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Chocolate banana bread

by with 16 Comments RecipesUncategorized
We buy a lot of bananas in our house.  It’s probably the most eaten fruit in our fruit bowl.  But every so often I get carried away and buy too many, and a few start to over-ripen before we manage to eat them.  Which is awful, because it means I’m forced to make this chocolate banana bread!

Now, I’m not a huge fan of plain banana bread because, and this may sound a little silly, it’s just too banana-y.  But this version is delicious.  The banana taste is still there, but it’s balanced out by the chocolate and the brown sugar crust.  So, here we go, my yummy chocolate banana bread:

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Ingredients

100g Softened Butter
175g Caster Sugar
2 Large Eggs
2 Ripe Bananas (mashed)
225g Self Raising Flour
About 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
Handful of chocolate chips
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
2 tablespoons Milk
A few teaspoons of brown sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C / Fan 160C / Gas 4.
2. Line a 2lb loaf tin with baking parchment or greaseproof paper.
3. Measure all the ingredients into a mixing bowl in the order they’re listed above and mix together.
4. Spoon the mixture into the tin and level the surface
5. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the top to give it a nice crunchy finish!
6. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 1 hour, until well risen and golden brown.  A skewer or knife inserted in the centre should come out clean when the loaf is ready.
7. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn it out and leave it to cool on a wire rack (or just a wooden chopping board if you’re like me and don’t have a wire rack!)

A few things to note:

  • The recipe says to use two ripe bananas but it seems to come out just as tasty if you use just one, or if you use three.
  • When I make this with Rhys we do it properly and mix everything up by hand in a big bowl.  When I’m on my own and just want it made so I can tuck in, I pile all the ingredients in the food processor and mix it up that way.  Again, tastes just as good whichever way you do it!
  • I’m quite generous with the sprinkling of the brown sugar on the top, and I press it gently into the mixture too so it doesn’t just crumble off when you eat it,

I hope you enjoy making (and eating) this as much as we all do!

I first posted this recipe on my photography website in the blog post ‘Baking with a toddler – chocolate banana bread‘, if you want to read a bit more about it!
Cuddle Fairy
Mini egg chocolate bark

Easter mini egg chocolate bark

by with No Comment PersonalRecipesUncategorized
I would love to say that we had loads of leftover chocolate from Easter and that’s why I made this.  But that would just be a complete lie!  I went and bought chocolate and mini eggs specifically to make this bark.

But, it’s a great recipe to use if you do happen to have leftover chocolate that you want to do something fun with!

It’s so simple to make and is really tasty – it didn’t last long in my house (I’m glad I took the photos of it as soon as it was made!).

This is how I made it; but it’s really versatile so you can use pretty much whatever chocolate and toppings you fancy!  There are loads of bark recipes on the internet if you want some inspiration for what toppings you could use – I’ve gathered a few together on my Pinterest board if you don’t know where to start looking!

So, to make my mini egg bark, I took 300g of milk chocolate and melted it in a saucepan (no fancy bain marie for me!).  While it was melting I covered a baking tray in greaseproof paper, then when it was ready I poured the chocolate onto the paper and spread it out with a spatula.

Next, I took a bag of mini eggs and popped a few handfuls onto the melted chocolate and pressed them down slightly.

Then I took a handful of white chocolate buttons and melted those (in a bowl in the microwave this time!).  Once that was melted I drizzled it all over the bark, then put the whole thing into the fridge for a few hours to set.

Once it’s set, just cut or break it up into pieces and enjoy.

Simple!  And so yummy!

Do you have a favourite bark recipe?  I’d love it if you would share it with me, I think it’s one of my new favourite treats to make!

perfect pancake recipe

Perfect, simple pancake recipe

by with 17 Comments RecipesUncategorized

About this time every year the shops start to fill up with those little squeezy bottles of lemon juice, jars of chocolate spread and packets of pancake mix.

Now, I can understand the lemon juice and the chocolate spread, but I can’t quite get my head around the need for packets of pancake mix!  I mean, I’m all for making your life easier and have on a few rare occasions bought pre-prepared veg to make soup with, but pancakes are so simple to make from scratch that buying a mix just seems like a real waste of money!

So, for those of you looking to break out of the packet-pancake-mix zone, I present to you a really simple recipe for perfect pancakes!

A really simple recipe for perfect pancakes

This is the recipe I have used every year since 2002, when my Mum sent it to me on this postcard when I was a student at Swansea University.  I dig it out every Shrove Tuesday and it hasn’t failed me yet!

Perfect-pancake-recipe

In case you can’t quite read the faded writing on the postcard, here’s the recipe:

  • 4oz (110g) plain flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 egg
  • Half a pint (275ml) of milk
  • 1 tablespoon melted butter

And the method:

  1. Sift flour and salt into a bowl.
  2. Beat to a smooth, creamy batter with the the unbeaten egg, half the milk and the melted butter
  3. Stir in the remaining milk.
  4. The batter is now ready to cook!
  5. Heat a frying pan on the hob and melt a little bit of butter in it.
  6. Pour about a ladleful of batter into the pan and swirl the pan around to spread the batter out.  You want it to pretty much spread out to the edges of the pan and be quite thin.
  7. Leave it to cook for about a minute, then either flip it over using a spatula or be brave and toss it in the air to flip it!
  8. Cook for about a minute on the other side then serve.

One thing to remember – the first pancake almost never ‘works’!  

I don’t know exactly why, but please don’t be disheartened if your first attempt is a disaster!  The second one will be much better, I swear!

making-pancakes

As far as how to serve the pancakes goes, I personally like mine sprinkled with lemon juice and sugar!  And I spread jam on the ones I gave to the kids.  But there are loads of ideas out there.  In fact, you can have a look at my Pinterest board for inspiration!

perfect-simple-pancakes

How will you be enjoying your pancakes this year?  And will you be making them from scratch?!
Cuddle Fairy