More Banana Bread

In much the same way as my collection of choc-chip cookie recipes got totally out of hand for a while, so too has my banana bread collection. But... I couldn't resist just one more which is why I gave this one a try. And boy, am I glad I did. This little treasure gives my regular favourite a run for it's money! It's really good served at room temp but serve it warm from the oven with yummy melty butter on it and it is divinely awesome!

I didn't have any mixed spice so turned to my favourite research tool - Google - to find out what was in it and bodged together something similar. I used a mix of ground cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg and it worked fine. Oh, and the honeycomb palaver? I gave that a miss.

Banana & Honey Loaf

from recipes+ magazine, September 2009

1/3 cup clear honey

100g butter, chopped

1 cup mashed bananas (2 large bananas will do it)

1/3 cup caster sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup milk

1 cup wholemeal self-raising flour

3/4 cup white self-raising flour

1 teaspoon ground mixed spice

butter and honeycomb to serve

1. Preheat oven to 160C. Grease and line a 19x9cm (base measurement) loaf pan with baking paper, extending paper at long sides for handles.

2. Combine honey and butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until melted.

3. Combine banana and sugar in a large bowl; stir in egg, milk and honey mixture. Stir in sifted flours and spice.

4. Spoon mixture into prepared pan; smooth surface. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a skewer inserted at centre comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes; turn out onto a wire rack. Slice loaf; serve warm, topped with butter and honeycomb.

A Truly Fabulous Cake

I made this a couple of weeks ago and just haven't got around to sharing it with you yet. Which is a shame, because this is one fantastic cake! The cake part itself is moist and sweet, the apple and strawberry layer on top of that is delicious and the crumble mixture that covers the cake is oh-so-more-ish. Everyone who tried it was hooked and I'll be making it again really soon.

Added to the general delicious-ness is the simplicity of the recipe itself. This isn't difficult to put together but the end result, both in presentation and taste, would suggest otherwise. You could make this for a weekend afternoon tea treat or to take along somewhere and really impress - it would be a big hit either way.

Apple and Strawberry Crumble Cake

from Good Taste, June 2009

Melted butter, to grease

200g butter, at room temperature

155g (3/4 cup) caster sugar

2 tsp vanilla essence

2 eggs, at room temperature

150g (1 cup) self-raising flour

150g (1 cup) plain flour

185ml (3/4 cup) milk

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, thickly sliced

200g strawberries, washed, hulled, halved

Crumble topping

75g (1/2 cup) plain flour

50g chilled butter, chopped

55g (1/4 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Brush a round 20cm (base measurement) springform pan with melted butter to lightly grease. Line the base with non-stick baking paper. Place the prepared pan on a baking tray.

2. Use an electric beater to beat the butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Use a large metal spoon to fold in the combined flour and the milk until well combined.

3. Spoon into the prepared pan. Use the back of the spoon to smooth the surface. Arrange the apple and strawberry on top.

4. To make the crumble topping, place the flour and butter in a bowl. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar.

5. Sprinkle the crumble topping over the apple and strawberry. Bake in oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set aside in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool slightly. Serve cake warm or at room temperature.

Heart-Attack In Waiting

After last week's healthy muffin recipe took us on a decidedly un-RDM-like twist, the cake I made today brings us right back to the heart-attack inducing, artery clogging, diabetic coma kind of recipes I can't go past. I saw this Snickerdoodle Cake over at Cooking is Medicine this morning, right smack bang in the middle of looking for something that Offspring #2 and I could bake today. It fill the bill nicely and, after a quick run to the deli after I realised I didn't have enough cinnamon, we got straight onto it. I messed up a few steps, in completely different ways to how Claire messed them up so I think it's fair to say this is a fairly forgiving recipe that turns out great whether you follow it properly or not. Mine did take longer to cook that the suggested time, closer to an hour and quarter.

This is seriously, deliciously unhealthy. Please, please, please don't make it every week. Or if you do you should probably increase your health insurance. But... as a once-in-a-while, take-a-plate-to-something, kind of cake it's a winner.






Hubby thought it was fab though upon first taste he did wonder how I'd managed to get the flour to hold all that sugar together!

