Australia has a wide variety of native ingredients that have many uses. Baking Business delves into the world of Australian native ingredients, looking at some of the most popular in baking. We also had chats with some of the people in the industry who use some of these ingredients regularly.

For centuries, Indigenous Australians have been using the ingredients that come from this land to create incredible and delicious baked goods. Much of the traditional knowledge in this space has been lost due to colonisation and the devastating impact that had on Indigenous communities around the country. But now, the players in Australia’s culinary scene are now starting to incorporate more native ingredients into their ranges of offerings.

The work of many Indigenous farmers, growers, researchers, and activists has allowed the return of traditional growing, cultivation, and farming processes. This, in turn, has allowed for the resurgence of Australia’s native ingredients.
For those looking to incorporate more native ingredients into their bakeries, Baking Business has compiled a list of some of the most versatile ingredients and some of the ways in which they can be used.

Kakadu Plum (Terminalia ferdinandiana)

Kakadu plums grow in Northern Australia and look nothing like the European plums that many Australians are used to. Small and green, these superfoods have one of the highest Vitamin C contents in comparison to other fruits. They have a tangy, sour flavour with a hint of sweetness and make a great addition to a variety of fruit pastries, such as tarts and turnovers, or incorporated into jams and fruit fillings for added flavour and colour. They’re also great for adding colour and flavour to drizzles, icings, and other sweet finishing touches.

Kakadu plum fruit and plant

Davidson’s Plum (Davidsonia jerseyana)
Davidson’s plum is another of Australia’s native plums; they resemble the European plums much more closely than the Kakadu plum, with their deep purple skin and tart, tangy flesh. The tartness of Davidson’s plum pairs well with sweet pastries and desserts, providing a balanced flavour profile. They are perfect for distilling down into jams and compotes to serve inside or alongside pastries and scones. They can also be incorporated into ice creams and sorbets for a refreshing, tangy treat.

Edible fruit of the Davidson’s Plum tree

Finger Lime (Citrus australasica)

When people begin to think of native ingredients, finger limes are one of the first things that spring to mind. These tasty citrus fruits are well-known for their unique caviar-like texture. Finger limes are zesty and bitter and add a layer of brightness to a variety of dishes. They can be used in citrus-based desserts such as tarts, cakes, and sorbets, or as a garnish for desserts to add a burst of flavour and visual appeal. The juice can also be used to flavour icings, creams, and custards.

Finger limes or caviar limes

Quandong (Santalum acuminatum)

Another of Australia’s native berries, the quandong grows high up in slender trees across central Australia. Also known as the native peach, quandongs have a tangy, tart, and slightly sweet flavour that pairs well with other fruits in pastries, pies, and tarts. They can be used fresh or dried, and their vibrant red colour adds visual appeal to dishes. Quandongs can also be used as a natural flavouring and colourant in icings and glazes.

Desert quandong fruits in Curtin Springs, Northern Territory

Rosella (Hibiscus sabdariffa)

Although wild rosella isn’t strictly native to Australia, having been introduced from Africa thousands of years ago, it was used widely by First Nations people for generations. It currently grows in the northern parts of Australia. The petals have a tart flavour that is reminiscent of raspberries, rhubarb, and plums. They make great additions to jellies and chocolate and also add a great pop of colour as a garnish.

Rosella flowers

Lilly Pilly (Syzygium luehmannii)

Lilly pillies (also known as riberries) are also a native Australian berry, growing in study rainforest trees. They have a tart, cranberry-like flavour with a hint of clove, making them suitable for fruit pastries, pies, and crumbles. They can be used fresh, dried, or cooked down into a compote or jam. Lilly pillies can also be used as a natural flavouring in icings, glazes, and dessert sauces.

Lilly Pilly berries

Lemon Myrtle (Backhousia citriodora)

Lemon myrtle is one of the naturally occurring myrtle shrubs that grows in Australia. The leaves that come off the large shrub have a strong, lemony flavour with a hint of eucalyptus, which makes them perfect for use in desserts. It can be used fresh or dried in cakes, cookies, and tarts to add a refreshing, citrusy taste. The leaves can be infused into creams, custards, and icings to impart their unique flavour.

