Six Seasons: Lemon Myrtle Coconut Cake
- Words by Peppermint
The calendar of the South West’s Nyoongar people includes six annual seasons – Birak, Bunuru, Djeran, Makuru, Djilba and Kambarang – which all reflect the changes in the natural world that come with the passing of time. Each is traditionally used as a guide to what to harvest and where to move across the land.
We’ve teamed up with our friends at Fremantle’s Lighthouse Baking to bring you six recipes that each fit with a Nyoongar season – helping you observe all six seasons with something delicious and truly timely. The penultimate recipe reflects the Bunuru season of February and March – the hottest part of the year, when lots of white flowering trees are in full bloom. Known at the time of adolescence, it’s a period of hot winds and a shortage of fresh water. Traditionally a sweet drink was concocted from the blossoms of flowering gums, and annually in late summer and autumn, families and friends would come together around freshwater sources along the coast. What better way to celebrate a coming together than with this delicious, seasonal lemon myrtle cake!
Ingredients
½ cup (125g) unsalted butter
1 cup (250g) caster sugar
4 large eggs
2 cups (185g) desiccated coconut
1 cup (125g) Lighthouse Cake, Sponge & Steamed Bun Self Raising Flour
2 tsp ground lemon myrtle
Method
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat well after adding each one.
Stir in coconut, flour and ground lemon myrtle gently until combined.
Put mixture into a greased and base lined 20 cm (8”) round cake tin and bake at 160º celsius for 1 hour or until cooked.
Syrup
Ingredients
1 cup (250g) sugar
½ cup of water
1 tsp ground lemon myrtle
Juice of 1 lemon
Method
Bring all ingredients to the boil stirring until sugar is dissolved.
Strain lemon myrtle from syrup and pour the syrup over cake as soon as it comes out of the oven.
Leave cake to cool in tin before turning out.
JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
Brighten up your inbox with our not-too-frequent emails featuring Peppermint-related news, events, competitions and more!
explore
More articles
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…. Which means we are officially entering party season. Work parties, friend-dos, family get-togethers and then we’re straight into New Year festivities. If you’re lucky enough, you might be staring down the barrel…
Look, I don’t want to make anyone panic but IT’S DECEMBER!!! If you’re planning to give homemade gifts, you’re going to have to act fast. …
Furred, feathered, fishy, scaled… The pets we choose are as diverse as our personalities. (And apparently, quite often we resemble each other.) But they all…
When you hang a painting on a wall, the story stays put. But when you wear a beautifully made garment that may as well be…
Hang out with us on Instagram
“We love that we can bring a hint of imagination and whimsy into everyday life by making ordinary objects fun. We’ve learned to appreciate the little wins and to take a moment for each step we achieve.”
Disillusioned by the realities of fast fashion, design grads Emily May and Sidonie Moore ditched clothing for a business that finds fun in the everyday. Enter @TheNonsenseMaker: a collection of unique homewares, fun wall art, greeting cards and more that breathe life into Emily’s illustrations: “I love the idea of taking real-world objects and changing your perspective in a way that brings magic and whimsy into everyday life!”
In issue 64’s feature ‘It all makes sense’, we chat to the Naarm/Melbourne-based duo about their sustainability philosophy, TV re-runs and their commitment to local makers. At stockists now!
Photos: @MeAndMyGirl
#PeppermintMagazine #TheNonsenseMaker #LocalMakers #SustainableCraft
Any New Year’s resolutions on your list? We love this from @OtterBeeStitching - “be brave enough to suck at something new”.
There’s no points for perfection, but you’ll get a trophy for trying. If nothing else this year, take the leap and try something new.
#OtterBeeStitching #Embroidery #BeBrave #TrySomethingNew #EmbroideryArt
Sunday serving suggestion ☀️
Gorgeous photos from @JolieFemmeStore - who make sweet garments from vintage bedsheets.
#PeppermintMagazine #SlowSunday #SwitchOff #Unplug #ReadAMagazine
A toast to the old you 🥂
We wholeheartedly love this post from the brilliant @EmilyOnLife:
“2026: Reinvent, burn it down, let it go (whatever it is). Year of the Snake it up. Exercise your boundaries, exercise your body, take one teeny step every day towards a life that feels better to be in.
But don’t you dare shit on your old self while you do it.
Hold yourself with reverence and tenderness and respect, because you got you this far. You did your very best with the information and tools you had at the time. You scraped yourself together, you made it work, you survived what felt impossible to survive: again and again and again.
You are perpetually in the process of becoming, whether you can feel it or not, whether or not you add it to your 2026 to-do list.“
Some very wise words from @Damon.Gameau to take us into 2026 🙌🏼
⭐️ We made it!!! ⭐️
Happy New Year, friends. To those who smashed their goals and achieved their dreams, and to those who are crawling over the finish line hoping to never speak of this year again (and everyone else in between): we made it. However you got here is enough. Be proud.
It’s been a tough year for many of us in small business, so here’s to a better year in 2026. We’re forever grateful for all your support and are jumping for joy to still be here bringing you creativity, kindness and community.
We’re also excited to be leaping into the NY with our special release sewing pattern – the Waratah Wrap Dress!
How great are our fabulous models: @Melt.Stitches, @KatieMakesADress and @Tricky.Pockets - and also our incredible Sewing Manager @Laura_The_Maker! 🙌🏼
Ok 2026: let’s do this. 💪🏼
#PeppermintWaratahWrapDress #PeppermintPatterns #SewingPattern #MeMade #WrapDress #WrapDressPattern