Surprisingly Nice

If you've read my blog at any length (or know me in real life!) you'll be aware that I have a very sweet tooth and that healthy food isn't all that high on my must-eat list. Oh, I don't eat too badly and I really do work hard to ensure our meals are balanced and we eat a good range of foods. But... when it comes to the cakes, cookies and other sweet treats I bake I don't tend to make a huge deal of focusing on 'healthy' options. Which is why the recipe I tried today comes as such a surprise.

I found the link for these Strawberry and Honey Muffins on Twitter and, with all the ingredients on hand, decided to give them a go. I 'un-healthied' them a little by using regular full-fat cows milk instead of the soy milk that was listed as well as the extra virgin light olive I had in the cupboard rather than rushing out to buy yet another type of oil to store in the pantry but I did stick to the rest of the ingredients.

Look, by my standards they were disgustingly healthy but... they taste great. They have a really nice sweetness from the fruit and honey without being laden with butter and sugar. Offspring #1 and I enjoyed one for afternoon tea. He was very impressed and has requested another for his lunchbox.

Because She Asked Nicely

Offspring #2 came home from daycare the other day telling me all about a very beautiful birthday cake that one of the other little girls had bought in to share. For the first couple of days I all really got was that it was a cake and that it was very beautiful and that #2 would very much like one when it was her birthday. Gradually more details were made available. The first piece of information to break through was that the cake was pink. Well that was a no-brainer - anything pink is very beautiful in #2's world. Then I was told that it also had white and chocolate in it. I queried the chocolate part. Was it chocolate like chocolate frogs or chocolate like a chocolate cake? Apparently it was like in a chocolate cake. Then came the final clue. The colours in the cake were all "messied up". AHA - a marble cake. I could see the appeal for three year olds. Lots of lovely colours swirled through each slice of cake and everyone's slice being just a little bit different to the other kids in the group.

Today she woke up and asked if we could please make a cake just like her friends. And, since I had many house-hold chores I didn't want to do, I promptly agreed that we could. Unfortunately the chores couldn't be ignored entirely so we didn't get to the cake-making until late afternoon but that worked out rather well after all. The cake was still warm when we finished dinner and it was decided that a slice of warm cake and a scoop of ice-cream would be the perfect way to end the meal. I'll see what I can do about icing the rest of the cake tomorrow!

Marble Cake

from The Margaret Fulton Cookbook (2006 edition)

125g butter

1 cup caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

2 eggs

2 cups self raising flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup milk

2 tablespoons cocoa

2 tablespoons boiling water

red food colouring

Preheat the oven to 180C. Brush a deep 20cm cake tin with a little melted butter and line the base with baking paper. Cream the butter and gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla until light and creamy. Beat the eggs lightly, and add to the creamed mixture gradually. Sift the flour and salt and fold into the creamed mixture alternately with the milk. Divide the mixture into 3 portions.

Sift the cocoa and blend in the boiling water. Stir this into one portion of the cake mixture. To the other portion, add a few drops of red food colouring to colour it pink. The third portion is left plain. Drop the mixture by tablespoons into the prepared tin, alternately pink, plain and chocolate. Run a knife through gently a few times to marble the mixture. Bake for 50 - 60 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Layers of Loveliness

This recipe has been floating around in the ugly binder for a couple of years and every so often I look at it and decide that I'll give it a go another time. That time finally arrived over the weekend when we had my parents round for dinner. I wanted to try something new for dessert and this seemed to fit the bill nicely.

The cake was a heap easier to make and assemble than I'd expected and it also tasted seriously good as well as looking like I'd spent hours slaving over it. It was a big hit with all of us and I'm planning to make it again as soon as I can find an excuse to. It's obviously a 'cheat's version' with the tin of caramel and if you wanted to spend hours more putting this together so you could feel fabulously superior for making every part of it from scratch go right ahead. For my money, and bearing in mind that I've burnt every batch of caramel I've tried to make in the last 12 or so months, this is spot on.

A couple of pointers that I'll keep in mind for next time: try not to make the bottom layer too thick or you end up with a big chunk of cake , do assemble this ahead of time so that the flavours have time to soak through a little but, pull it out of the fridge ahead of serving so it has a chance to get back to room temperature and you can get the full power of the flavours in the cake.

Banana Caramel Layer Cake

Australian Women's Weekly, March 2007

Banana Cake

185g butter, softened

1 1/4 cups caster sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla essence

3 eggs

1 1/4 cups mashed banana (3 medium over-ripe bananas)

2 1/4 cups self-raising flour

1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/3 cup milk.

