Blueberry Banana Loaf

Bananas never seem to be wasted in our house anymore... I am always on the hunt for new and inspiring ideas for bananas which have gone past their green phase for me.  Yes, I am one of those! This recipe was adapted from Simply Recipes but adding in the pops of blueberries which gave a yummy burst of flavour.  

Ingredients

190g plain flour

3 medium bananas (mashed)

75g melted butter

150g granulated sugar

1 egg

3 tablespoons unsweetened greek yoghurt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

Method

1) Preheat the oven to 175C and line a 4x8 inch loaf pan.

2) In a bowl, mix the bananas, butter and yoghurt.  Add in the sugar, vanilla and egg.  

3) Add the flour, salt and baking powder.  Do not overmix.  Just incorporate the mixture.

4) Add the blueberries through the mixture

5) Pour the mixture into the pan and bake for 55 mins to 1 hour until a skewer inserted comes out clean. 

6) Cool completely before cutting (unlike what I had done with a very impatient husband waiting to try!) Still delicious and better the next day when the blueberries had incorporated into the cake and left little highlights of colour!   

Sea Salt Chocolate & Caramel Cookies

There is only word for these.YUM!!!  Give them a try and see for yourself! 

The lovely crunch of the caramel on the edges and the chewy chocolately centres make these divine... 

Chocolate Cookies with Yummy Chewy Centres

Approved by everyone who had the chance to tuck into one these!!! Yummy Chocolate cookies.  This is such a great recipe - almost macaron like on the outer but with yummy gooey centres!  These will definitely be in my oven again this weekend.. 

They are literally ready in 30 minutes and they won't disappoint any choco fan.  

I was disappointing out of dark chocolate at the time, but my adaption seemed to work as well.

Ingredients

210g dark chocolate (or I used 210g milk chocolate with 2 heaped tablespoons of cocoa powder)

175g brown sugar

80g plain flour

2 medium eggs

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Line 2 baking sheets with silicone mats or greaseproof paper.

Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave (about a minute should do the trick)

Mix the eggs and sugar until combined.  Add the remaining dry ingredients.

Stir until incorporated.

Add in the melted chocolate mixture.  Mix well.

Using a small spoon, add small balls of dough to the baking sheet.  Ensure you leave 1inch between as they do tend to spread.

Bake for 10 minutes.  Wait for a couple of minute and transfer to a cooling rack.

yum yum! :-)

Peanut Butter Crunch Cookies

My all time favourite...anything with peanut butter, preferable the crunchy one!!
I stumbled across this lovely recipe from Nigella.com and it was so simple to get these little yummies in the oven.  If you LOVE peanut butter, you will adore these.  I reduced the salt content in these as 1 teaspoon sounded like a little too much, but this can be adjusted accordingly. :-) 

Lemon Curd and Blueberry Pavlova

What is it pavlova's going down so well at dinner parties?  Well, I thought I would give this a quick go... store bought lemon curd, but you could make your own and a fresh punnet of blueberries... Done! 

Yummy lemon curd with blueberries scattered on top! What more could we have asked for!

I used the following recipe, but you could try your personal favourite and of course, add whichever topping tickles your fancy! 

Ingredients

3 eggs seperated

200g caster sugar

I/2 jar of store bought lemon curd

1 punnet blueberries

300ml whipped cream

1) Preheat the oven to 150C.  

2) Line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper or silicone sheets

3)Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they have formed soft peaks.  Gradually the caster sugar and keep mixing until the mixture forms stiff peaks.  The mixture should appear glossy and thick.

4) Divide the mixture and spoon onto each of the baking sheets, in 12-15cm rounds.  

Bake for 15minutes, then reduce the heat to 120C and bake for a further 50minutes.  

5) Turn off the oven and leave them to cool in there completely.

6) Whip up the whipped cream, if required. 

7) Spread the lemon curd over the pavlova and add 2-3 tablespoons of the whipped cream.  Sprinkly with half of the blueberries.

8)  Add the top layer of pavlova on top and repeat!

How simple was that!! :-)

Orange Poppyseed Cake

This was the first experiment with oranges... I'm not sure why I hadn't tried this combination earlier.
With a light syrup which is fed into the cake whilst still, gives this a fabulous moist texture.  You can actually see from the photo below where there a little pockets of the yummy syrup inside.

Now for the yummy recipe.  This was the first I tried and I'm sure i'll be using it again...
I adapted the recipe slightly, but i'm sure the recipe as is with the vanilla essence as apposed to orange extract would be just as good!

Ingredients

375g plain flour

125ml milk (I used whole milk)

50g poppyseeds

220g caster sugar

1 teaspoon orange extract

3 eggs

2 teaspoons baking powder

Finely grated zest of 2 oranges

125ml freshly squeezed orange juice

Syrup

125ml freshly squeezed orange juice

50g caster sugar

20g butter

Zest of 2 oranges (optional, I didn't add this time around)

Method

1)Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.  Grease a 24cm cake pan and line with greaseproof paper.  

2) Place milk in bowl and add the poppyseeds.  Stand for 10-15minutes.

3) Beat the butter, sugar and orange extract in a bowl and mix until light and pale.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each.  Gently fold in the zest, juice and poppyseed mixture.  Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold into the mixture.  

4) Spoon mixture into the cake pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.  Cool the cake for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a plate/cake stand.

5) Whilst the cake is in the oven, place all the ingredients into a pan and heat on a medium heat, until the sugar has dissolved and the butter melts.  Turn up the heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes.  Whilst the cake is still warm, insert holes into the cake with a skewer and pour over the hot syrup.  Also, add the zest if using.  This is delicious served warm, but tastes just as good once cool.