I know I’ve said it before, but I really am amazed by the wonderful writing talent we have in Australia, in particular in the romance genre. It’s great to walk into my local bookseller or browse my favourite online vendor and see rows or lists of home-grown stories, and it’s a delight to be able to showcase many of these authors on Friday Feast.

My guest this week is Heather Garside. Heather’s country to her bootstraps, growing up on a cattle property in central Queensland, and now living with her husband and son on a beef and grain farm in the same area. So it’s little wonder she’s chosen to write about love and the land.

Her latest release is Breakaway Creek. Check it out.

BREAKAWAY CREEK

Two city women, a century apart, find love and adventure in the Queensland outback.

Betrayed by her boyfriend, Shelley Blake escapes the city on a quest to unravel a century-old family mystery.  Her search takes her to a remote cattle station run by Luke Sherman.

Shelley and Luke try to resist their mutual attraction as he fights to reclaim his children from a broken marriage, and Shelley uncovers the truth about her ancestors, Alex and Emma.

Emma’s story of racial bigotry and a love that transcends all obstacles unfolds in the pioneering days of the 1890s.

Set in the 19^th and 21^st centuries, Breakaway Creek is a passionate rural romance of love and its consequences.

Shelley and Emma are separated by time but they’re bound by a dark secret to a place called Breakaway Creek.

Breakaway Creek can be yours with just a few clickety-clicks! Purchase the ebook direct from publisher Clan Destine Press or from Amazon, Kobo, Lulu and Nook. Or visit Clan Destine Press for the paperback, coming this week!

Now please welcome Heather.

Kidding myself it’s Sugar-Free!

This is based on a recipe from Taste.com but I have varied it slightly.

The use of honey instead of sugar attracted me to this recipe as I have to avoid sugar. (Probably shouldn’t have honey, either, but I seem to get away with it better!) For wholemeal flour, I use spelt flour which seems to be ‘true’ wholemeal, as opposed to the normal wholemeal which is supposedly white flour with the husks re-added.  As I have been trying to avoid wheat flour, I often grind raw buckwheat in the blender and substitute for wheat flour. However I was in a hurry this morning so used mostly standard flour. It does taste better but unfortunately white flour turns to sugar as it’s digested, so in fact if I eat I’ll probably suffer for it! Sometimes it’s worth it, though. 🙂

Pistachio Orange Cake

125 g butter, melted

1/2   cup honey

1 ½ cups SR flour

½ cup wholemeal plain flour

¾ cup almond meal

1 tablspn grated orange rind

½ cup orange juice

1 cup milk

3 beaten eggs

¼ cup chopped pistachio kernels

Combine butter and honey, sift flours into a large bowl and add almond meal. Make a well in centre4 and add the remaining ingredients, combine well. Pour mixture into a greased and lined 22 cm round cake pan, sprinkle top with pistachios.

Bake for 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours at 160° fan-forced or 180° normal oven. If it starts to brown too much, cover loosely with foil. Test with skewer, stand in pan for 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

May be drizzled with extra honey but I’ve skipped this bit!

Healthy cake! Everyone will want a slice of this. Thanks Heather.

So, Feasters, do you have any tips to cut sugar from your cooking? What about other ways to keep sweets healthy?  I like to whizz up rolled oats and add them to muffins for extra fibre, but I’m a bit hopeless at cutting out sugar. Maybe you’re the same and like your sweets indulgent too?

If you’d like to learn more about Heather and her books, please visit her website. You can also connect via Facebook.