To Assemble

3/4 cup thickened cream

380g can caramel Top 'n' Fill*

1 large banana, sliced thinly

1. Preheat oven to moderate 180C. Grease and lightly flour an 8-cup (24cm) bundt pan.

2. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in a small bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time; beat until just combined, then beat in mashed banana. Transfer to a large bowl.

3. Stir in sifted flour and soda, then stir in milk. Spread mixture into prepared pan.

4. Bake in a moderate oven for about 40 minutes or until cooked when tested. Stand cake in pan for 10 minutes; turn onto a wire rack to cool. Allow cake to cool completely.

5. Cut cool cake into 3 layers. Spread base of cake with one-third of the caramel, top with about two-thirds of the cream and banana slices. Repeat with next layer using half the remaining the caramel and all the remaining cream and banana slices. Replace top of cake.

6. In a small bowl, whisk remaining caramel with approximately 1 tablespoon of boiling water. Drizzle cake with caramel mixture.

*Top 'n' Fill is a very thick caramel filling available in supermarkets. It's usually near the tins of sweetened condensed milk.

Sweet and Healthy

Here in Australia we don't tend to use pumpkin in sweet dishes. We bake it, roast it, steam it and mash it. We use it in frittatas and vegie slice. We sometimes use a bit of leftover mashed pumpkin to whip up a batch of pumpkin scones but that's about it for sweet stuff. Until now. I made these Pumpkin and Sultana Muffins a week or so ago and they were a big hit with everyone who tried them. My kids loved them and the across-the-roads son told me, very seriously, that they were really delicious and that I should give the recipe to his Mum because she'd like them. A lot. I filled her in and, since she picked up a copy of the same magazine, she's planning to give them a try too.

These were fabulously light and fluffy fresh from the oven but not so fab the next day. I have two suggestions to deal with this. 1. Eat the whole lot the same afternoon you make them. Or 2. Eat what you want then put the extras in the freezer for later in the week.

One minor disappointment was that a lot of the cooked muffin stuck to the paper case. I'm going to try adding an extra tablespoon of vegetable oil next time and see if that helps.

Pumpkin and Sultana Muffins

Coles magazine, Winter issue. 2009

1 3/4 cups self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup milk

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 cup sultanas

1 cup cooked, mashed pumpkin

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 12-hole muffin pan with paper patty cases.

2.Combine flour, baking powder and sugar in a large bowl. In a separate bowl or jug, whisk together milk, egg and oil. Add to flour with sultanas and pumpkin. Mix together, until just combined.

3. Fill prepared cases. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container.

Something For The Lunchbox

I have a stash of foodie mags hidden away in the bottom of the pantry. When I'm bored, looking for new ideas, or in a bit of a cooking rut I drag them out and drool over them. They're an eclectic bunch and, while I might not use them regularly, I just can't bear to get rid of them. I was flicking through them, searching for something I could use for the next Magazine Monday, when this easy little slice jumped out at me.

This recipe for Carrot Slice was in a section of creative lunch box ideas but it didn't quite go according to plan. It's a sweet slice, very much like carrot cake but without all the palaver. It's simple, tastes great and was a big hit... with the adults of the house. The kids weren't so keen - Little Miss spat hers out and refused to try anymore while Mr-Six flat out forbade me to put any in his lunch box. Oh well, at least Hubby and I liked it and we've very much enjoyed it in our lunchboxes this week!

The only thing I can put their dislike down to is the inclusion of nutmeg. I'll be making this again, it just depends how much the kids are annoying me as to whether I leave the nutmeg out and see if they like it a little better.

Carrot Slice

from delicious. magazine, February 2008

3/4 cup (165g) raw sugar

175ml sunflower oil

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 large carrot (about 140g), grated

100g raisins (as usual, I used sultanas)

grated zest of one orange (I really was going to try it, but didn't have an orange!)

175g self-raising flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (used ground, from a jar, and obviously less)

1/3 cup icing sugar

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line the base and sides of a 28cm x 18cm slice pan.

