Sugar Savvy

Of all the types of sugar around, one of my favorites is icing sugar, or confectioner’s sugar. In a city where white Christmases (or white Julys) are impossible, for a lot of my life sifted icing sugar was the closest I came to snow. When making cakes my mother used to sit me at the dining table, spread newspaper to cover the surface, put a wide sifter in my hands and make me sift a box of icing sugar. I watched in wonder as I created hills and mountains, and then caused avalanches with a tiny nudge.

Not only is the texture of icing sugar amazing, but also its ability to create delicious icing with just a few ingredients. Recently with a surplus of passion fruit I made an icing for a lemon cake, with the sweet sugar complementing the tangy passion fruit and lemon.

Zesty Passion Cake

Lemon Cake

185g butter, softened
3/4 cup castor sugar
1 tbsp grated lemon zest
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour, sifted

Preheat the oven to 160 C and line the base and grease the sides of a loaf tin.

With electric beaters beat the sugar, butter, lemon juice and zest together until soft and sugar is almost dissolved. Alternate adding flour and eggs, mixing well in between. Finish with the flour and use a wooden spoon to do the final mixing.

Spoon the cake batter into the loaf tin, level the top, and bake for around 40 minutes. Test cake by inserting a skewer and if it comes out clean the cake is done.

Passion Icing

90g cream cheese, softened
40g butter
1 1/2 cups icing sugar, sifted
2 passion fruits

Beat cream cheese and butter until well combined, add icing sugar and continue beating. Halve the passion fruits and add juice and pulp to the icing mixture. Mix well before spreading on cake. If consistency is too stiff add another half passion fruit, if consistency is too runny add a little more sifted icing sugar.

You could strain the passion fruit to remove seeds, which some people find more aesthetically pleasing. I sprinkled some chopped strawberries on for a little colour.