Whilst I try to eat as seasonally as possible, and we grow as much as we can in our own little garden, the thing about living in such a large state is that most things are usually in season somewhere. Kiwifruit have, however, always been one of the exceptions to my personal rule. I had assumed kiwifruit were not produced locally, and had therefore succumbed to buying the New Zealand imports.
Western Australia continues to surprise me though, and I recently discovered that Delroy Orchards, a small orchard in Pemberton, are growing bumper crops of local kiwifruit. The fruit produced by this orchard is truly amazing. Large and sweet, and so very green. All of the produce is also grown without pesticides, which is a winner for me. The local season runs from April to July, which I know is late notice for this year, but if you are in WA consider this a heads up for next season. Look for the red kangaroo sticker on the fruit which indicates the local product.
I was given a large box of the local produce to play with, which gave me a great opportunity to experiment. Mr Grumpy likes to eat kiwifruit straight up on his morning muesli, and I think they are great in smoothies and popsicles. However, this time I wanted to bake with them.
The Princess is slightly averse to chunks of fruit in baked goods. I can guarantee if I make any such item I will find little piles of the cooked fruit sitting on a plate on the table where she has been eating (Heaven forbid that she should actually put the plate on the kitchen sink .... but that is a whole other rant). So I decided to puree the fruit before folding it into the cake batter. Let's see how she deals with that!
This kiwifuit, macadamia and coconut bread is quite sturdy, and whilst Mr Grumpy has been eating the slices as is, The Princess and I have been enjoying them toasted and served with lashings of butter. Mr Grumpy, the kiwifruit fan, is not that fond of the slices on top for some reason, and if they offend you leave them off. There is still a whole lot of fruit in the bread itself. The bread also freezes well, so why not stash some slices in the freezer for a speedy breakfast.
Seasonal eating for me is all about the anticipation of fresh seasonal produce. So whilst our local kiwifruit season is over, I am already eagerly awaiting the start of the next one. In the meantime, can I offer you a slice of my kiwifruit packed coconut bread?
Kiwifruit, Macadamia and Coconut Bread
Author: Tania @ The Cook's Pyjamas
- 190g (1 & ¼ cups) plain wheat flour
- 150g (1 cup) wholemeal wheat flour
- 1 Tablespoon (4 teaspoons) baking powder
- 90g (1/2 cup) rapadura sugar
- 45g (1/2 cup) shredded coconut
- 60g macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
- 2 kiwifruit (approximately 300g)
- 1 large egg
- 120ml (1/2 cup) coconut milk
- 40ml (2 Tablespoons) macadamia or olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 kiwifruit, extra, peeled and sliced
- Preheat the oven to 195C (175C fan forced).
- Grease and line a 11cm x 21cm loaf pan.
- Combine the flours, baking powder, sugar, coconut and macadamias in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Peel and blitz the two kiwifruit. You should have 250ml (1 cup) of puree. I like to do this with a handheld blender.
- Whisk the egg, coconut milk, oil and salt together with the kiwifruit puree.
- Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the lined pan.
- Arrange the sliced kiwifruit over the top of the batter.
- Bake for 45 - 50 minutes [Note 1], or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove the cake to a rack and allow to cool completely.
*I was provided with a very large box of local kiwifruit to play with. Whilst I was under no obligation to write this post, I always like to promote great local produce, which is why you are lucky enough to read about it.
