Banana Bread (dairy free, fat free)

I've been making banana Bread for many years, it's a relatively healthy cake, filling and naturally sweet.

This is the easiest cake to make/bake ever

500g Bananas (over ripe if possible)
2 Eggs
8oz Self raising flour (yes I mix imperial and metric all the time!)
2oz Demerera sugar
6oz Raisins or Sultanas (or whatever dried fruit I have hanging around the cupboard)
2oz chopped dates (in fairness I use 'some' depending on how I feel and 2oz is just to give clue of volume, if I haven't got dates I will add extra sugar up to 6oz depending on my sweet tooth)

180C for about 90 minutes

(keeps for about 5 days in tupperware)





I mash the bananas, mix in the eggs.

mix in flour* and sugar

stir in the fruit

(I suspect if you fold in the flour at this point instead of mixing it in earlier it will make for a less dense cake, but I like it heavy and pudding like.)

Line a 2lb loaf tin and pour in the mixture

(There are many clever ways to do this, none of which I use.  I choose the 'lay grease proof paper across the top and it self collapses as it goes in' method! I don't care if the sides of my loaf are 'tidy')

I trim off the hanging over edges as experience has taught me they burn brightly if left!!

Bake at 180C for about 90 minutes - sometimes longer to cook right through properly, sometimes less when I'm in a just 'give me the cake NOW' mood.







You will see there is no photo of the whole cake, I forgot! I tend to eat it hot straight out of the oven with a cup of tea - I was a good way into it before I thought ....ahhhhhh, picture (imagine Homer saying this with full mouth and you get the idea.)

You can see it is very dense (soggy bottom), I am sure if I cooked it for longer and folded in the flour this would be cured but I care not - it tastes like bliss warm on a Sunday afternoon with a cup of tea and a paper whilst listening to the rain on the windows.

That is what matters Paul and Mary, that is what matters!

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Dairy Free Carrot and Walnut Cake

Cog has been dairy free now for about 3 months in an effort to improve her skin.  It actually seems to be working so hats off to her, but some part of it are rather hard work.  Finding nice cake she will eat has been particularly hard and with her birthday upon us I was struggling.

I plumped for a dairy free carrot cake.

Cake:
200g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp ground mixed spice
100g light muscovado sugar
50g chopped walnuts plus extra to decorate
2 eggs
1 large or 2 small ripe bananas
100g coarsely grated carrots
100ml sunflower oil

Icing:
100g dairy-free spread
150g icing sugar
1tsp vanilla extract

(keep in fridge afterwards)

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Fan 160°C/Gas Mark 4.

Grease a cake tin and line the base with baking paper.
Sift the flour, baking powder and mixed spice into a bowl.

Add the sugar, walnuts and eggs.

Mash the bananas and add to the bowl with carrots and oil.

Beat well until evenly mixed.

Pour into the cake tin, level the surface and bake for 40-50 mins until firm to the touch.

Cool in the tin for 5 mins before turning out and cooling completely on a wire rack.


For the icing:
Beat together the dairy-free spread, icing sugar and vanilla extract until soft and smooth.
Spread over the cake and sprinkle with chopped walnuts.

The first time I tried I used an oblong tray and it was as flat as a pancake with little visible carrot or walnut.

I definitely didn't beat it enough and I grated the carrot too finely.  I've no idea where the walnuts went!! But it tasted OK so I thought I'd try again.

Take two!

I grated the carrots on the holes I use for cheese, chopped walnut halves only into 6 and used a smaller deeper tin.

Initially I wasn't convinced I was winning.  But I iced them both.

The square one tasted ok.















But the round one looked and tasted great.

It may not have been the best looking birthday cake to come out of my kitchen but it was exactly what Cog wanted and she ate a good slice and came back for more later.

I'm happy to see her eating happily these days when it has become such a  chore for her.

Happy Cog, happy mum.

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Littlier People

I've had a lovely evening at Brownies this week. We went geocaching.

I pootled off into the fields with a six, one of whom had just come up from Rainbows.  Rainbows, I have re-learnt, cannot stop talking.

We were going great guns, finding the ones we were supposed to.