White flowers and buds of the Australian native Lemon Myrtle

Aniseed Myrtle (Syzygium anisatum)

Another of the Australian native myrtles, aniseed myrtle is related to its cousin the lemon myrtle, but has a sweet, aniseed flavour with a hint of eucalyptus. Like its relative, aniseed myrtle works well in cookies, cakes, and breads. The leaves can be ground into a powder and used as a natural flavouring in icings, creams, and custards, or infused into syrups and glazes for an aromatic touch.

Aniseed Myrtle

Muntries (Kunzea pomifera)

Muntries are Australian native berries that grow on plants that live close to the ground. The fruits have a sweet, spicy, and tangy flavour reminiscent of a mix of apple and cinnamon. They can be used in fruit pastries, pies, and crumbles, or cooked down into a compote or jam for added sweetness and flavour. Muntries can also be used as a natural sweetener and flavouring in icings, glazes, and dessert sauces.

Australian native Muntries

Saltbush (Atriplex nummularia)

Saltbush is a naturally occurring, hardy shrub that is known of its grey-blue leaves. It has a salty, earthy flavour, which makes it a great addition to savory baked goods. The leaves can be used fresh or dried in breads, tarts, and pastries, or as a seasoning in fillings and sauces. Saltbush can also be used to create flavoured salts or infused oils, which can add a great level of complexity and depth of flavour to desserts.

Saltbush, a common bush in Australia’s desert areas

Wattleseed (Acacia victoriae)

Wattleseed has a rich, nutty, and slightly bitter flavour with notes of chocolate and coffee. It is grown widely across the country and can be found natively in all mainland states. It can be roasted and ground to make a flour that can be used in breads, cakes, and cookies, adding a unique depth of flavour. Wattleseed can also be used as a natural thickener in custards, sauces, and creams, or sprinkled over desserts for added texture and flavour.

Wattleseed tree

Mitchell Grass (Astrebla lappacea)

Another of Australia’s native grasses, Mitchell grass also has a seed that can be ground to a flour that is typically used in breads. Mitchell grass flour has a nutty and sweet flavour, which is quite distinctive and unique. This depth of flavour typically works best in breads.

Gibber and Mitchell Grass plains

Native Australians are doing a lot of work around researching the best practices that will allow the return of these ingredients and their introduction to the commercial market. As more and more Australian bakers and pastrycooks start to incorporate native ingredients into their ranges, it’s important to keep in mind where the ingredients are coming from, to make sure that the produce is being sourced ethically and sustainably, and to ensure that the money from the sales is going back to the Indigenous farming communities that have put the work in to get the ingredients to the market.

Michael James (GrAiNZ)

Michael James, along with his wife Pippa, has been a strong proponent of native ingredients in baking for many years and now promoting them in the work he does for GrAiNZ. It’s important, he says, for us to look to the ingredients that are native to the country we live in.

When he and Pippa first started The Tivoli Road Baker, there wasn’t much on the market in the way of native ingredients.

“There was nothing about these Indigenous products when I first arrived from the UK, but when we set up the bakery no one was doing that kind of stuff so it was important to us to use local ingredients—what was local to the area around us,” Michael says.

“We went to Bruce Pascoe and took part in one of the initial harvests of kangaroo grass that he did at Mallacoota airport.”

In working with Bruce, Michael learnt more about native ingredients and how to use them.

“It was an interesting experience working with Bruce; he was figuring out a lot of information that was either lost or destroyed, how things are harvested and how they were used,” Michael says.

“Things have come a long way since then, and there are now a lot of Indigenous-owned companies [in the space], which is important.”

And now, the use of native ingredients in the baking industry is only growing.

“I see a lot more bakers using native ingredients, so I think it’s hopefully going to grow and grow and grow. And then regional Indigenous sellers and growers of native ingredients will just pop up all around the country all the way from Queensland to WA and Tasmania,” Michael says.

“I would say it’s grown, and I’d love to see it grow even more. It’s exciting when I see more and more bakers on Instagram or when I visit seeing them use local ingredients more and more, especially native ingredients to Australia used in the right way.”

As for Michael’s personal favourite native ingredient, he goes straight to the sweet and delicious Davidson Plum.

