May, 2026 - Horizon Guest House

I’m always searching for the perfect chocolate cake recipe – one that uses oil instead of butter so that it’s moist, doesn’t have too much sugar, and isn’t too complicated to whip up at short notice. I found a recipe that was pretty close and made some of my own modifications. It’s super moist, and the recipe is straight-forward. It’s also perfect for splitting and filling with whipped cream and your favorite jam.

Ingredients

1 ¾ cup (250g) all-purpose flour

⅔ cup (56g) cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup (200g) granulated sugar

½ cup (110g) packed light brown sugar

¾ teaspoon (4.5g) fine table salt

2 large eggs

½ cup (120ml) canola oil

¾ cup (180ml) Greek yoghurt (full fat or non-fat is fine)

1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract

1 cup (240ml) hot coffee

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two 8-inch cake pans, option to dust lightly with flour or cocoa powder (the cocoa powder clings to the sides of the pan and can help the cake to rise higher). Line the base with circles of parchment papers. (It’s best not to use springform pans as the cake batter can leak out).

Make the coffee and keep it hot. I usually make an espresso (I use decaf since not everyone wants the caffeine) and add hot water to make up to a cup. If you are using instant coffee, add 1 tablespoon of instant coffee granules (or 2 teaspoons of espresso powder) to 1 cup of boiling water. Put aside and continue with making the cake batter.

Combine the dry ingredients. Sieve the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda into a large bowl. Add both types of sugar and salt, and whisk to blend well. Ensure the ingredients are combined, working out any lumps of brown sugar.

Combine the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Adding the eggs, oil, Greek yoghurt and vanilla, and whisking to blend.

Use a spatula to make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, then pour in the wet ingredients.

Mix with an electric handheld mixer on medium-low speed until blended. Option to use a stand mixer with whisk attachment. The mixture will be fairly dry.

Add the hot coffee gradually in two stages, mixing until evenly combined and the batter is smooth. The batter will be quite thin.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and tap the pans on the countertop to allow any large air bubbles to surface and pop.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until cakes spring back when pressed gently and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer pans to a wire rack and let cool for 15 minutes before running a knife around the sides and turning the cakes onto the rack to cool completely.

Optional: Half each cake horizontally and remove the top layer of one of the cakes (this gives you four layers – three flat and one with the top). Then you can build your layers, a layer of whipped cream, then jam, then whipped cream and then the remaining top of one of the cakes.

Did you know that pineapples come in two varieties? The common yellow pineapple and the white pineapple. Also known as the sugarloaf pineapple, or the Big Island sugarloaf, the white pineapple can be elusive, and is usually found only on the Big Island or on Kaua’i.

We have a large number of white pineapple plants growing here at Horizon Guest House, as part of our fenced vegetable garden (in order to protect from the odd wild pig).

The white pineapple generally has a much sweeter taste, and a much lower acid profile. The flesh of the pineapple is white, rather than yellow, and the core is edible (it’s generally softer and less fibrous).

When ripe the Big Island Sugarloaf pineapple will have a green exterior and will feel tougher than a yellow pineapple. A golden yellow color on a white pineapple likely indicates that it is overripe.

Pineapples are a bromeliad. They can reach 3 to 4 feet high. The fruit itself emerges from the plant at the end of the central stalk. The long leaves around the stalk are used to collect and absorb water, rather than through the roots.