Banana Cake

Delicious banana cake - I've loved this cake since I was a teenager! Courtesy of the lovely Tina!

THE RECIPE

Tina's Banana Cake

8oz self raising flour
4oz caster sugar
4oz butter
2 eggs
2 ripe bananas
1tsp of bicarbonate of soda
2 tbsp hot milk
1 tsp baking powder
(Optional icing - Icing sugar, lemon juice)

1. Preheat the oven to 150C and grease a baking tin lightly with butter (8in tin works well). 

2. Cream the butter and sugar together with an electric whisk.

3. Beat the 2 eggs and stir them in.

4. Heat up the milk in the microwave until hot (around 30secs is fine) stir in the bicarbonate of soda to make a frothy mixture.  Mash the bananas.  Add them both into the mixture together and stir slightly with a wooden spoon (not too aggressive).

5. Sift the flour into the mixture and add the baking powder, stir these in gently until all the ingredients are combined.  The mixture should be quite firm and stick together. 

6.  Pour the mixture into the baking tin and smooth off the top.  Bake in the oven for around 50 mins or until a knife comes out of the cake clean. 

7. Once cooked carefully remove cake from the tin and leave to cool on a cooling rack.  

8. (optional) Once cake is cool sift some icing sugar into a bowl,  add a few drops of lemon juice and then add boiling water bit by bit as you stir to create a thick but spreadable icing.  Judge the amount of icing based on the size of the top of the cake.  Spread over and wait to set!

This cake is delicious and also lovely eaten warm (put a slice in the microwave for 20secs to enjoy warm).

MUFFINS:

This recipe also makes delicious muffins.  Put paper cases into a muffin tin and pour the mixture into them evenly.  Bake in the oven at 180C for 20 minutes or until knife comes out clean.  Add icing to each muffin. 

Thanks Tina!

Double Chocolate Cake

Lovely moist chocolate cake with white chocolate icing.  This cake is perfect for chocolate lovers and is delicious!

THE RECIPE

Double Chocolate Cake
(Serves 12)

For the Cake:
175g butter (softened)
175g brown sugar
155g self raising flour
20g cocoa powder
1tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 medium eggs
100ml creme fraiche

For the icing:
175g white chocolate
125g butter
4 tbsp milk
200g icing sugar
1 Cadbury's flake to sprinkle on the top (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 170C.  Grease 2 baking tins and line the bases with baking paper (20cm/8" tins are perfect - I had one slightly smaller and it made quite a nice tier effect, so it doesnt matter on the sizes too much)

2. Place the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl, whisk together until combined.  An electric whisk is best as you'll get a much smoother softer cake at the end.

3. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into the bowl.  Beat the eggs and add them into the mixture along with the creme fraiche.  Whisk it all up together.

4. Divide the mixture into the 2 baking tins.  Smooth the tops off with a spatula and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.  When the cakes come out, leave to cool in their tins slightly.  Then turn out onto a wire baking tray to cool fully.  Remove the baking paper.

5. Now for the icing...Place the White chocolate, butter and milk in a microwavable bowl.  Put the bowl into the microwave for 20 seconds at a time, stirring each time the timer goes off.  Continue this until the mixture is smooth. 

6. Sift the icing sugar into a mixing bowl and then add in the melted chocolate mixture.  Beat together with a whisk (again an electric whisk is best).  Allow the icing to cool, then whisk again until the mixture is thicker and keeps it's shape slightly when stirred.  (You could put it in the fridge for a while to speed up this up a bit).

7. Use a little of the icing to sandwich the two cakes together.  Then spread the rest over the top and sides of the whole cake.  Before the icing sets, sprinkle a Cadbury's flake (or decoration of your choice) over the top.

Enjoy! This one's quite a lot of work, but it's worth it!

Inspiration - Home, Parties and Weddings

I came across this website in the week:

http://www.angelatmytable.com/

It's got lovely ideas for home decoration, parties and weddings.  All with a lovely soft vintage feel.
The sell most of the stuff too!

Happy Easter

Enjoy the time off!

Chocolate-Caramel Cupcakes

... in case you haven't got enough chocolate treats this Easter!  Chocolate cupcakes with soft caramel centre. 

THE RECIPE

Chocolate Caramel Cupcakes
(Makes 12)

175g self-raising flour
20g cocoa powder
175g brown sugar
100g unsalted butter (room temperature)
2 eggs
125ml milk (room temperature)
Cadbury's Caramel chocolate bar or Rolos

1. Preheat oven to 180C.  Layout cupcake cases onto a muffin tray. 

2. Use a large mixing bowl, sift in the flour, add the sugar and cocoa powder.

3. Add in the butter, milk and whisked eggs.  (An easy way to get the butter and milk to room temp is just use the microwave for 10-20 seconds - although put them in a bowl/cup first!)

