Banana Fruit Loaf

Last weekend, with 4 bananas sat in the fruit bowl asking to be used, I was pleased to see this recipe for Banana Fruit Loaf posted by C over at Cakes, Crumbs and Cooking.  This is not to say that I don't already have a plethora of banana based recipes stashed away for those 'sat in the fruit bowl and slowly turning to mush' moments but they all just seemed so samey and this did nothing to ignite my interest in heading back into the kitchen.  And then along came C's post and I couldn't wait to get going, something different and not too taxing for a weekend of relaxing and with an impressive end result.

Banana Fruit Loaf
75g softened butter
100g light brown soft sugar
3tbsp honey
2 eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed
225g self raising flour
1 tsp mixed spice
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
225g raisins (I came up a bit short in the raisin department so added some sultanas to get the extra weight)

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin.

Cream the butter until light and fluffy.

Add the honey, eggs and bananas and beat well.

Mix together the flour, spice, bicarb and raisins and fold into banana mixture.

Mix well then bake for 1-1 1/4 hours until a skewer comes out clean.

Makes 1 loaf
Stolen from Cakes, Crumbs and Cooking Blog

You may have noticed I over baked it ever so slightly.  Mine only had an hour in the oven, next time I'll give it 40-50 mins I think, I must have on overly hot oven!

Cinnamon and Raisin Fruit Loaf

This recipe appeared in the December issue of Delicious magazine and I set about making it straight away. I'm a bit of a sucker for fruit bread and this one didn't fail. Both Hubby and I really enjoyed inhaling our slices warm from the oven with the butter melting in. Actually I used spread instead of butter ... it was the lead up to the festive period and every ounce counts, as my scales are more than happy to point out to me!

This loaf recipe is fairly similar to the Fruit Loaf I usually make but I found that using the yeast in this dough makes for a lovely fluffy texture. The Fruit Loaf can sometimes be a bit on the dense side but as it doesn't have yeast in it means it is less labour intensive so I'm not ready to consign the recipe to the bin quite yet!

Cinnamon and Raisin Loaf

30g dried cherries (I used dried cranberries)

125g mixed golden sultana's and raisins

50g dried apricots

250ml strong Lady Grey tea, cold

400g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting

7g sachet (2 tsp) active dried yeast

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tbsp caster sugar, plus extra for dusting

1/2 tsp salt

Grated zest of 1 orange

55g butter, melted and cooled slightly, plus a little extra for brushing

1 medium free range egg, beaten

150ml full fat milk, warmed

Oil, for greasing

Place the cherries (cranberries), sultanas, raisins and apricots in a large bowl, pour over the tea and leave to steep for a couple of hours before draining well.

Sift the flour into a large bowl, add the yeast, cinnamon, sugar, salt and orange zest and stir to combine. Make a well in the centre and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine the butter, egg and milk, then pour into the well in the flour mixture. Use a wooden spoon to mix to a soft dough. When the dough has nearly come together, add the fruit and combine.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 mins, until the dough is elastic and smooth, adding a little extra flour if its too sticky. Place the dough in a large, well oiled bowl, cover with well oiled cling film and leave in a warm place for 45 mins or until doubled in size.

Knock back the dough by punching it gently, then transfer to a lightly floured surface. Shape the dough into an oblong or round and place in a lightly greased and floured 900g loaf tin. Cover with oiled cling film and leave to rise for 30 mins or until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C. Brush the top of the bread with melted butter and scatter with a little sugar. Bake in the oven for about 25 mins until the top is golden brown and the loaf makes a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes 1 loaf

Delicious Magazine - December 09

The only thing left to do after making this is to cut a slice, spread with butter (!!!), make a cuppa and relax!

Santa's Rum and Raisin Choc Pudding

Just a quickie as the Christmas Eve festivities are in full swing already.  When Santa pays us a visit later on tonight he'll be sampling a Rum and Raisin Choc Pudding (I have it on good authority that he likes rum very much!)

