Honeyed Banana & Rasin Cake

I'm forever baking with bananas. In fact, in this household we get through bunches every week. 

Occasionally a newer, sparkly-er, green-y bunch will swam its way onto the countertop and the old bunch will sit there lifelessly & go brown, until someone (usually me) bungs them into the freezer & thinks I gotta bake them up.  

I could have baked my 'nana bread but I wanted something sweeter...

You'll need: 

3 very ripe bananas (the darker the sweeter)
175g butter, softened
175g self raising flour
175g caster sugar (or you could use half muscovado for a richer flavour) 
2 eggs
100g rasins 
1 tsp vanilla extract or paste 
2 tbsp honey 

All you gotta do is... 
Preheat the oven to 170°C & line a loaf tin with baking parchment.
Beat the butter and sugar together in a bowl until it's all combined & then slowly crack your eggs in one by one. Add the flour and fold through.  

Chop up your buh-nananas. Keep 'em chunky if you like them chunky or mash them up if you want a smoother texture. Add them to the cake mixture. 

Carefully fold in the vanilla extract and raisins. 
Spoon the mixture into your prepared loaf tin & bake for an 1hr or so. 

Check regularly. If the top is browning too quickly place some tin foil over the top. 

And there you go. This is how banana cake should be - sweet, fruity, warm, moist. I literally could eat it at every meal of the day. But that's another story. 

Sun-dried Tomato & Olive Bread

This is my "favouritist" bread recipe.

It tastes all Mediterranean-y with those fresh olives and juicy little sundried 'matos. Matched with a delicious crunchy crust and a soft dough, what's not to love? 
If you want to fill your home with the aroma of *puts on Italian accent* Mammas tomato loaf you'll need: 

• 250g strong flour
• 7.5g salt
• 30g of oil (I always use oil from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes to add flavour) 
• 10g fresh yeast
• 135ml water
• 75g olives, chopped
• 40g sun-dried tomatoes  

1. Start by mixing all the ingredients together, minus the olives and sun-dried tomatoes. Making sure, at first, the salt and yeast don't touch. 

2. Now for the fun (if not slightly aggressive) part. Everyone has their own techniques; I always smack the dough on the kitchen top (see what I mean, a little aggressive) and then decide to calm down and just knead the dough well. Your dough should be elastic-y and smooth. 

Mould into a shiny ball and cover with cling film and leave to rise for an hour. 

3. Add the olives and the tomatoes. Mould back into a rough ball and press firmly down. Sprinkle with flour and mark with a cross. Place the loaf on a baking sheet and cover with a tea towel. Leave to prove for an hour in a warm place. 

4. Bake at 220 °C for 30 minutes. Remove and leave to cool on a wire rack. 

Or if you're me and massively impatient, not to mention hungry, cut into it asap. Bad baking etiquette, I know...

P.S this makes the best Summer-y sandwiches!  

Carrot Cupcakes

This is an easy peasy cupcake recipe that I use over and over again and always get great results with. It should make about 12 cupcakes. 

I promise you they'll turn out beautifully moist and they'll never be dry (hence no need for icing). Ideal for mid-afternoon munchies washed down with a giant pot of tea. Or grab one for a mornin' gorge (obviously with all that veggie/fruit influence it means they're practically good for you...maybe!? Okay... you got me, maybe not...they're a lot yummier than granola though!) 

You'll need: 

• 150g carrots, peeled
• 70g rasins
• 175g self-rasing flour, sifted
• 150g light muscovado sugar
• 3 medium eggs
• 100ml sunflower oil
• grated zest of 1 orange
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda
• 1 tsp ground mixed spice
• 75ml buttermilk 

1. Heat the oven to 170°C and line your muffin tin with cases. Coarsely grate the carrots into a large bowl. 

2. Then add to the bowl the raisins, flour, bicarbonate of soda, light muscovado sugar, orange zest and mixed spice.

3. Put the eggs, oil and buttermilk into a jug and lightly whisk. If you can't find buttermilk in the shop use this link and make a substitute (easy I promise)! 

4. Pour the egg mixture into the flour bowl and stir until combined. Divide the mixture into the paper cases. 

5. Bake for 20 mins or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 5 mins then leave to cool. Maybe eat the ugly one...just to make sure they're not poisonous or anything... 

'Nana Bread

When I was a little girl I called a banana a 'nana. 

A little embarrassingly it stuck.

I honestly have to remind myself that unless you're under the age of 5, it's not socially acceptable to call bananas 'nanas. But maybe just this once I can get away with it...

Banana bread is beautifully sweet & moist & its super easy to bake. It's also perfect at anytime of day (or evening if you're a night owl like me).

One Bowl Chocolate & Raspberry Brownies

I've been on a baking binge recently. 

If you fancy something lazy then this brownie recipe (tweaked from here) is a perfect match. Don't sweat; its super simple and also you only need one bowl. Barely any washing up and brownies! Win, win. I've made them more chocolatey, less fatty and all round just a little bit better. I also changed the cooking time which is very important when it comes to brownies. You'll need:

• 200g dark chocolate 
• 150g milk chocolate 
• (Heck, if you want triple chocolate raspberry brownies add 50g of white chocolate chunks)
• 200g butter
• 370g light muscovado sugar
• 4 eggs 
• 140g plain flour
• 50g cocoa powder
• 200g raspberries (frozen or fresh either are fine) 

1. Heat the oven to 180C. Line a baking tray tin with baking paper. Put the chocolate (except any chunks), butter and sugar in a pan and gently melt over a bain-marie. Mix together and remove from the heat.

2. One by one, stir the eggs into the melted mixture. Sieve in the flour and cocoa powder then fold together. Put in any chocolate chunks and half of the raspberries, and mix in making sure not to mush them. Pour the mixture into the tray and scatter the rest of the raspberries on top for presentational lark. 

3. Bake for 40 minutes. Leave to cool in the tin. This will help them to set and stay moist for longer. 

And heres the secret bit...cut your brownies with a plastic knife. Your cuts will be super clean because the plastic knife won't absorb the heat of the brownies. When the brownie is cooled by a metal knife it'll stick and drag when cutting. So next time you're grabbing a sandwich from Pret pocket one of their plastic knives. You'll never look at a plastic knife in the same way again!