Banana Cake with Salted Caramel Icing

Anyway, back to normality and a posting I wrote a few weeks ago but never posted..........

I've always loved cake and am definitely not one of the converted through watching #GBBO - it's been a lifelong love.

So onto the recipe, I've adapted Mary Berry's banana and lemon drizzle cake, messed about with it (sorry Mary) and came up with this delicious cake!

To achieve a light banana cake the only way is Stork SB (or alternative brand) and blackened bananas.  I've tried using all butter, or half butter and half Stork SB but it's still too heavy. I'm a fan of any one bowl mix and you can have this recipe in the tins in super quick time.

My filling may appear to be a little skinny but hubby doesn't like too much buttercream and as soon as dulce de leche meets buttercream it's very rich.

You will need: 2 x 20cm round cake tins base and sides lined

For the cake:
175g Stork SB
175g Caster Sugar
3 eggs
300g self-raising flour
2 level teaspoons baking powder
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
2 tablespoons milk at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the Icing:
175g unsalted butter, softened
350g sifted icing sugar
2 tsp dulce de leche

To decorate:
Dulce de leche
pinch of seasalt

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and mix for a couple of minutes with an electric mixer.
3. Divide the cake batter evenly between the two tins and level the top.
4. Bake for approximately 35 minutes until golden and risen.
5. Place the cake tins on a cooling rack and leave to cool for 10 minutes.
6. Remove the tins and place on the rack.
7. For the icing: Sift the icing sugar into the bowl of a mixer, add the softened butter, 2 teaspoons of Dulce de leche and a pinch of seasalt. Mix for 6 minutes until soft and fluffy.
8. Coat one of the sponges with half the buttercream, top with the other sponge. Spread the remaining buttercream evenly over the top sponge.
9. To decorate: Take a small icing nozzle and place into a piping bag. Place a couple of tablespoons of Dulce de leche into the icing bag and pipe thin lines evenly across the buttercream.
10.Can be frozen to stage 7.

Summer Berries Pavlova Recipe

It's been a wonderful sunny weekend here in the West Midlands and on Saturday I went to Bridgnorth in Shropshire to buy what will possibly be the last of the late summer berries. We had a barbecue today and pavlova makes the perfect end to any meal.

There are quite a few meringue recipes on Kitchen Delights blog which is mainly because I use up any egg whites that I've frozen for a rainy day and more importantly meringue is one of our favourite desserts.

My favourite recipe for pavlova is by the super talented Alastair Hendy. His isn't a conventional method but gives a no fail meringue, on cooling the case cracks beautifully to give loads of character to the meringue. You will also be rewarded with a wonderful deep soft marshmallow layer within, the outer is delicately crisp. Should none of this appeal and if you must have the perfect meringue just leave in the oven overnight to cool but it won't have the soft marshmallow centre....

You will need:  either a hand whisk or a stand mixer and a large baking tray lined with parchment paper. Draw a 20cm circle on one side of the baking paper then turn the paper over.

4 large egg whites
120g caster sugar
110g icing sugar, sifted
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp vinegar

To decorate:
150ml whipping cream
4 tbsp natural yogurt
½ tsp vanilla extract
selection of berries

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C or 130°C Fan.
2. Add the egg whites and caster sugar to the bowl of a mixer. Whisk until thickened and firm this can take some time but keep on going. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk until thick and shiny, about 4 minutes.

3. Blob the mixture inside the circle on the baking tray.  Shape making a dip in the centre for the filling.

4. Reduce the oven temperature to 140°C or Fan 120°C. Bake for 70 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven and leave the pavlova to cool on the baking paper.

5. Whip the cream until soft peaks, add the yogurt and whisk again.
6. Remove the cooled meringue carefully to a large serving plate. Decorate with fresh and frozen berries.

More meringue ideas:
Strawberry and Redcurrant Pavlova
Chocolate and Vanilla Berry Pavlova
Traybake  Meringue with Pears, Chocolate and Cream
Meringue Roulade with Elderflower Infused Strawberries

Fougasse Recipe

I've overdosed on holidays this year and have just come back from a lovely motoring holiday taking in the Lake District and Scotland where I came across some amazing independent bakery shops.

