Crumb Cake with Pineapple & Custard

This Sunday in Melbourne is of course Father's Day! We had 15 people over for lunch and i was tasked with making two desserts! The first dessert was easy - the always satisfying torta di chocolate but for the second dessert i wanted to try something a bit different. In my daily perusal of Eats on the iPad app Flipboard, i came across the recipe for a Hazelnut Plum Crumb Cake on Smitten Kitchen. Of course plums aren't in season in Australia at the moment so i opted to make a tweaked pineapple version (also happens to be my dad's favorite fruit).

This cake is similar in ways to the crumbles that we're familiar with here in Australia, except with a base that makes it easily slice-able! And the best part is that the custard is baked IN to the cake so there's no need to dollop it on top! Unless you're feeling extra piggy today.

Green Mango Salad with Chargrilled Chicken

 Finally! Just over 12 months ago today i arrived back in Melbourne from my first trip to Thailand. I arrived rested, exciting, and... craving! My trip to Thailand consisted of binge consumption of four things: Red pork curry (made...tick!), pad thai (made...tick!), mango and sticky rice (made...tick!), cocktails (made....tick!) and papaya salad (not yet made!). It's soooo hard to find green papayas here in Australia, but this week as i was walking through Coles i noticed green mangos! With no hesitation i piled three into my basket and trundled for the cashier, eager to race home and make this salad.

 If you have not had green mango or green papaya before you might feel put off by the thought, but don't. There is no strong sourness or bitterness imparted by the unripe fruit. Instead, it's more about the texture. Crisp and fresh like cucumber but firmer and less watery. With the combination of the refreshing mango sticks and the salty/sour/spicy dressing, this dish is a killer summer salad which i will continue to make so long as i can get my hands on green mangoes and papayas.