Use a wooden spoon to mix the sugar, oil and egg in a large bowl, then stir in the carrot, raisins and zest. Sift in flour, soda and spices. Store to just combine, then pour into the pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool slightly, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

If making icing, sift icing sugar into a bowl and stir with 1 - 2 teaspoons warm water to form a smooth, soft icing. Drizzle over slice with a teaspoon, then leave to set for 10 minutes. Alternatively, dust with 2 tbs sifted icing sugar. Cut into 12 bars. (I dusted with icing sugar and cut it into much smaller slices, ending up with about 20).

Easter Baking

We had the Across-the-road's 10-year-old daughter here today. She's recovering from an operation and is healthy as a horse but restricted in terms of activity so suffering greatly from boredom. She loves to cook so I thought I'd do some Easter baking and both girls could help.We made some yummy vanilla cupcakes and topped them with a basic chocolate frosting and some pretty m&m speckled chocolate eggs. I gave the girls a few cakes each, a little bowl of frosting and some eggs and let them go crazy.

Miss 10 produced these delectable treats.

Here's Little Miss at work. I love how hard she's concentrating.

And here's her finished handiwork. After the taste-test she declared them to be 'fanTATic' (nope, not a typo) and her Daddy was heavily leaned upon until he tasted one when he came in from work and was lavish in his praise of both the cakes and her artistic flair.

Magazine Monday: It's A Date

This recipe has been kicking around in the ugly binder for way too long. I kept pulling it out then deciding that the kids wouldn't like it/I didn't have any dates in the pantry/I'd best use up the blackened bananas and make Donna Hay's Banana Bread yet again instead. I finally put the recipe on my kitchen bench so that it screamed "make me" every time I stepped foot in the kitchen. I finally made it yesterday figuring it would do for lunch-boxes this week and if the kids didn't like it, well, Hubby would have battled manfully through. To declare this an instant hit would be an understatement. It was pounced upon by the smaller members of the household and Hubby wandered in from the yard demanding to know what "that great smell" was. In fact, this was so good warm from the oven with butter melting into it that I was a little concerned about how it would stand up the next day. The worrying was pointless. If anything, this is actually better today. I think we just found us a new favourite! It didn't hurt that the whole thing is mixed in a saucepan making the cleanup nice and easy too.

Date Loaf

from Australian Table magazine, June 2009

1 cup (140g)chopped dates

3/4 cup (165g) brown sugar

20g butter, plus extra to serve

1 cup (250ml) boiling water

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour

1. Preheat oven to 190C or 170C fan. Lightly grease and line base and sides of a 14 x 21cm loaf pan.

2. Place dates, sugar and butter in a large saucepan. Stir in boiling water and boil on high heat for 2 minutes. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

3. Stir in bicarbonate of soda. Fold through beaten egg and flour. Spoon into prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool and serve sliced with butter or store in an airtight container.

Making Use Of That Fruit

You probably know my theory that if a food has fruit in it, it has to be good for you. At the very least it has to be slightly healthy. I made some lovely little cakes this afternoon that are laden with sugar and butter but they do have one tiny little slice of nectarine on the top so following my theory... they're actually good for you!

I was looking at different recipes that would help me to use up some of the fruit bounty but ran into a couple of problems. Offspring #1 had a small friend to play today who is unable to eat nuts. Not the end of the world but it did rule out a number of recipes, particularly some scrummy friands I'd had my eye on. The other problem was all my own fault - the first however-many recipes I looked at I just didn't feel like making! Then I found a lovely Donna Hay recipe for Summer Nectarine Cakes - it was sooooo lovely and I desperately wanted to make them but they called for almond meal. Oh well, I'll save that one for another day. Then I turned to Bill for inspiration. Bill Granger who I can rely on any day, any meal, any occasion. And I found exactly what I wanted. Well, exactly what I wanted after I changed a couple of things! And as you can see they met with Offspring #2's approval too. I had to include the middle pic because it makes me laugh every time I look at it. She looks so sweet until the 'crazy' comes through.

Little Nectarine Cakes

Using Bill Granger's Vanilla Cup Cake recipe (from Bill's Open Kitchen)

125g unsalted butter, softened

250g caster sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract

3 eggs

185g plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup milk

1 nectarine, halved, stone removed. Cut each half into six slices

icing sugar

Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 12 hole 125ml (1/2 cup) muffin tray with paper cases. Place the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla, then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift the flour, baking poser and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and fold into the mixture, alternating with the milk until it has a soft dropping consistency, Spoon into the cases and top each cake with a slice of nectarine. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes in the tin. Turn the cakes out onto a wire rack to cool. When cool dust with icing sugar.

