Mary Berry’s Banana Loaf

I know, I know. Pause. I can just see you rolling your eyes at me right now, but I just can’t help it. Yes. This is another banana loaf/bread* recipe. Listen, it’s getting warmer now and I feel my baking days for this Spring/Summer are on their last leg. I’m not really looking forward to that, but one of the joys of this blog is for me to have a record of what I made throughout these past 6 years. Woah…6 years? Yes, and a few months. I can’t believe how much C&T helped me, changed me and taught me.

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Banana Bread (SF)

Although the temperatures have reached what I would now call scorchio levels (and I was told never to go live in the desert), some readers are still asking me for cake recipes. Of course, I will always do so when I have a few lined up. I made this a few weeks ago, before my almost-baking embargo. I just can’t have the oven on for too long when it’s in the high 20s. Inside.

Veg Box

There’s not a lot I can say here, except that I bought this beautiful veg and fruit box a few weeks back. I was so happy with it that I snapped a few pictures as soon as it was delivered to me, at around 9.30pm on a weekday night. You wouldn’t think so though because J immediately held up the flash and reflector for me when he saw me reach out for my camera. It turned out pretty well.

I’m having this for breakfast…

…and it’s nothing too exciting. Lately I have been making the so-called most important meal of the day a priority. I have to say I love milk. I drink it alone, preferably cold straight from the fridge. Filtered and semi-skimmed. Of course, everyone has their own preferences. This milkshake obsession started as soon as J, J2 and I finished a walk around the Arundel area (near Slindon to be precise). We stopped for a coffee at Pappardelle in the town centre before heading home. We did, and we liked the place so much that we stayed a bit longer than planned. So I ordered a simple vanilla milkshake and wanted to stay there forever. (P.S. This is *not* a sponsored post, just in case you’re wondering.)

This is my method. I warn you: my concoction is a no-frills thing, no sugar no nothing; you don’t need it here. Just a banana or two, topped with milk. If you like you could always add one scoop of good vanilla ice-cream for your sugar fix if you really need one (preferably with those lovely brown specks of pods inside). A whiz in the blender and there you have it.

Now that I remember, I do have some vanilla pods waiting to be used. What is your favourite breakfast meal?

Rob xx

Tea time cakes: Banana Nut Loaf

A couple of months ago I wanted to bake something light and fluffy for tea. I didn’t want to make another chocolate cake; that would have been too boring, even for my self-confessed love of the stuff. So I flipped through the books and found two lovely cakes. I couldn’t choose between them and I tried them both. On two different days in case you ask. The only problem was that when J processed the photos for me I couldn’t remember what cakes they were and where I got them from. Eventually J was the one who did the identifying; nothing out of the ordinary really – it happens. I need to improve my note-keeping…

The following is a recipe which I had in my notes for more than ten years now. It’s a good recipe for Banana Nut Loaf. You can make it quickly if you have people coming over for tea on a Sunday, you can whip it up for yourself and your family, and leave it in the kitchen for anyone who might like something sweet in the afternoon. The original recipe calls for wholemeal self-raising flour but I tried it with half wholemeal and half white once, and it still worked well. If you use plain wholemeal, then mix two teaspoons of baking powder with the flour. The recipe below is close to the one in the book but with a slight variations. It yields one loaf cake.

• 125g soft butter
• 230g soft brown sugar, plus 1 extra tablespoon
• 3 eggs
• 225g wholemeal self-raising flour
• 50g dessicated coconut, plus 2 extra tablespoons
• 15og banana, mashed
• 125ml milk
• 40g walnuts, chopped
• ½ teaspoon mixed spice

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas Mark 4 and grease and line a loaf tin with baking paper. (Believe me, this will really keep the cake nice and moist so don’t skip the lining bit.)
2. In a large bowl mix the softened butter, the 230g of the sugar, eggs, flour, 50g coconut, banana and milk. Whisk all the ingredients together but don’t over beat.
3. Now spoon half of your cake batter into the loaf tin. In a small bowl use your hands to mix half the walnuts, mixed spice, the 1 extra tablespoon of sugar and the 2 extra tablespoons of coconut.
4. Sprinkle half this mix on to the batter in your tin. Then carefully pour in the remaining cake batter. Smooth the surface with a spatula and add the remaining spice, nut and coconut mix on top.
5. Bake the cake for around 1 hour, keeping an eye on it every now and then to make sure the surface doesn’t burn. If this happens cover it loosely with a piece of foil after 25-30 minutes. Check that the cake has cooked through by inserting a skewer or knife. It’s well worth the wait.

   Enjoy!

   Rob x