“My sweet favourite is Davidson Plum. We did a take on a Monte Carlo sandwich biscuit, so we just replaced the standard jam with Davidson Plum jam, and that was really beautiful. It was on the menu all the time and was really popular and successful,” he says.

“It also made it into our book The Tivoli Road Baker, where we highlight and talk about the Indigenous ingredients that we used at the time.”

Michael also enjoys working with different native ingredients in bread. During his tenure at The Tivoli Road Baker, he worked with lots of different native grains, as well as a range of ingredients added to loaves of bread.

“We made a sourdough bread—wattleseed, red gum honey, and macadamias. We combined all of them and made a sourdough, which became a very popular weekend special and was probably my favourite yet,” he says.

Something else to remember, Michael says, when using native ingredients, is that it’s important to give back to the Indigenous communities and companies doing the hard work to get native ingredients on the market.

“It’s important to support the farmers and the Indigenous people who are going to gather these ingredients,” he says.

As for those looking to add more native ingredients to their range, Michael says bakers should just start trying new things and experimenting.

“Get the raw ingredient and just taste it and see where it’s going to go—use your background. With the Davidson Plum, we made a jam, and then we thought, ‘where does a jam go?’ It worked really well in a cookie, it was just a bit of trial and error,” he says.

“Or with the muntries, we made a bread that wasn’t so nice, but then they were really great on top of a pastry cream or in a croissant or Danish. It’s important to taste the ingredients and then troubleshoot.

“It’s a bit trickier with breads than with pastries, but it’s easy to work out—we found it easy to incorporate the ingredients.

“Something that people can do is use strawberry gum or a flavoured myrtle like anise myrtle in an infusion in a custard or dry them and use the unique flavours we have here in Australia to enhance and inspire your baking!”

Davidson plums

Eddie Stewart (Tokyo Lamington)

Eddie Stewart is one of the co-owners behind Tokyo Lamington, a successful Sydney-based bakery that specialises in lamingtons. Since the inception of the brand back in Japan, he and co-owner Min Chai have consistently been promoting the use of native ingredients in their lamingtons and pastries.

“Ever since we started Tokyo Lamington, we’ve always had at least one item on the menu with a native flavour,” Eddie says.

“We started doing some flavoured lamingtons on Tokyo. We did a lemon myrtle and yuzu flavour, which gained a lot of interest over here.”

When the brand moved back to Australia at the start of COVID, Eddie and Min brought this commitment to native ingredients back with them. This culminated in a collaboration between Tokyo Lamington and Melbourne Bushfood, a food brand dedicated to revolutionising the way Aussies eat, in 2021, when Tokyo Lamington release a limited collection of nine lamingtons made to highlight and showcase native ingredients.

Since that collaboration, Melbourne Bushfoods has been the place Tokyo Lamington sources all of their native ingredients from.

“They can basically track where the ingredients come from—we were really big on that. We did a lot of research into where the money goes and where the food is from. We wanted to support those local communities that are actually harvesting these products by hand,” Eddie says.

This is what led Tokyo Lamington to Melbourne Bushfoods.

As for his favourite native ingredient to work with, Eddie says that’s an easy choice.

“I love strawberry gum. It’s my favourite. It’s basically a gum leaf, with the most beautiful flavour,” says Eddie.

“We mix it a lot with fresh strawberries. It has a really beautiful fragrance, the smell of strawberry. The taste is super sweet, eucalyptus-y and gummy. It’s amazing, it enhances the flavours.”

Eddie is hopeful that we will start to see more and more bakeries taking steps to incorporate native ingredients into their menus.

“I think it’s something a lot of bakeries and owners will experiment with,” he says.

“I think knowledge is the key here, and actually teaching your customers. But you don’t know until you try—like us, we took the chance. We put a whole monthly menu up with native ingredients and had a pretty good reception.”

As part of their efforts to educate their customers about native ingredients, Tokyo Lamington will also place the native plants that they’re using around their shops, so that customers have a better idea of what these plants look like.

“So that people can see what it’s all about, where it all comes from. We also do spice packs—if we’ve done strawberry gum that month, we’ll also sell strawberry gum that month. We’ll have little tasters there if people want to try it by itself.” Eddie says.