A Slice Of Life?

The Slice is Right? Slice and Dice?

Hmmm... yeah they're all pretty rotten as far as titles go LOL.

The apricot slice was a bit hit. It was very simple to prepare with the hardest bit being halving the apricots and removing the stone. A word of warning, the slice dries out fairly quickly so it's probably best to make it on the day you're planning to eat it (or, as I did, the night before if it's for morning tea) as I don't think it will keep very well. Not to worry in our house, it's nearly gone already!

Apricot Slice

from Bill's Open Kitchen by Bill Granger

1 1/2 cups plain flour

3/4 cup caster (superfine) sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

a pinch of salt

3 eggs

1/4 cup milk

2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract

180g butter, softened

14 apricots, pitted and halved (this may vary depending on the size of the apricots - mine were quite large, I'll use small ones next time round)

2 tablespoons caster sugar, extra

Preheat oven to 160C. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Place the eggs, milk and vanilla in another bowl and mix to combine. Pour the egg mixture and butter into the well in the dry ingredients and beat for 2 minutes until smooth. Spread the mixture evenly into a greased or non-stick 20 x 30cm lamington tin

Push the apricot halves, cut side up, evenly into the cake mixture in four rows of seven. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, sprinkle over extra sugar and cook for another 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Cut into fingers with two apricot halves per slice. Makes 14 slices. (Like I said, the apricots I used were quite large so I cut the slice into squares with one apricot half per slice.)

It's Raining Fruit!

A neighbour has dropped in a bucket load of fruit in the past couple of weeks, mostly apricots and peaches. There have been three or so deliveries so far and there is far too much fruit for our family to eat, even after I pass it on to my parents and whoever else we happen to see. Most of the fruit is very ripe so needs to be used fairly quickly so I've been scouring the cookbooks for interesting recipes.

I made some yummy apricot jam with the last lot. I've made jam before, both nectarine and strawberry, but never apricot and I was pleased with how it turned out. It was sweet but not cloyingly so, although it did set a little more solidly than was entirely necessary. I used some of it for the Thumbprint Cookies/Jam Drops. How impressive is that? Homemade right down to the jam filling!

We had another lot of fruit dropped in this afternoon and, as we have friends coming to play in the morning, I decided to try an Apricot Slice. It's still cooling on the bench so I'll have to let you know how it turned out in the morning but it sure does smell good. I was moaning to Hubby that it didn't look as good as the picture in the recipe book and he came back with,"Yeah, but I bet 9 out of 10 people would rather eat your slice than the picture in the book!" I must have looked at him blankly because then he added, "Because the picture's made of paper so only one person out of 10 would like that!" Then he fell about laughing. Because he's crazy.

An Early Birthday Present

My wonderful neighbour came over for coffee on the weekend and delivered my birthday present at the same time. Nothing unusual there except that it's not my birthday for another three weeks and we see each other just about every single day!

She'd bought the new Donna Hay cookbook for me and wanted to give it to me right away so that I wouldn't buy it for myself.

To say that I LOVE my gift would be a massive understatement. I'd actually been looking at this book the day before while I was shopping and put it back on the shelf knowing that Hubby would be most unhappy if I brought home another cookbook - especially as I haven't been cooking a great deal of late. So... I broke out my new cookbook yesterday and made the easiest and, to my mind, yummiest banana bread I've come across.

Simple Banana Bread

No Time To Cook by Donna Hay

Combine 1 2/3 cups plain flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/3 cup caster sugar, 1/3 cup brown sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Make a well in the centre, add 2 eggs, 1/2 cup vegetable oil and 3 mashed bananas and mix to combine. Pour into a greased 20cm x 10cm x 10cm loaf tin. Sprinkle with brown sugar and bake in a preheated 160C oven for 60 minutes or until cooked when tested.

Another Banana Bread

I spent last week in something of a cooking frenzy but haven't had time to do much blogging. Ah well, better late than never!

This was a banana bread recipe that I tore out of a magazine some time ago with the intention of trying there and then. Again, better late than never LOL. This was easy to make and everyone enjoyed it. I put half the loaf into the freezer for the following week and it stored well and defrosted nicely.