Now back home and refreshed I rolled up my sleeves and made Fougasse which is crisp on the outside, light within and is lovely for tearing up and eating with a bowl of soup. I've also been making tiger/giraffe bread recently but the crust can be a bit stubborn to achieve the perfect look and as yet mine still isn't blog worthy.

This is my first attempt at shaping a Fougasse and I found a pizza cutter really useful for cutting the slits of the leaves. My shaped bread isn't perfect but nevertheless it was fun to make and tastes great. I love the way the fan in my oven has moved the flour and semolina around the tray and created it's own unique pattern.

I'd definitely recommend using a stand mixer for this because it's an extremely wet mixture, I know many bakers like to make bread by hand and this one will keep you occupied for ages!

As much as I love my breadmaker this mixture won't form a successful dough because this is a very wet mixture.

Makes: 4 large or 6 small

500g strong white flour
350ml warm water
1 sachet easy blend yeast
10g salt
Fine semolina for shaping and dusting

1. Tip the flour into the bowl of a mixer. Add the salt to one side and the yeast to the other side. Using the dough hook and on a slow speed, gradually add the water to form a soft wet dough.  Knead in a stand mixer for 10 minutes.
2. Oil a large bowl and place the dough into the bowl, cover with a shower cap and leave to rise for an hour until double in size.
3. Preheat the oven to 220°C.
4. Place the risen dough gently onto a lightly floured board and cut the dough into six.
5. Dust a large tray with semolina and flour. Take one of the pieces of dough, place onto the tray and dust with semolina and flour. Shape gently into a leaf shape. Using a pizza cutter make a series of cuts to form a leaf design. Stretch out the holes to help prevent them closing up whilst baking.
6. Leave to rise for 20 minutes covered with a tea towel.
7. Bake for approximately 15 minutes until crisp and golden.
8. The remaining pieces of dough can be wrapped individually in clingfilm and frozen.  Defrost in the fridge, shape and bake as above.

Orange Drizzle Cake with Caramelised Zest

Iced Orange Drizzle Cake

I love mini cakes, it saves ploughing through a large cake and I like that one cake can be drizzled with icing and eaten on the day it's made, the others I place into the freezer. These days the cakeometer dictates that I can no longer eat as many slices of cake all on one day as I did in my teenage years.

Interestingly the majority of cakes improve whilst they're in the freezer because it gives them a chance to take in moisture, so if you ever make a cake and it seems on the dry side either leave it in a container (not airtight) for a few days, or pop it in the freezer.

The cakes can be successfully frozen at this stage

Makes: 4 Mini Loaf Cakes 15cm x 8cm approx - I bought my loaf tins from Lakeland.

For the cake:
100g caster sugar
115g softened butter
115g self raising flour
2 large eggs beaten
2 tbsp sour cream

For the caramelised orange zest:
100g caster sugar
rind of 1 orange removed with a citrus zester
Juice of 1 orange

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Line the mini loaf tins with baking parchment.
3. Tip 100g caster sugar into a small saucepan, add the orange juice and rind of the orange which has been removed using a citrus zester.  Heat gently to dissolve the sugar, then simmer rapidly for a minute, being careful that the liquid doesn't evaporate.  Leave on one side whilst you make the cakes.
4. For the cake. Add the butter and caster sugar to a large bowl and whisk until light and fluffy. Add the eggs gradually to the batter whilst continuously beating. Fold the flour and sour cream into the batter.
5. Dollop the mixture equally between the tins and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and cooked through. A wooden cocktail stick inserted into the cake should come out clean when they are baked.
6. Remove the tins from the oven, poke the cakes all over with a skewer, pour over the syrup and zest.
7. Leave the cakes to cool in the tins, remove and leave as they are (they can be frozen at this stage) or drizzle icing over.

Rhubarb and Custard with Apricot Granola Topping

I didn't buy into the expensive pink rhubarb at the beginning of the season, we've got a perfectly good rhubarb patch at the end of the garden and if you pick the stalks that are streaked with pink and resist peeling them you'll end up with some pink fruit juices.  Whilst I lingered over the pretty pink stalks in the shops with a hefty price tag and thought of all the bakes I could make with them, commonsense has to prevail and I think about my everyday rhubarb that I planted and the fact it rewards me with free homegrown fruit.

