Celebrate: Rosella & Lemon Myrtle Bar Cakes
- Words by Peppermint
The festive season is upon us, so we’ve partnered with our good friends at Lighthouse Baking to bring you a selection of delicious cakes using native ingredients that are perfect for celebrations of all sizes! Our Rosella & Lemon Myrtle Bars pack a lot of punch into a small package – take yours to the park for a festive picnic, or when dropping over to the neighbours for Christmas drinks. Each bite is a mouthful of comfort and joy!
Cake
150ml rice bran oil
3/4 cup raw caster sugar
2 tsp chia seeds soaked in 1 cup soy milk
1/2 cup apple puree
2 cups Lighthouse Premium All Purpose
Self Raising Flour
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
15g lemon myrtle powder
1 level tsp ground nutmeg
lemon myrtle leaves, to decorate
Syrup
12 rosella flowers, washed with the seed
pods removed
1 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup water
50mls lemon juice
pinch of salt
Icing
175g butter, softened
270g icing sugar mixture, sifted
125g cream cheese, softened at room temperature
(for a vegan option, use dairy-free alternatives)
Method
Preheat oven to 180C (or 170C fan forced). Lightly oil and flour 6 mini loaf tins.
Place the oil, sugar, apple puree and soy milk-soaked chia seeds into a mixing bowl. Sift in the flour and bicarb soda, and add the ground lemon myrtle and nutmeg. Beat until smooth. Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared tins. Place on a large baking tray and cook for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely.
For the syrup, place sugar and water into a small saucepan and mix well together until sugar is dissolved. Place saucepan on stove at high heat and bring to the boil, simmering continuously for 15 minutes. Take pan off the heat and carefully add the lemon juice, watching out for splatters. Add the rosella flowers two at a time to the syrup, stirring gently to just coat. Remove each rosella and arrange on baking paper, right side up, so they’ll keep their shape as they cool.
For the icing, combine butter, sifted icing sugar and softened cream cheese in a bowl and whip with an electric mixer on high for approximately 10 minutes until smooth.
Decorate each cake with a dollop of frosting, drizzle with the syrup and add a rosella flower and a lemon myrtle leaf.
RECIPE: NAOMI ZAVACKAS, STYLING: LYNDEL MILLER, PHOTOGRAPHY: MINDI COOK. CREATED IN COLLABORATION WITH LIGHTHOUSE BAKING.
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Pattern via the link in bio! 🪡
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Raise those needles, folks – art and craft can change the world. 🧶
Link in bio for the pattern.
Images: @Gather_Fiber @NeedleAndSkein @a2ina2 @KyraGiggles Sandi.204 @WhatTracyMakes AllieKnitsAway Auntabwi2
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TWO WEEKS TO GO! 🤩
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Life Instyle – Sydney/Eora Country
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If you need a nudge, @ePrintOnline are offering Peppermint sewists a huge 🌟 30% off ALL A0 printing 🌟 when you purchase the Special Release Waratah Wrap Dress pattern – how generous is that?!
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As the world careens towards AI seeping into our feeds, finds and even friend-zones, it`s becoming increasingly hard to ignore.
We just wanted to say that here at Peppermint, we are choosing to not print or publish AI-generated art, photos, words, videos or content.
Merriam-Webster’s human editors chose `slop` as the 2025 Word of the Year – they define it as “digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence.” The problem is, as AI increases in quality, it`s becoming more and more difficult to ascertain what`s real and what`s not.
Let`s be clear here, AI absolutely has its place in science, in climate modelling, in medical breakthroughs, in many places... but not in replacing the work of artists, writers and creatives.
Can we guarantee that everything we publish is AI-free? Honestly, not really. We know we are not using it to create content, but we are also relying on the artists, makers and contributors we work with, as well as our advertisers, to supply imagery, artwork or words created by humans. AI features are also creeping into programs and apps too, making it difficult to navigate. But we will do our best to avoid it and make a stand for the artists and creatives who have had their work stolen and used to train AI machines, and those who are now losing work as they are replaced by this energy-sapping, environment-destroying magic wand.
Could using it help our productivity and bottom line? Sure. And as a small business in a difficult landscape, that`s a hard one to turn down. We know other publishers who use AI to write stories, create recipes, produce photo shoots... but this one is important to us.
`Touch grass` was also a Merriam-Webster Word of the Year. We`ll happily stick with that as a theme, thanks very much. 🌿