“We like to educate our staff on what the ingredients are, how they’re harvested and where they’re from. Getting people involved is important.”

In terms of advice for those looking to use more native ingredients in their products, Eddie says that it’s important to do your research and make sure you understand the flavours before putting them out into the world, to ensure that you are doing them justice.

But more than this, Eddie says, it’s important that bakers just jump in and give it a go.

“You don’t know until you try,” he says.

“There are some great products to use. I think there’s ingredients for every kind of bakery or every aspect. There’s a lot on the shelf—everyone else has got to delve a little bit deeper.

Australian eucalyptus strawberry gum leaves

Fiona Harrison (Chocolate On Purpose)

Fiona Harrison is the proud Wiradyuri woman behind Chocolate On Purpose, a chocolate brand that is dedicated to promoting native ingredients as well as sustainable and ethical business practices. Chocolate On Purpose’s premier chocolate range Bush Food Chocolate provides a fusion of chocolate and native Australian botanicals; and Fiona is encouraged to see the usage of these ingredients being taken up around the country.

It’s great, Fiona says, to see the increasing inclusion of Indigenous people and native ingredients on popular cooking and baking shows like MasterChef.

“Little seeds get planted. It’s like, until you buy a blue car, you probably never notice the blue cars on the road. And once you get a blue car, every car you see on the road is blue,” she says.

“So creating awareness of any kind, especially positive awareness, will cause people to be more and more aware of First Nations and think more about our Culture and traditions.”

While Fiona is buoyed by the increasing usage and larger profile that native ingredients are getting in the industry and the media in recent years, she is worried that Aboriginal people are not sufficiently involved in the process.

“The danger that I see happening is that whilst the conversation around these ingredients does not involve the provenance of them, the traditional use of them, they’re in danger of becoming generic,” she says.

“That’s what I hope to [combat] through my business. I share the traditional use of the ingredients in my chocolate, so there’s an awareness of the First Nations’ Country that it’s grown on and the traditional people who grew it, as well as the traditional use of that ingredient. In that traditional use is not just a culinary expertise, but it’s Lore—it’s the deep knowledge about that plant and its Cultural significance.”

This is something, Fiona says, that has been incredibly well received by her customers over the 10-plus years that Chocolate On Purpose has been in business.

“People are really interested both from a taste perspective and on an informational level as well,” she says.

When she was selling her products at local handmade and farmers’ markets, Fiona says that the signs she had up advertising chocolates infused with native ingredients were a strong enticement for people, who would come for the interesting and new flavours and stay for a chat about the history behind the ingredients.

“People would walk past and their interest would be piqued because it was chocolate—most people like chocolate—and then they’d see the sign and it would be ‘What is this?’ and I’d give them a taste. And you could almost see their taste buds talking on their faces, because they would taste things they were not accustomed to,” Fiona says.

“Then I’d start sharing what the health benefits of the ingredients were, the traditional uses. I always find the segue to be talking about the bigger Indigenous issues.”

To people who are looking to incorporate more native ingredients into their produce and their foods, Fiona has many words of encouragement. She would, however, advise people to be mindful of where the ingredients are coming from.

“Definitely have a look at what things in your kitchen you can replace with a native ingredient. But then go that extra inch and try to learn a bit more about that plant and that ingredient,” Fiona says.

Fiona’s personal favourite native ingredients are those that come a little bit out of left field and have a quirky and interesting-ness to them.

“I love the combination of rosella and pepperberry that we do in a dark chocolate. The chocolate, rosella, and pepperberry layer on your palate separately. Our palates are as unique as our fingerprints, so it was rare that two people who passed through my store would have the same experience of the flavour combo,” she says.

“Another really meaningful thing was that, traditionally, the Indigenous people use rosella for heart tonification and pepperberry for circulatory stimulation. And scientifically, those two ingredients have been shown to have those benefits.”

As for the way forward with the use of native ingredients, Fiona is hopeful for the future.

“I think there’s a growing movement to return sovereignty to First Nations people in the Australian native food and botanical supply chain” she says.

Rosella flower buds

Main page image: Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia