Banana and Chocolate Chip Goodness.

So, tomorrow is my good friend's birthday BBQ in this wonderful rainy weather. I asked her what she would like me to bring, and banana cake was requested. Luckily, I have this really great recipe that I found in some random magazine and thought it sounded exciting. So I tore it out and gave it a whirl! The original recipe is iced with an incredible passionfruit icing, (which I could eat all day) but it was requested that this time it was plain. I did some playing around with the recipe anyway so it became...


Banana and Chocolate Chip Slices with Dark Chocolate Drizzle


Equipment: 


- Mixing Bowl
- Weighing Scales
- Wooden Spoon/Electric Whisk
- 20cm Round Cake Tin


Ingredients:


- 160g of Unsalted Butter
- 165g of Light Brown Soft Sugar
- 2 Free Range Eggs
- 350g of Mashed Banana (about 3 1/2 bananas)
- 150g of Plain Flour (sifted)
- 100g of Self Raising Flour (sifted) 
- 1 tsp of Bicarbonate of Soda
- 2 tbsp of Hot Milk
- 1tsp of Vanilla Essence
- 80g of Dark Chocolate Chips (I do realise they come in 100g bags, but refuse to say where the other 20g went.....sometimes I snack when I bake.....)


For the Topping:


- I used this bad boy, which you simply place in a bowl of hot water until it melts, split the edge of the bag and drizzle over your cake - so easy! 

Method: 


1) Heat the oven to Gas Mark 4/180oC. Grease a 20cm round cake tin and line with greaseproof paper. Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl (use a wooden spoon or electric whisk) until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add in the mashed banana.


2) Combine the bicarbonate of soda and milk in a small jug and stir into the banana mixture. Stir in the flours, in 2 batches. Lastly, add the chocolate chips and vanilla essence and pour into the tin. 


3) Bake for about 45 minutes and then place on a rack to cool.


4) I then sliced the cake, and added the drizzle - but you can leave the cake whole if you wish. 


5) Should you wish to try it with the passionfruit icing (SO YUM) simply mix 160g of Icing Sugar with 2 tbsps of passionfruit pulp and pour over the cake. 


Here they are:

Much Love xxx

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Warning: Chocolate Overload.

So, tomorrow evening I am going to our Church women's meeting and since I haven't been in a while I decided it was the perfect opportunity to bake. Again. One of my all time, never lets me down, amazing cupcakes guaranteed cookbooks is from this bakery. In London, I love visiting here - it's worth the train fair just for their vanilla frosting. I whipped the book back out and went straight for the Chocolate Cupcake recipe. I've used it and tweaked it once before and the women loved them, (and so did their husbands) I am responsible for causing everyone else's diets to stumble but if my hips are growing then it's only fair that theirs should too. So here it is:


The Hummingbird Bakery's Chocolate Cupcakes


Equipment:


- 2 X Mixing Bowls
- Measuring Jug
- Wooden Spoon
- Electric Mixer
- 12 Hole Muffin Tin
- Cupcake Cases
- Weighing Scales


Ingredients:


For the Sponge
- 80g of Unsalted Butter
- 280g of Caster Sugar
- 200g of Plain Flour
- 40g of Cocoa Powder
- 1 tbsp of Baking Powder
- 1/4 tsp of Salt
- 240ml of Whole Milk
- 2 Large Eggs


For the (very rich and very yummy) Frosting
- 400g of Icing Sugar
- 100g of Cocoa Powder
- 160g of Unsalted Butter
- 50ml of Whole Milk 
- Sprinkles to decorate


Method:


1) Preheat the oven to 190oC/Gas Mark 5 and line a muffin tin with cases.


2) Using an electric mixer/whisk, beat together the butter, sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt on a low speed until the ingredients are well mixed and resemble fine breadcrumbs.


3) Pour the milk into a jug and whisk in the eggs. Pour 3/4's into the dry mixture and beat on a low speed to combine. Raise the speed to medium and mix until the mixture is smooth and and thick. Then pour in the remaining milk mixture on a medium speed until the batter is once again smooth.


4) Spoon the batter into the cases until they are 2/3s full. Put into the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes until the sponge is light and springy to touch. I usually test the sponge with a bamboo skewer to see if it comes out clean. Wait until the cakes are completely cool before decorating.


5) To make the frosting: whisk the icing sugar, cocoa powder and butter on a low speed until the mixture is sandy in consistency. Pour in the milk and whisk on a high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy.


6) At this stage, a cut out a piece of the cupcake and filled it with raspberry jam, replacing the cake lid and then piled on the icing on top of that! Use a palette knife to apply the icing, and add sprinkles to the top.


7) Do not consume more than one of these in a day...I have absolutely no idea how many calories must be in one but ignorance is bliss, as are these cupcakes. 

The Chocolate Beauties

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Crumble O'Clock...

As the hunt for a job continues...so do my culinary adventures. After a nice swim this morning and some time to relax this afternoon, we took a trip to our local farm shop to get some mince for me to make chilli. They also have this great freezer section in which they keep mixed fruit, so that seemed like the perfect idea for dessert! This is so easy I don't need to share a recipe, i'll use my own experience for this one! P.s. you can easily adapt this for every season - I love adding cinnamon to it at Christmas :)


Mixed Berrylicious Crumble


Equipment:


- Medium sized pan
- Wooden Spoon
- Weighing Scales
- Mixing Bowl
- Ovenproof Dish


Ingredients:


- (approx) 250g of Mixed Fruit (any of your choice, I used berries!)
- 2 tbsps of sugar


For the Crumble topping:


- 175g of Plain Flour
- 75g of Sugar
- 75g of Butter


Method:


1. As my fruit was frozen, I stuck it in a pan for about ten minutes to stew, and added the 2 tbsps of sugar. 


2. Pour your fruit into your oven proof dish.


3. To make your crumble topping; mix the flour and the butter together into a fine crumble so that it resembles bread crumbs, before pouring on top of your fruit, mix in the sugar.


4. Pour the crumble topping on top of your fruit.


5. Bake for about 30-35 minutes at 180oC

The end result - it went down well!

We had it with Vanilla Ice-Cream :)

Much Love xxx

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