American Banana Loaf

Given that I have been making this with the kids every weekend for the past half term, I thought it was probably worth a mention - I have lifted it word for word from the Good Housekeeping Cookery Book and really, there are no tweaks needed at all! The recipe is unbelievably easy, and has been going into the children's snack boxes every day (apart from the middle, who prefers cheese and biscuits, like his mum). I use a loaf tin liner to make the whole process even easier.

You'll need a food processor - I've not tried it without so can't guarantee what the results might be like.

Ingredients

• 225g (8oz) plain flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 100g (3 1/2 oz) butter, plus extra to grease
• 175g (6oz) golden caster sugar
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 3 tbsp. milk
• 2 bananas, about 300g (11 oz), peeled
• Finely grated zest of one lemon
• 2 medium eggs, beaten
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Golden granulated sugar, to dredge

Makes 10 slices (allegedly, we must be slicing them thick!)

Instructions

• Put the flour, bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar into a food processor and pulse to mix. Add the butter and whizz until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and whizz briefly
• Mix the lemon juice and milk together in a jug and leave to stand for 1 minute. Grease and base-line a 900g (2lb) loaf tin
• Mash the bananas in a bowl, then stir in the lemon zest, eggs, milk mixture and vanilla extract. Add to the food processor and whizz until combined
• Pour the mixture into the loaf tin, dredge with granulated sugar and bake at 180 degrees C (160 degrees fan oven)  for 1 1/4 hours or until risen and golden, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean

• Leave in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Cut into slices to serve

American Banana Loaf

Jam Tarts

I wondered whether or not to write up a post for something as humble and simple as a jam tart but we made the jam and we made the pastry, so I thought it was worth sharing. Of course jam tarts can be made with ready-made pastry and jam and to be honest, I don't think my children would have noticed any difference! However, as an exercise in family harmony, this worked well.

The children loved picking the strawberries (we went to Bellis Brothers in Wrexham), so much so that I ended up spending many of the following evenings frantically washing, hulling, chopping and freezing (for smoothies) and making copious vats of jam. I was instructed to make "enough to last us until next summer, Mummy!". At the rate they hoover up jam, I'm not sure that's been possible!

The one batch of jam that my husband made didn't set properly, and I found that this was perfect for jam tarts, also for drizzling over yoghurts or adding to porridge or rice pudding.

I used the recipe for jam from the back of the Silver Spoon jam sugar packet, and adapted the recipe for the sweet tart pastry from the Good Housekeeping Cookery Book.

Ingredients

Strawberry Jam

• 900g strawberries, washed
• 1kg jam sugar (I used Silver Spoon and followed the recipe on the back of the packet)
• A knob of butter

Makes approx. 1.5kg jam

Pastry

• 225g plain flour
• A pinch of salt
• 150g fridge-cold butter, cut into pieces
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 3 tbsp cold water

Makes approx. 15 jam tarts

Instructions

To make the jam:

• Wash and sterilise 6 jam jars and their lids by placing them into an oven at Gas Mark 3 (170 degrees C) for 20 minutes. Leave for 10 minutes, then they are ready to be filled
• Hull the strawberries, and blend to a puree (I used a stick blender), or mash with a potato masher
• Place the strawberries into a heavy-based saucepan and add the entire packet of jam sugar
• Begin to heat the mixture gently, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon until the sugar is dissolved completely
• Add a knob of butter and increase the heat, continuing to stir the mixture, until the jam reaches a rolling boil, the bubbles rise and cannot be stirred down with a spoon
• Start timing and boil for 4 minutes only, whilst continuing to stir (the steam gets very hot so be careful)
• Remove from the heat, then pour or ladle into the sterilised jars. Screw the lids on tightly and leave overnight to cool completely.

To make the pastry:

• Sift the flour and salt into a food processor, then add the cubed butter. Switch the food processor on, and run until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and pulse to mix
• Tip the pastry mixture into a large bowl
• Mix the egg yolk with 3 tbsp cold water, then add to the dry ingredients and mix with a round-bladed knife to a dough
• Knead gently until just smooth. Wrap the pastry in clingfilm them leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
• If you find that the pastry is a little crumbly when you come to roll it out, pour a little sunflower or vegetable oil into the palms of your hands and rub together. knead the pastry again gently, to incorporate the oil into the dough

To make the jam tarts:

• Remove the pastry from the fridge. Break off around 1/3 of the dough and place the rest under a damp towel. Lightly oil the surfaces of a cupcake tin
• Lightly flour a surface and rolling pin, and roll out the pastry to a thickness of approx. 3-4mm
• Using a crinkle cutter, radius approx. 80mm, cut rounds of pastry and press into the cupcake tin
• Add 1-2 tsp of jam to each tart - do not overfill as the jam will boil up during baking
• Bake the tarts in a preheated oven at 180 degrees fan for approx. 15-20 minutes, until the pastry is golden
• Remove from the oven and leave to rest in the tin for 5 minutes, before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely

Jam Tarts

Banana and Blueberry Breakfast Muffins

I recently was asked to take part in a competition, whereby I was to come up with a recipe using new Ski Lemon Cheesecake Low Fat Yoghurt. Sadly I wasn't the winner this time, but I hope you like the recipe. The muffins aren't too sweet, which makes them a nice "grab and go" for breakfast.