Banana Bread

from Australian Good Taste, September 2007

Melted low-fat dairy spread, to grease (I used canola spray in its place)

1 3/4 cups self-raising flour

1/4 cup plain flour

1 tsp cinnamon

2/3 cup, firmly packed, brown sugar

1/2 cup skim milk

2 eggs, lightly whisked

50g butter, cooled

2 overripe bananas, mashed

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Brush an 11 x 22cm (base measurement) loaf pan with dairy spread to grease. Line the base and 2 opposite sides with non-stick baking paper, allowing sides to overhang.

2. Sift the combined flours and cinnamon into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar. Make a well in the centre. Combine the milk, egg, butter and banana in a bowl. Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Spoon into the prepared pan and smooth the surface.

3. Bake in oven for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set aside in pan for 5 minutes to cool before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely. Cut into slices to serve.

This Is Good

This recipe has been floating around the Ugly Binder for much longer than I'd realised and, now that I've finally made it, I'm kicking myself for putting it off for so long. This sweet slice is deliciously easy and, while it might not look all that special, it sure have a lovely flavour.

Date Muesli Slice

from Australian Table, July 2006

125g butter, melted, plus extra, to grease

3/4 cup raw sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup plain flour, sifted

1/2 cup pitted dates, chopped

1/2 cup sultanas

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1. Preheat oven to 190C. Grease and line a 17 x 27cm slice or baking pan.

2. Combine butter, sugar and eggs in a large bowl. Stir in oats, flour, dates, sultanas and almonds. Mix well. Press mixture into prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

3. Slice into rectangles. (Yeah, mine are squares!)

An Old Favourite

We had Donna and her boys round for morning tea today. Although Donna and I, along with our respective younger offspring, catch up fairly regularly, the two 'big kids' don't get to see each other all that often. While we were all living in Red Dirt Central we saw each other at least three times a week and generally spoke to each other nearly every day. As long time readers would know we were very sad when they left town to come back to Perth and it has been wonderful to see them again since we've been back. Of course we stayed in touch with phone calls and emails (and she knew all about our happenings from this blog!) but nothing beats actually being in the same room. It was lovely to spend the morning catching up on all the news, sharing some yummy treats and watching the kids having a great time playing together.

I had grand plans to get up early and bake something fabulous but... let's just say I slept late then spent ages on the phone chatting to my brother and ended up throwing together an old, old, old favourite. Our after-school babysitter used to make this when I was in primary school and I loved it. I haven't made it for ages, probably 18months or more, and it was just as good as ever.

Chocolate Fruit Slice

The Australian Women's Weekly Cakes and Slices Cookbook

125g butter

1 cup self-raising flour

2 tablespoons cocoa

1/2 cup castor sugar

1 cup coconut

1/2 cup mixed fruit

1/4 cup chopped pecan nuts (I tend to use whatever I have in the cupboards, sometimes walnuts, sometimes just crushed peanuts)

Grease a 19cm x 29cm lamington pan, line base and sides with paper, grease well (um... well, I just chucked some greaseproof paper in the tin and was done).

Melt butter in saucepan, stir in sifted flour and cocoa, sugar, coconut, fruit and pecans. Press into prepared pan, bake in moderate over for about 20 minutes.

Leave in pan to cool (unless, like me, you're in a hurry - then pull it out and let it cool, still in the paper, on a chopping board). Spread with chocolate icing, sprinkle with extra coconut and slice.

Donna also bought a plate of goodies with her and they were terrific. She got the recipe for these Pick-Me-Up Muesli Bars from Ellie's blog and was very apologetic that hers weren't as pretty as Ellie's. I have to say that they tasted wonderful and prettiness, while having it's place in the world, is over-rated LOL.

It Has Fruit...

so it must be good for you!

I picked up a bargain bag of ever-so-slightly over-ripe bananas last week but by the time I got around to using them they were just about dead. Not to worry, the deader the banana the sweeter the flavour when you turn it into a cake.

I didn't make the chocolate frosting for this, partly because my lot aren't too keen on icing but mostly because it has been so hot up here that with icing this would have had to be kept in the fridge which would have ruined the cake. The cake was really good on it's own but it would be so much better with frosting. There's always next time.

