Alice in Cakeland - Alice Taylor

To Mum and Dad.
This book is as much

yours as it is mine.
And to Pop, the only person who

enjoyed eating cake more than me.
The dream is coming true!
6 A L I C E I N C A KE L A N D
Contents
INTRODUCTION 9
The Building Blocks 15
Before Cake 39
Cakes 85
Puddings 127
Biscuits and Slices 163
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 183
INDEX 187
7
Introduction
When I was a kid, I was a big dreamer. I used to listen to movie soundtracks
and imagine being a successful cookbook writer. In all honesty, nothing
has changed — I still do this most days. I would watch MasterChef as a child
and lie awake at night imagining being a part of it. I always tried to achieve
things that I was too young for. I applied for a baking competition underage.
I submitted an entire book manuscript at 15, to be rejected countless times. I
wrote several blogs and wrote and wrote. But suddenly, at 22, my dad texted
me that MasterChef New Zealand was looking for applicants. I was coming
to the end of my master’s degree and I’d had a truly horrendous year. I
had no idea what direction my life was going in, especially because I had
been rejected from every single scholarship that I’d applied for. And so, I
applied, and afterwards, I had the weirdest feeling in my gut that I might
actually get on. Turns out I did, and my life changed forever. I got it — the
chance to change my life, to follow my dreams and pursue a career that I had
dreamed of since I was a little girl. I ended up placing third and became a
LEFT:My older brother

Paul, twin brother Jack,
and my grandmother Ila
RIGHT: Mum, Dad and me

chef at Baduzzi in Auckland. I was there for a year before heading down to
Queenstown to work as a pastry chef at Amisfield, voted by Cuisine Good
Food Awards as New Zealand’s best restaurant from 2021 to 2024. I wrote a
food column for North & South and began writing this cookbook. The dream
is coming true.
I wanted this to be the cookbook that I had always looked for on the
shelves but could never find. If you are interested in baking, no matter your
level of experience or the equipment you have, this book is designed for
you. I have tried to answer as many questions as you may have, and provide
a collection of recipes that are adaptable for various palates and seasons.
For most recipes the ingredients are few or can be easily sourced, and I have
been very conscious of the price of supermarket goods when designing each
recipe. Each cake and dessert is styled in a way that is beautiful but totally
Elliot, Sam and me filming

TOP LEFT:
MasterChef New Zealand
TOP RIGHT: The team at Amisfield
BOTTOM LEFT: Head chef of Baduzzi and

my first head chef, Federico Schincariol
BOTTOM RIGHT: Executive chef of

Amisfield, Vaughan Mabee
replicable at home. Take the Lemon and Lavender Syrup Cake on page 88,
for example: this is a showstopper, but in reality all I have done is turn out
a cake and shove a bunch of lavender in the centre. Simple, but effective.
Each recipe has enormous flexibility — you can use different syrups, spices
or fruits depending on what you have.
If you are a skilled baker, hopefully you will find some inspiration from
this book. Or, if you are new to baking, this book would be a fantastic place
to start your journey. Kids can absolutely bake from this book. This is a
place to learn, to make mistakes, to experiment with different flavours, and
to have a laugh.
I hope you enjoy cooking from this book as much as I enjoyed writing
it. I hope it gives you more confidence in the kitchen, and that you find
yourself returning to it time and time again. The true test of a good
cookbook is that it is so used that the pages begin to stick to each other from
the sugar and batter that has spilled onto them. If this happens to just one
of these books, I will be happy.
Alice xx
LEFT: Me and Richard, friend and

fellow chef at Baduzzi, cooking
staff meal together
RIGHT: Shooting the book with