 

Ingredients

• 150g plain white flour
• 150g plain wholemeal flour
• 2 heaped tsp baking powder
• 100g caster sugar
• 100g frozen blueberries
• 2 large, ripe bananas
• 250g Ski lemon cheesecake yoghurt
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 50g butter, melted and cooled
• A pinch of salt
• 40g porridge oats, plus extra for sprinkling 
• Grated zest of 1/2 a lemon

Makes 12

 

Instructions

• Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees fan. Line a muffin tin with 12 paper cases
• Make your dry mix. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl, and tip any bran reamining from the sieve into the bowl. Stir in the salt, sugar and oats
• Make your wet mix. Mash the bananas in a separate bowl, and add the yoghurt, egg, butter and lemon zest. Mix well to combine
• Make a well in the middle of the dry mix, and add the wet mix. Fold the two mixes together, so that they are well combined
• Spoon the muffin mixture into the baking tin, filling each case almost to the top. Sprinkle each muffin with oats
• Place the baking tin on the middle shelf of the oven, and bake for 20 minutes until the muffins are risen and golden on top
• Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes, before cooling completely on a wire rack

Banana and Blueberry Breakfast Muffins

My colleagues have the pleasure of these tomorrow!

Apple Crumble

My husband has a sweet tooth. We have a running joke that the only time he ever gets a pudding prepared for him is when I go on maternity leave, but before I have the baby. And because the only pudding I can make is crumble, he usually gets a crumble of some description.

I think he's had about 5 crumbles from me in his life.

Last week, a friend (Flo) dropped off some Bramley apples from her tree, exactly the right amount to make crumble number 6. My eldest loved rubbing the crumble mixture together in her hands whilst I cooked up the apple filling, and the sweet and tart flavours certainly rang the seasonal changes. We have gone from glorious sunshine to bluster, rain and hail in the space of a week, it seems! This recipe is tweaked from one in the Good Housekeeping Cookery Book, with a few additions.

 

Ingredients

CRUMBLE TOPPING

• 50g plain white flour
• 25g plain wholemeal flour
• 75g light muscovado sugar
• 50g ground almonds
• 50g fridge-cold unsalted butter
• A small handful of porridge oats

FILLING

• 700g (or thereabouts) Bramley apples
• 50g unsalted butter
• 75g golden caster sugar
• A pinch of cinnamon
• A pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Serves 6

Instructions

• To make the crumble topping, sift the flours into a bowl, then add any bran left in the sieve. Stir in the sugar and the ground almonds, then work in the butter, using your fingertips, to make a very crumbly mixture. Add the porridge oats and stir to combine
• Peel and core the apples, and cut into 2.5cm chunks. Melt the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pan. Add the apples and sugar, and cook, stirring over a gentle heat until the apples start to soften and break up. Transfer to a 1.7 litre (3 pint) pie dish
• Spoon over the crumble topping and bake at 175 degrees fan oven for 30 minutes.
• Serve warm with cream, ice cream or custard

Apple Crumble

Banana and Chocolate Buttons Muffin Bites

The reason why these are muffin bites, rather than full-size muffins, is because I forgot that I had used the last of the bicarbonate of soda in the toddler's bath when he had chicken pox. By the time I'd gone out to the shops to buy more and come home, 2 of my 3 extra-ripe bananas had disappeared......

I found 3 Easter eggs on the top shelf of one of my cupboards, all Cadburys chocolate buttons. Normally I just chop up a bar of chocolate, but being lazy, used the buttons. They were possibly a bit big for these muffin bites, but the children enjoyed discovering them, like bits of treasure.

I quite like these bites, as I don't have a sweet tooth and find full-size muffins a bit too much. They're about the right size for a young child too. They don't quite fill a cupcake case, as you can see in the picture. Husband complained, but he was the one who had given the bananas to the children to eat! For full size muffins, just triple the quantities, use muffin cases and keep in the oven for 20 minutes. Adapted from a recipe from Good Housekeeping.

Ingredients

• 90g self-raising flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• A small pinch of salt
• 1 large, ripe banana, approx. 150g (no less) when peeled
• 40g caster sugar
• 1/2 egg, beaten
• 20ml milk
• 25g butter, melted and cooled
• 20g chocolate buttons or chocolate drops

Makes 12 small-ish muffin bites - triple the quantities for full-size muffins

Instructions

• Line a muffin tin with 12 cupcake cases. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt together in a large mixing bowl, and put aside
• Mash the banana in a bowl, using a fork. Add the caster sugar, beaten egg, milk and melted butter and mix together until well combined. Add this to the flour mixture, along with the chocolate buttons and stir briefly. The mixture will be lumpy and rather like a batter in consistency
• Spoon the mixture equally into the cupcake cases, roughly half-filling each one, then bake in an oven at 180 degrees (160 fan) for 15 minutes, or until they are golden and well risen
• Remove from oven, leave in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool. Serve while still warm

Banana and Chocolate Buttons Muffin Bites