Santa's Rum and Raisin Choc Pudding
75g raisins
60ml dark rum
120g butter, softened and chopped
90g brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
225g SR flour, sifted
50g cocoa powder, sifted
125ml milk
200g chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 180C.  Place the raisins and rum in a bowl and set aside.

Place the butter, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 8-10 mins or until light and creamy.  Add the eggs and beat well.  Add the flour, cocoa and milk and beat until just combined.  Fold through the chocolate and raisin mixture.  Divide between 4 x 1 1/2 cup capacity glass jars.

Place in a baking dish and pour in enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the jars.  Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour or until cooked when tested with a skewer.  Seal immediately with a clean, tight fighting lid.  Store for up to 4 days.

Makes 4

Taken from Donna Hay Issue 42

Of course Rudolf is taken care of too ... must find out if his taste buds ever crave something other than carrot!  Merry Christmas everybody.  Where ever you are and however you are celebrating I hope you enjoy yourself to the max!

Rhubarb and Vanilla Mincemeat

I know I'm leaving it a bit late to finally be posting this recipe but trust me when I say its worth waiting for. This is another Nigella recipe that I came across last year and it completely opened the door to the world of Mince Pie's for me. Before then mince meat was booze sodden mixed peel with some suet mixed in for good measure. Bless that Nigella!

Rhubarb and Vanilla Mincemeat
1kg rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 5mm slices
300g soft dark brown sugar
2 vanilla pods
2 tsp ground mixed spice
225g raisins
225g sultanas
225g currants
2 tbsp brandy (I replace this with either orange juice or grand marnier)

Put the sliced rhubarb with the sugar into a large pan. Cut the vanilla pod in halves length ways and scrape out the seeds, then cut each half into pieces, adding seeds and pod slices to the pan. Add the mixed spice and cook for about 5 mins.

Add the dried fruits and simmer the pan for about 30 mins. Stir in the brandy and take off the heat. When it's cool enough to handle, bottle in jars.

Makes 1.25 litres
From Nigella's Christmas Cook Book

This year I made the mincemeat when the Rhubarb was in plentiful supply and kept it in a dark cupboard until now. Last weekend I used some of it to make Crumble Topped Mince Pies which didn't last long at all.

Crumble Topped Mince Pies
1 quantity shortcrust pastry
200g mincemeat
25g ground almonds
25g flaked almonds (I didn't have any so I just left them out)
Pinch of ground cinnamon
25g soft light brown sugar

Turn the oven to 180C/fan 160C. On a lightly floured work surface, roll the pastry out to a 2-3mm thickness. Using a 9-10cm flutted cutter, stamp out discs from the pastry. Re-roll any trimmings and stamp out more discs until the pastry is used up. Line two 8 hole muffin tins with the pastry discs, then fill each pastry shell with 1 heaped tsp mincemeat and spread out to smooth.

Combine the ground and flaked almonds, cinnamon, brown sugar and the melted butter in a small bowl, then sprinkle a little over the top of each mince pie. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 20 mins, until the pastry is cooked and golden brown. Cool in the tins for 5 mins.

Serve with brandy butter or creme friache.

* To make ahead, freeze , uncooked, in trays for up to 1 month. Defrost overnight and bake as above.

Makes approx 16
Easy Cook Mag - Christmas 2009

We Should Cocoa ~ Paul A Young's Easter Simnel Brownie

Where to start?  I was more than a wee bit panic stricken when Choclette announced this month's challenge for We Should Cocoa.  Marzipan is a taste that I am yet to acquire ... in fact the vast majority of people I know are yet to develop a taste for it too so I knew that whatever I made it either had to be really subtle or something that could be easily distributed to the small handful of people in my office who like it.  I will admit to not doing a great deal of research into what to make, in fact, none at all!  The decision was made while I was flicking through some recipes I had recently clipped out of a magazine, there on the back of the Double White Chocolate Fudge Cake with Vanilla and White Chocolate Buttercream (I know!!!) was a recipe from Paul A Young for Easter Simnel Brownies.

