Growing up in the 60s and 70s here in Australia, we didn’t have access to grocery stores like we do now. To think we could just pop down to the grocery store to pick up some ‘unseasonal’ apples, pears or strawberries (because that’s all our kids will eat) would’ve been just ludicrous. One thing was for sure and that was we ate what we grew and even though Mum didn’t have a vegie patch or fruit orchard, just about everyone in our neighbourhood had a choko vine and a papaw (or papaya) tree. There was always an abundance of papaws and lucky we liked them, because that’s all we got. (Unless of course Mum went to the fruit and vegie coop with other Mum’s or picked up something from those country roadside stalls when we were out on our Sunday drive.)
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| Circa 1971 on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland |
Going through some of my Nanna’s old photos recently and I found this one of the papaw tree she had in her backyard on the Sunshine Coast, just weighed down with fruit. My Nanna and Mum always took photos of their plants and trees. My Mother always said people used to comment on how nice her skin and clear her complexion was and she claimed it was from eating papaw.
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| Papaya – slightly sweeter than papaw and more of a ‘red’ flesh where the paw paw is more orange. For more information, click here on the Papaya Australia website. |
I have to admit, I’ve not really ‘cooked’ with it before. We always had it in fruit salad, as is or Mum cooked it up as a chutney or pickle. I recently discovered there are some wonderful ways to use up this delicious fruit. In fact, here are 27 ways to use papaya / papaw. The texture is very much like cooked pumpkin and would be delicious in cakes, loaves, muffins or as I’ve cooked it in this Streusel topped Papaya Yoghurt Cake. This is my favourite yoghurt cake recipe and I thought I’d try baking the papaya on top of the cake with this crunchy topping http://www.supplychainforum.com/member.php/17043-Paulsen with just a hint of coconut. Its very tropical tasting and such a delicious, moist cake. There is a lot of liquid in the papaya and when you mash it for the cake, you might want to strain it before mixing it through. I didn’t and it didn’t affect the cake too much except that it had to be cooked a bit longer than expected.
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Streusel topped Papaya Yoghurt Cake
- 2 cups plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- pinch salt
- 125gm butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup Greek yoghurt
- 1 small papaya (or half large papaya)
Streusel topping:
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup plain flour
- 1 tbs water
- 1/4 cup coconut
- 1/4 cup butter
- Preheat oven to 160 deg C (320 deg F).
- Grease and line 2 loaf pans (or any pan you like – you could even make these into cupcakes) with baking paper.
- Cream butter and sugar together until sugar has dissolved.
- Add vanilla and beat each egg in, one at a time. Add yoghurt and mix until combined.
- Sift flour, baking powder and salt into bowl. (Don’t lick the spoon or you won’t be able to stop. This is my favourite tasting cake batter of all time.)
- Remove seeds from papaya and scoop out flesh into a bowl. Mash with a fork or potato masher. Remove as much liquid as you can.
- Mix 2 tablespoons of cake batter with the papaya flesh. Distribute cake batter between between cake tins, top with papaya mixture.
- For the streusel topping, mix all ingredients until it forms clumps and sprinkle on top of the papaya in the cake pan.
- Bake for approx 40 mins or until a skewer comes out clean. Remember that the papaya layer will still be quite moist so check in a couple areas.
- Allow to cool before slicing. Can be sprinkled with icing sugar if desired.
If you’d like to try your hand at baking, cooking or preparing papaya or papaw, stay tuned for an exciting cooking competition on my blog where you can win a $250 Woolworths shopping voucher! Details to follow. For more information on papaya or papaw and the growing, harvesting and health benefits, check the Papaya Australia website, here.
Sharing at Rattlebridge Farm.
