Farmhouse Chocolate banana loaf

I've been asked a number of times on social media and by friends what recipe I use to make my favourite chocolate banana cake, so I thought I would share it on here! It's a Green & Black's recipe and I've always had good results with it. It's not hard to make either, which is a bonus for me as I'm not the most competent or confident baker!

You will need ~

225g Self-raising flour
100g Butter at room temperature
175g Caster sugar
Pinch of salt
2 Large free-range eggs, beaten
2 Very ripe bananas
3 Tablespoons of milk
100g Dark (70% 0r 85% cocoa solids) chocolate, chopped into very small pieces (I personally have some of my chocolate in bigger chunks too, but it works with both very small pieces or slightly bigger chunks.)

 Method ~

• Preheat oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.

• Line a 23 x 13cm loaf tin

• Sift the flour and salt

• Cream the butter and sugar together, this is easier done in a food processor. Add the eggs, milk and bananas and mix together thoroughly. Then add the flour and salt but stop mixing as soon as the ingredients come together.

• Fold half of the chopped chocolate in to the mixture. Use a spoon for this NOT a food processor.

• Pour the mixture in to the lined loaf tin. Sprinkle the rest of the chocolate on top of the mixture, pushing the pieces in slightly.

• Bake in the centre of the oven for 45 minutes - 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted in to the middle comes out clean.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Then sit back and enjoy a slice with a cup of tea!

I hope you enjoy making and eating this as much as I do, it's a firm favourite in our house!

Tanya x

(PLEASE NOTE ~ This post was not sponsored by Green & Black's, it is simply one of my favourite recipes from their book that I thought I would share with you!)

My Favourite Lemon Madeleines recipe

One of my favourite things to bake are these lovely little lemon madeleines. I've always been a fan of madeleines (probably something to do with living in France for part of my childhood) but until last year I had never tried baking my own. After buying myself a madeleine baking tin I decided to give it a go! I bought my madeline baking tray from a local kitchenware shop but you can easily buy them online.

I use this Michel Roux Jr. recipe and it has always worked beautifully for me.

Ingredients:

• 2 free-range eggs
• 100g/3½oz caster sugar
• 100g/3½oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1 lemon, juice and zest
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• 100g/3½oz butter, melted and cooled slightly, plus extra for greasing

Serves 12 - 16

Method:

~ Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.

~ Gently melt the butter on the hob and then use some to brush on to the madeleine tray. Shake on a little flour to coat, shaking off the excess.

~ You will need the zest and juice from one lemon.

~ Whisk together the eggs and the sugar in a bowl until frothy. Lightly whisk in the remaining ingredients, not forgetting the melted butter. I do all of this in my KitchenAid but I'm sure this can probably be done with a hand wisk.

~ Leave the mixture to stand for 20 minutes (perfect time to make a cup of tea and have a sit down!). After that carefully pour the mixture into the prepared madeleine tray.

~ Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the mixture has risen a little in the middle and is fully cooked through. Transfer the madeleines to a wire rack and leave for a few minutes to cool slightly.

I sprinkle a little icing sugar very lightly over the madeleines when I pop them in in to a cake tin to store but it's not necessary. The recipe says that the madeleines are best eaten within an hour of cooking but I have found they have lasted well for a couple of days sealed in a cake tin although I would agree that their texture is best within the first 24 - 48 hours. To be honest they are so yummy they are not around for very long!

Delicious enjoyed with a cup of tea or coffee with friends or family!

You can find the original recipe I used here on the BBC Food site. If any of you have made madeleines from other recipes that you love which are other flavours, please feel free to let me know in the comments. I would love to try making some different ones!

Happy Baking....and eating!

Tanya x

Bakeware delights

Who's excited about the start of The Great British Bake Off  tomorrow evening?! Me too! I love it and it always makes me wish I could bake. So I've compiled a little list of baking goodies that have caught my eye lately. I'm really not much of a baker at all, but I want to start trying to bake more often and I have a feeling some of these items would help tempt me to put my apron on and give things a go!

First on my list are these gorgeous pastel coloured cupcake cases. How pretty are they and you get a 100 of them! These can be found at John Lewis.

 Next up I found these at the gorgeous Pipii. Fab little pastel chevron food flags (I think there may also be a bit of a pastel theme going on here too!), with space for you to write on them!

If you haven't visited the oh so pretty Cherry Menlove shop, then you should take a peek! As well as a beautiful range of home wares there are some delightful baking accessories including these scrumptious heart shaped pie dishes. I'm wanting the green one personally! 

I definitely need some new tea towels. I do. I really do! I have my eye on these from Cath Kidston. I love the Kingswood Rose pattern!

Lastly I'm a little bit in love with these glass biscuit jars which can be found over at Dotcomgiftshop. After all, you need to store your baked goodies in something as equally lovely as they are! Then you can sit back and admire them after all your hard work.....or in my case, hide them when they've gone terribly wrong (I'll put the pretty tea towel over them)!

As I really am no Mary Berry, but would love to improve my baking skills, please feel free to share any of your favourite recipes with me that you think I should try.

Happy Baking everyone!

Tanya x