They were horrendous!  The worst tasting 'thing' I have ever baked and as such I am following Aveen's lead and not posting the recipe (although in my opinion her Batterberg looks mighty fine to me)!  The brownies never even made it into to work, they got flung in the bin as soon as the mandatory 'rest in the fridge overnight' time had elapsed.  I hate wasting food like this,  but there was no way I wanted anybody at work to taste them and think that was the level best of my ability!  Oh well ... back to the drawing board!

Estonian Kringel - Fresh From The Oven

Time for another Fresh From The Oven challenge which was picked by Jo over at Jo's Kitchen. Jo spotted the recipe when it appeared on the Hairy Bikers TV Show ' Mum's Know Best'. I think I'm about the only baker int he group to have missed that episode but I'm so glad that Jo picked this recipe to try for our March challenge. Yum does not even begin to describe it.

In usual me type style I left it till today to get the bread made. That said there isn't much of it left, Hubby and I have pretty much eaten the lot. That sounds bad, especially when you take a peek at the ingredients list but its the only thing we've had to eat today - promise! Got a nice dinner in the oven though so never fear, Hubby isn't on starvation rations just yet!

I found the dough quite dry to work with, I was worried that the cooked bread would be the same but I guess that 100g of butter smeared over the top did the trick. I couldn't lay my hands on fresh yeast and used 12g of instant in its place, not sure if that caused the initial dry texture. Hubby has asked for this to be made again soon and as everyone knows by now this is my barometer of success or not! Two thumbs up from this camp. There was a bit of discussion when the recipe was posted about some ingredients being omitted etc so I have used the recipe as the Hairy Bikers have included on the web site for the TV show.

Sweet Estonian Kringle
40 g fresh yeast
1 tbsp sugar
220 ml milk
1 tsp Salt
2 egg yolks
50 g melted unsalted butter
600-700 ml flour
Filling
100 g soft butter
10 tsp sugar
3 handfuls of raisins
Topping
150 g dark chocolate (min 50%)

75 g butter

Mix yeast and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add lukewarm milk, egg yolks.

Mix in flour and melted butter and knead well.

Shape the dough into a ball, cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and leave to rise in a warm
place for 30 min.

Knock the dough back and roll it out on a slightly dusted work surface to about 1 cm thickness.

Spread soft butter evenly over the rolled sheet of pastry. Then sprinkle raisins and finally sugar.

Roll the dough up like a Swiss roll then cut in half with a sharp knife leaving one end uncut.

Starting from the uncut end, lift each half over the other in turn revealing the separate layers.

Shape the plaited bread into a B-shape and transfer onto a buttered baking tray. Bake in a
preheated oven at 200 C for about 25 min or until golden.

In the meantime prepare the chocolate topping by melting chocolate and butter in a bowl over
some boiling water.

Once out of the oven, let the bread cool down a bit, transfer to a serving plate and drizzle the
chocolate sauce all over.

Serves 15 to 20 (lol!)

Hairy Bikers 'Mum Knows Best'

In an attempt to try and reduce the amount of calories we were to consume with this recipe I have omitted the chocolate sauce for drizzling. A savoury version can also be made by omitting the sugar and replacing the filling with cheese.

The Great Hot Cross Bun Hunt - Trial Two

Thank you to everyone who has left me a comment after my first Hot Cross Bun Trial and for the additional recipes - all have been added to my list and I will do my best to try and make them all prior to Easter, with so many versions though it may need to be a two year project!

This recipe comes from the Times Online and I have to admit that I was desperate to try it for its sheer uniqueness. The ingredient list has a few additions to the usual Hot Cross Bun and I was intrigued to see (and taste!) the end result. These little guys are definite contenders for the 'Best Hot Cross Bun' title delivering everything I was looking for, loads of flavour, fruit and that very important moist and fluffy texture.