Although the brownies were struggling with the concept of "wait for me" and "don't go into the next field until I get there"









It was about this point I got a phone call from Wise Owl saying "I think you've gone too far, you're a field over from where you should be"  Ahhhh blessed be the bright red uniform after all!

It was a nice night and it's good for the girls to run free in the fields, so I took them over just one more field to another geocache and then came back down the green lane with lovely views over our village.  We talked about the way markers and cows and when it is safe to be in the fields with them and when it isn't.  It's a good lesson for these girls.  And we got back in time, just!  Bet they slept well though.


If one evening of littlier people than Rangers was not enough, I had volunteered to help out one of my Rangers Rainbow activity days.  She was organising it to help her complete her Adult Leaders Qualification and as part of her Queen's Guide.

Now, Rainbows generally scare the nellies off me. They are very small with a tendency to cry if I use any one of my stock phrases like "what part of no are you confused about?" whilst giving my best Paddington Bear stare.


But I behaved and stayed smiley.  I even managed to not give the dairy free child dairy.  Look, anyone that knows me knows I cannot be trusted with that sort of responsibility 100%!!!

But they all decorated cakes happily, with clean hands and appropriate intolerances tolerated and I was even jolly and patient through the 'extension activity'.

The sweets were diligently counted per head without hassle and every rainbow made a cake of absolute 'rainbow tried hardest' standard.  I used the phrase "oooh that's lovely"  ever such a lot (whilst wondering how Gordon Ramsey would have worded it!!)










The table remained organised and clean throughout.

And as the last of 60 girls finished I looked down and realised most of it was on me!

It was a lovely way to spent an afternoon, so maybe I do like Rainbows after all.....I just couldn't eat a whole one!!

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Queen's Cake

 For the first time in a long time, I went to London in the car.

It was a pleasant hassle free journey, if rather static at times.  But I had lovely company and no great plans.

 A visit to Buckingham Palace with my mum and Aunt.

I wandered around with them for quite a while but then gave up waiting and went through at my own pace.  It's a lovely place to visit and the main display changes every year.  This year was the state dinner.  So many place settings, all so perfect.  To work there you must have to have the ultimate attention for detail and care.

I think the staff there are all amazingly trained.  They seem just perfect to me.  I bet it's very hard work and not very well paid.  But still, what a privilege.

I had tea and cake in the cafe whilst I waited for mum and aunt to come out and because it would have been rude not to, I did tea and cake all over again when they finally arrived.  Well why not, it's not everyday you get to eat the Queen's cake. And damned marvellous it was too.

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Chocolate Reindeer food craft

 These have gone down a treat (in the making and the eating) with every age range in Guiding.

The Rangers were very excited as I pulled the bag of 'bits' out.

"Oooooh are we making reindeer? We made those with Brownies/Rainbows, yeah! I get to do my own"




They like to do stuff like this with teg units they help out at but also alone so they can just chill, do, eat.

You need:

A chocolate covered cake roll (I used cadburys mini-rolls because they were on special!) for the body.
Chocolate mint sticks for legs
a rollo for the face
a smartie for the nose
silver balls for the eyes
then for the antlers more mint sticks/twiglets or pretzels.

(The face and nose were 'glued' on with Betty crocker chocolate icing - because I was too lazy to mix up any home made butter icing or get together the stuff for the Rangers to make it.  Melted chocolate would stick it too or even just a glace icing I would think)

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Rainbow (cakes) and (dead?!) Guides

 COG is making rainbow cakes at school.  The supermarket colourings totally faded with baking, so I bought some 'better' ones and thought I'd give them a go.

 Unfortunately, the colour of the top didn't leave them looking too palatable.

 I cut into them and it was slightly more promising.

I butterfly cut the tops, turned them over and iced them back in.

 In fact they had come out really well.

But still actually looked rather unappetising from the outside, despite being jolly tasty.

Luckily enough the Guides are on camp so I took them out to them.

In true guides on camp style, they cared not about the look and were more than happy to hoover them up based on taste.  Love a camp hungry guide.

Although the twitching boots from this tent, post cake, worried me slightly.

Yes, the guide was still in them, she just couldn't be bothered to take her wellies off!!

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