One of the best things about being home in Hong Kong for the summer is that we have so many opportunities to test out recipes and cook. We love any excuse to have our extended family over for dinner. They are honestly the best part of our lives.
When I first got home from the airport after a long 20 hour delay , my uncle came to pick us up from the station because dad was at work. My dad was so disappointed he couldn’t pick us up from the airport because he loved the fact that we would run up to him give him a big hug. Before we left for college, whenever dad comes home from work and especially from a long business trip, we always made sure to ghim a big bear hug.
My aunt took Zoe and I grocery shopping in the busy streets of the Wanchai Wet Market introducing us to all the best organic stores for our vegetables and meat for this meal. We spent our entire dinner talking about bitcoins and cryptocurrency because my other uncle wanted to help Zoe and I prepare for our internship with him this summer. It felt amazing to be sitting around a table laughing and talking, spending time with the people I love.
I think food is a beautiful and refined way of expressing love and gratitude. When you give a plate of cookies or brownies, it is a gesture of thoughtfulness and time. Whatever it is, cooking always takes time and nothing beats a gesture of love by giving your time to create something for them. With a heart full of gratitude and words I find hard to express, Zoe and I lovingly and painstakingly prepared a delicious Thai feast last night.
On the Menu we had Braised Beef Massaman Curry, Chilled Thai Tofu Herb Salad, Thai Egg Salad and our Vegan Pineapple Fried Rice with Nuts. The fragrant scent of coconut, cilantro, lemongrass and mint graced our home…and like any Asian family everybody was desperate to eat. Before I even had the chance to take a shot for my instastory, they were already digging in! I love my family and seeing them stuffing their faces in between grunts of “yum”, “mm”, “Can you pass that?” it was obviously a winning meal. (My family’s enthusiasm for food is really what keeps our creativity spinning all the time!)
But we saved the best for last – our cake. We ended the evening with a beautiful lemon poppyseed cake that we have been testing out for weeks. After making this cake for a graduation party and a birthday celebration, this cake only proved to be a continuing success. I knew I could only make the best of the best for my incredible family. I was so excited to serve this to them.
The cake was ever so soft, moist and fluffy with a fragrant nutty aroma from the poppyseeds. Despite their protests of being “too full”, the cake was demolished. My uncle who didn’t want dessert because he was too full from the dinner said “eating the cake was definitely worth it”. My mom complained that the cake was too small to share between all of us. And of course it was.
Knowing that none of them usually eat gluten free or dairy free receiving nods of approval and compliments on how moist the cake is I knew we had gotten the best combination yet.
- ⅔ cup coconut flour
- ⅓ cup tapioca flour/starch
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp GF baking powder
- 5 eggs
- ¼ cup + 3 tbsp maple syrup
- ⅔ cup non-dairy milk
- ⅓ cup lemon juice
- zest of 2 lemons
- 2½ tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp Poppyseeds
- Whipped Cream (Optional)
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Sift all the dry ingredients together
- Mix together all the ingredients.
- Grease a 6" cake pan. Pour in the batter.
- 6" Cake Pan: Bake for 40-50 minutes.
- Loaf Pan: Bake for 35 mins
- Cool completely before slicing in half and slathering on whipped cream. It also tastes amazing on its as it is!
LOVE,
Zoe & Mia
(This post is featured on Melt in Your Mouth Mondays, Inspiration Monday, Inspire me Monday)
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