the chickpeas coarsely with a potato masher, leaving some whole. Stir in the tahini, garlic, remaining lemon juice and the oil, and season to taste. Set aside.

Combine the mince, onion and allspice, season to taste and mix well. Shape the mixture into 6 burgers. Place the eggplant, onion and red capsicum in a roasting pan, toss with ¼ cup oil and roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes, turning occasionally. Remove from the oven and stir in the balsamic vinegar.

Brush the burgers with oil and grill, panfry or barbecue on both sides until browned and cooked to your liking (3-4 minutes each side for medium).

Spoon the chickpea mixture on to plates, top each with a burger and some rocket, and serve the eggplant mixture on the side. Smear minted yoghurt around the plates and drizzle the whole dish with a little extra oil. Serve with grilled flatbread. Serves 6.