A cheat way to turn everyday rhubarb pink is to cook it with red fruits such as strawberries, raspberries or plums and this will definitely make old rhubarb look far more attractive.

Recipe serves 6 people:
450g rhubarb, trimmed (if necessary)
cut into chunks
85g caster sugar
500g tub ready-made custard
or make up the same of Birds Custard
½ quantity honey crunch granola (recipe below

Apricot, Honey and Nut Granola

200g clear honey
4 tbsp sunflower oil
300g rolled oats
100g flaked almonds
1 tsp ground cinnamon
140g dried apricots roughly chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. In a large pan gently heat the  honey and oil together until the mixture is bubbling, then add in the oats, almonds and cinnamon. Stir well until the oats are well coated, then tip onto a large baking tray, spread the mixture out on the tray. Bake for ­25 minutes, stirring halfway, until  golden.
3. Remove from the oven and immediately stir in the apricots.  Spread out again and press down
with a spatula to cool. Any leftover will keep in an  airtight container for 3 weeks.
4. To cook the rhubarb. Turn the oven down to 150°C. Place the rhubarb in a roasting tin in a single layer, scatter with the sugar and cover with foil. Bake for 15-20 minutes until just tender, cool in the tin.
5. Spoon some of the rhubarb into the base of 6 small glasses, top with a couple of tablespoons of custard, repeating the layers.  Cover with clingwrap and chill in the fridge. Remove from the fridge and just before serving sprinkle with granola.
6. Serve either at Brunch or for Dessert.

More rhubarb recipes:
Strawberry and Rhubarb Crumble
Plum, Rhubarb and Apple Crumble

Melting Goat's Cheese Salad

I've been having a great time recently, I've just returned from a holiday in beautiful Rovinj where it was amazingly hot. Only this last week I attended the 25th Anniversary of The Hyatt Birmingham where the party, food and drink can only be described as amazing, I love the Hyatt.

I'm out and about for the next three weeks and for the majority of the time I'll be away from home. Today I'm in Beckenham and tomorrow I'll be trying to avoid the rain on the southbank in London where I'm reviewing a restaurant with Paul my London based blog partner. This next week is going to be a mix of culture, food, the odd glass of fizz, visiting a few independent coffee shops and shopping.

We're then going home for a few days and moving on to The Wirral for culture, food, and so on and so on.....then we're off to the Lake District, Scotland and the Peak District.

The blog is going to be a bit erratic but both Paul and I have some fabulous posts coming up:

The limited edition luxury trout that costs £300!
Christmas in July with Waitrose
Zwilling Press Event
The Hyatt Birmingham 25th Anniversary Party
Microplane Review
Stellar Cookware Review
Restaurant Reviews
Camp Bestival
Recipes

And that's just for starters!  So please bear with us whilst we battle our way through the blog posts.

After indulging over the last few weeks we needed a few lighter meals, although true to say there is cheese and pasta involved in this meal which is no bad thing.

You will need:
Bag of washed prepared mixed leaves
Vine cherry tomatoes
Sundried Tomatoes
Cucumber sliced
Red grapes
cooked crispy smoked streaky bacon
2 small rounds of goats cheese

Dressing:
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Freshly ground pepper
Sea Salt

For the farfalle salad
110g farfalle pasta
Small handful of pine nuts
Small amount of washed spinach leaves
Extra Virgin Olive Oil to drizzle
Freshly ground pepper
Sea Salt

1.  Arrange the salad ingredients onto a plate.
2.  Grill the goats cheese gently until starting to melt.
3.  Place the grilled goats cheese onto the salad.
4.  For the dressing:  Add the ingredients to a small bowl and whisk until mixed together. Pour over the salad immediately before serving.
5.  For the farfalle salad: Fill a pan three quarters full with water, bring to the boil, add a sprinkle of salt.  Add the pasta to the pan and cook on a gentle boil for 10 minutes or until cooked.
6.  Drain the cooked pasta and rinse under cold water.
7.  Place the cooled pasta to a bowl, add the spinach leaves and toss.
8.  Place the pine nuts into a small frying pan and toast on the hob until lightly browned.  Remove from the pan and cool.
9.  Add the pine nuts to the salad.
10. Drizzle over the extra virgin olive oil.