4. Mix together with a wooden spoon or electric whisk if you have one.

5.  Spoon in a little mixture into each cupcake case, add a rolo or square chunk of Caramel chocolate, then cover with more mixture until they're all evenly filled.

6. Put in the oven for 20 minutes. 

7. Leave to cool for 2 minutes then transfer to a wire rack for cooling. (although they are delicious served hot!)

The cakes will last for approx 4 days if kept in a sealed container.

I also used a rubber heart cupcake tray - a similar one can be found here:
http://www.marksandspencer.com/Marks-and-Spencer-Silicone-Muffin/dp/B004HCFX40
Be sure to grease the tray shapes first with butter. 

 Enjoy!

Something BIG for Easter

A couple of years ago a friend and I did something epic - we created a creme egg the size of an Easter egg!

Wrapper made by painting tin foil

1.5kg of chocolate

Pouring in the fondant

The beast on the scales

13 portions!

The recipe is here:

http://www.pimpthatsnack.com/project/302/?ref=quicksearch

It was super sickly and took a long time to create but we ended up with 13 large portions to share out among friends !
Egg-cellent!

Simple Stuffed Peppers with Chorizo

A simple recipe that's a bit different and only takes 30 mins!

Bit messy to look at but lovely to eat!

THE RECIPE

Chorizo and cous cous stuffed peppers
(Makes 4)

4 Peppers
Chorizo - 1/2 pack
300g cous cous
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
2 tomatoes 
4 mushrooms
1 red chilli
Grated mozzarella (or cheese of your choice)

1. Preheat the oven to 190C.

2. Slice the top off each pepper, remove seeds and hollow out.  Place on a baking tray and put in oven for 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, prepare cous cous according to pack instructions.

4.  Heat some oil in a pan and add chopped onion and garlic.

5. Chop and add all other veg, stirring occasionally.  Then dice the chorizo and add to the pan.  (Add a little hot sauce or black pepper here if you like)

6. Fluff up the cous cous with a fork, add the contents of the pan and stir up together. 

7.  Remove the peppers from the oven and fill with the cous cous mixture.  Add some grated cheese on top and return them to the oven for 5 minutes. 

That's it! Serve with salad for lunch or with meat for dinner.  They are more filling than they look though - 2 is probably enough for a meal.  I also had some cous cous mixture left over which I had for lunch the next day. 

Enjoy!

Low-fat Blueberry Muffins

BAKING

Not completely good - but better than a normal muffin!

THE RECIPE

Low Fat Blueberry Muffins
(Makes 12)

5 tbsp olive oil
225g self raising flour
115g wholemeal flour (plain can be used as a substitute)
2 tsp baking powder
zest 1/2 a lemon
1tsp of lemon juice
85g caster sugar
50g brown sugar
1 small banana (best when they are very ripe and going black)
1 egg
290ml low fat yoghurt
225g fresh blueberries

1. Heat oven to 200C. Line muffin tin with paper cases. Mix both flours with the baking powder and the lemon zest.  Stir in both sugars, but keep back 1 tbsp of the caster sugar.

2. Mash the banana, beat the egg, then mix them together in a bowl with the yoghurt and oil.  Now pour into the flour mix and stir together with a metal spoon, they just need to be combined not mixed.  Add the blueberries and stir again.  (be careful not to crush them!)

3. Spoon mixture into the tin, each one should be very full.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until risen and golden brown.

4.  Mix the tbsp of caster sugar and the lemon juice together.  When the muffins are done brush the lemon and sugar over the top while they are still hot.  Leave to cool for around 15 minutes. 

The muffins will last for around 2 days - yum!

Facebook

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Mother's Day Bunting

CRAFT

I've designed some decorations for Mother's Day and thought I would share them with you all. 

Free printable bunting - click link below

To create your decorations ou will need:
-Access to a printer
- Scissors
- Ribbon
- Double sided tape
- A cocktail stick

Print out several pages of the pdf, about 5 pages will probably be enough.  Cut out the triangles, and attach to a ribbon.  Wrapping paper ribbon or string could also work.  The best way to attach is double sided tape, but staples will also work - just hang it up high so no one can see them!
There are also some cake toppers on the page - cut these out and stick to a cocktail stick.  These can then be used to decorate cakes. 

Click HERE to download

Enjoy!

Sewn cards

SEWING

I experimented with making some cards with my sewing machine.  I use fabric remnants in different patterns and then sewed a square and a heart onto paper.  I used thin paper so it wouldn't damage the needle and a full A4 piece so the paper can be folded in half and then half again to hide the back of the sewing.  I used them as Thank You cards but they could for Mothers Day?

Need: Fabric remnants, Coloured paper, Sewing machine. (Could be done by hand)

Giant Custard Cremes

FIND

Giant Custard Cremes!

They're from Costa Coffee.  To be honest they were quite sickly and we ended up sharing one - but it was a good surprise and somehting a bit different for a Saturday morning cup of tea!