Banana Sour Cream Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Women's Weekly Cakes and Slices Cookbook

125g butter
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup castor sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed banana (I used three bananas)
1/3 cup sour cream
2 cups self-raising flour
1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Chocolate Frosting
125g packet cream cheese
30g butter
1/2 cups icing sugar
60g dark chocolate, melted



Grease a deep 20cm round cake pan, line base with paper; grease paper (I used a ring tin and greased it with canola spray).
Cream butter, essence and sugar in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy, add eggs one at a time; beat until combined. Stir in half the banana with half the sour cream and half the sifted dry ingredients, then stir in remaining banana, sour cream and dry ingredients. Spread mixture into prepared pan. Bake in moderate oven for about 1 1/4 hours. Stand 5 minutes, before turning on to wire rack to cool. Spread cold cake with frosting.
Chocolate Frosting: Beat cream cheese and butter in small bowl with electric mixer until smooth. Gradually beat in half the sifted icing sugar, cooled chocolate , then remaining icing sugar. Beat until thick.

Sweet and Chewy

I made this slice the other day and we all enjoyed it. This is very sweet and also a bit rich so cut it into smaller than normal pieces and they should be just right.

A tip: If you're storing this in the fridge, like we are in this 37C heat, pull it out of the fridge about 5 minutes before you want to eat it so it's chewy rather than rock hard!

Choc, Apricot and Almond Slice
Woman's Day, April 30, 2007

125g butter, chopped

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons golden syrup

2 cups rolled oats

100g milk chocolate, finely chopped, plus extra 40g, melted

1/2 cup self-raising flour, sifted

1/2 cup chopped dried apricots

1/3 cup slivered almonds

1. Preheat oven to moderately slow, 160C. Lightly grease and line an 18 x 28cm slice pan.

2. Combine butter, sugar and golden syrup in a medium pan. Stir over low heat for 4-5 minutes, until sugar dissolves.

3. Transfer butter mixture to a large bowl. Add oats, chocolate, flour, apricots and almonds. Mix well.

4. Press mixture firmly into prepared pan. Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until golden.

5. Once slice is cold, drizzle with remaining melted chocolate. Allow to set. Cut into serving size pieces and store in an airtight container.

Simply Wonderful

I have only attempted to make a sponge cake once before and, let's just say that it wasn't a raging success. I don't have that 'lightness of hand' that is so necessary for fluffy sponges and it took many many many attempts before I mastered the art of scones. I don't think it helped much that a certain eldest offspring of mine was determined to "help stir" the sponge mixture and his hand is most definitely not light LOL.

So it was with some trepidation that I approached this recipe. I'd torn it from a magazine half planning to make it and half dreaming that it might magically spring from the page ready-made. I finally worked up the courage and decided to take it for dessert to a bbq with friends. Oh my, this is simply wonderful.

The sponge was so fluffy and light - everything you could want in a sponge. It wasn't difficult to make and the couple of extra steps added so much to the end result that it was well worth the effort. I have to say that, while it was lovely for dessert, it really came into it's own the next day (we all ended up with a little bit of the leftovers) when the flavour of the filling had worked through the cake. This is a delightfully delicious addition to my repertoire and I'll be trotting it out again, I just have to work out when.

Mascarpone and Fig Sponge
(Pan di Spagna con Fichi e Mascarpone)
Australian Table, July 2006

5 eggs, separated

1 cup caster sugar

2/3 cup plain flour

1/2 cup cornflour

1 cup fig jam

Mascarpone Filling

2 eggwhites

500g mascarpone, at room temperature

2 tablespoon icing sugar, plus extra icing sugar to dust

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and lightly flour a 24cm springform pan.

2. Using an electric beater, beat egg yolks and half of the caster sugar for 5 minutes, until pale and thick. Gently fold twice-sifted flour and cornflour through yolk mixture.

3. Using an electric beater, beat eggwhites until soft peaks form. Beat in remaining caster sugar, a tablespoon at a time, until thick and glossy. Fold into yolk mixture. Spoon into prepared pan. Bake for 35 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Transfer cake to a wire rack to cool.

4. To make Mascarpone Filling, beat eggwhites using an electric mixer until firm peaks form. Gently fold mascarpone and icing sugar through eggwhites. Using a serrated brad knife, cut cake into three layers. Spread half of jam over base and top with half of Mascarpone filling. Repeat layers once more, finishing with top of cake. Dust with extra icing sugar before serving.