the wonderful food stylist Jo
Buttercream MAKES 2 CUPS
300 g (10½ oz) salted I have a complex relationship with buttercream. As someone who
butter, at room prefers desserts to be on the restrained side of sweet, I don’t make
temperature it all that often. With that said, buttercream is loved by so many
395 g (14 oz) can people and it is an essential frosting recipe to have for layering
sweetened condensed cakes and cupcakes.
milk To me, a good buttercream should not be grainy — which
is why I don’t like traditional buttercreams with icing sugar
and butter. However, I wanted to avoid the use of hot sugar and
thermometers because this book, above all else, needs to be easy
and accessible, as well as safe for kids to cook from. I came across
this idea for a cheat’s buttercream from MasterChef Australia winner
Emelia Jackson. She whipped together butter and sweetened
condensed milk to make a frosting that has similar smooth
properties to an Italian meringue buttercream. This frosting is great
to colour and use for layer cakes and cupcakes.
I recommend using this frosting immediately after making
it. Don’t make it in advance or re-whip it, because weird,
unexplainable things can happen to the frosting and it can split.
Just keep the butter at room temperature until you are ready to go.
In a stand mixer or with an electric hand beater, cream the butter

for around 1 minute, until light and fluffy. Slowly stream in the
sweetened condensed milk while continuing to mix. Beat for
another 3–4 minutes, until very fluffy and pale.
NOTE
• Flavour or colour this as you wish. I like to add a little vanilla essence and
often tint the buttercream pink for a celebration cake. You can also add
cocoa powder, or stir through crushed oreos — or anything that your
heart desires!
Buttercream, More than Whipped
CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM:
Cream, Fruit Compote, Salted Caramel and

Th e B uilding Ganache.
B locks 19
Fruit
Compote MAKES AROUND 1 CUP
2 cups fresh or Use this compote to add freshness and flavour to cakes, puddings,
frozen fruit — I love or even breakfast or brunch. Alter the type of fruit as wished.
raspberries for this
2 Tbsp water Place the fruit, water and icing sugar or syrup in a saucepan. Cover
2 Tbsp icing sugar or any and bring to a simmer. Cook for around 5 minutes, depending on
sugar or syrup you have the fruit you are using. Add the cornflour slurry, whisk and simmer
— add more if you like for 1 minute.
things sweeter
Serve warm or cooled.
1½ tsp cornflour
dissolved in 2 Tbsp NOTE
water
• If you would like, you can blend the compote and then strain it to make a
thick coulis.
24 A L I C E I N C A KE L A ND
Th e B uilding B locks 25
Th e B uilding B locks 37
Be f ore C ake 79
Be fore C ake 81
C akes 91
Nutella Bread and
Butter Pudding SERVES 5
400 g (14 oz) white I have been making bread and butter pudding for years, but I began
sandwich bread making this version during lockdown at university. I lived in a flat
Nutella (I use a 220 g (7¾ of six girls and most nights of lockdown we would hunker down in
oz) jar, but no need to the lounge and I would make this. It is one of my fondest memories
measure) — or replace from university. This pudding is not only incredibly easy to make,
with whatever spread but also relatively inexpensive. Nutella is great to use but so is
you like
Biscoff, cinnamon butter, peanut butter, marmalade or jam.
⅔ cup cream
2 cups whole milk Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) fan-bake. Grease a 25 cm (10 in)
3 eggs baking dish.
4 Tbsp caster sugar, plus Spread each slice of bread with Nutella, then roll up and place in
extra for sprinkling the prepared dish.
1 tsp cinnamon
In a bowl, whisk together the cream, milk, eggs, sugar and
ice cream or cream, to cinnamon until combined. Pour evenly over the bread. Let soak for
serve at least 15 minutes — or you can let it soak for hours or overnight.
Bake for 40 minutes, until puffy and golden and set.
Let sit for 5 minutes before serving. I like to serve sprinkled with
sugar and drizzled with extra Nutella, with ice cream or cream.
134 A L I C E I N C A KE L A ND
Puddings 135
Puddings 147
Biscuits and Slices 171

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To Mum and Dad.

This book is as much

And to Pop, the only person who

The Building Blocks 15

Biscuits and Slices 163

LEFT:My older brother

RIGHT: Mum, Dad and me

Elliot, Sam and me filming

TOP RIGHT: The team at Amisfield

BOTTOM LEFT: Head chef of Baduzzi and

BOTTOM RIGHT: Executive chef of

LEFT: Me and Richard, friend and

RIGHT: Shooting the book with

In a stand mixer or with an electric hand beater, cream the butter

Cream, Fruit Compote, Salted Caramel and

Bake for 40 minutes, until puffy and golden and set.

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