That said, the recipe isn't without drawbacks, firstly it makes no mention of what to cook the buns on or in. Tray or pan? Greased or ungreased? I opted for a non stick cake pan but in hindsight I should have greased and floured it, the tin didn't want to release the buns without a few harsh words and some added elbow grease. And the paste mixture for the crosses was far too runny and they ended up disappearing while in the oven (secretly I think it was them that secured themselves to the pan!). With a few tweaks here and there all my issues could be easily rectified though so I'm happy to call this recipe a success.

Hot Cross Buns - Times Online Style

450g strong bread flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp ground allspice (I used mixed spice - I'm guessing its one and the same?)

7g dried yeast

75g raisins

75g glacé cherries

Grated rind of 1 orange, 1 lemon, 1 lime

110g caster sugar

50g unsalted butter

2 tsp vanilla extract

250ml milk

1 egg, beaten

Paste

80g plain flour

2 tbsp sugar

100ml water

Glaze

2 tbsp brown sugar

3 tbsp milk

1 tbsp marmalade

Sift flour, salt and spices into a large bowl and mix in the yeast, fruit, rind and sugar.

Melt butter, stir in milk and vanilla extract and heat until tepid. Whisk into egg, add to flour mixture, form a dough and knead on a floured surface for 10min until smooth and elastic. Take note, it took quite a bit of extra flour just to get the dough to a knead-able state. Its a very sticky and damp mixture.

Divide into 12 buns, cover with a damp tea towel and leave in a warm place for about 90min, till doubled in size. (Mine didn't double in size at all, even after 2 hours - I feared the worst at this stage!)

Mix the paste, bung it in a piping bag (or a plastic freezer bag with one corner snipped off) and pipe a cross on each bun.

Bake at 180C for 10min, reduce the heat to 150C and bake for a further 15min. Lightly brush with the glaze and cool on a rack.

Makes 12

Times Online

I didn't even have the chance to add the glaze before we started slathering the buns with spread all warm from the oven still. I especially like the use of the zest instead of the peel, you get all the flavour of the citrus fruit without chomping on a big chunk of peel. I wasn't sure about the glace cherries or the use of the raisins instead of sultana's but in actual fact they aren't out of place in the finished bun at all. I might add some sultanas as well next time ~ assuming that this is the recipe to claim victory of course!

Stir Up Sunday Comes Early

Did you know that Stir Up Sunday is this coming Sunday?  That's only 6 sleeps away ... not sure if this helping you or not, sorry if it's not!  The thing is that I'm not going to be anywhere near the close and comfy confines of my wee kitchen on Sunday, I'll be in the Lake District instead for a nice long weekend, so I decided that I had better get ahead of the game and start to get myself organised. 

We are not huge mince pie fans in this house, although it just doesn't seem to be Christmas without the little blighters.  Every year I try to find new recipes to try out for alternative mince pie filling, Rhubarb and Vanilla is my all time favourite but owing to a particularly bad rhubarb season for me this year I'm having to go without ... sigh.  Then when I was flicking through the December issue of Delicious I spotted a recipe that, with a few tweaks, I could make my own and hopefully find a new alternative.  This is what I came up with;

Buttery Apple, Hazelnut and Chocolate Mincemeat
Finely grated zest and juice of 2 large oranges
Finely grated zest and juice of 2 large lemons
1 large (about 300g) bramley apple
100g butter
50ml frangelico
200g raisins
150g sultanas
150g currants
150g chocolate, grated (I used Willie's Supreme Cacao - Indonesian Black)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp mixed spice
175g light brown sugar
50g lightly toasted hazelnuts, chopped

Put the orange and lemon zest and juices into a medium pan.  Peel, quarter and core the apple, then grate ot, stirring it into the juices as you go so it doesn't discolour.

Add the butter, frangelico, dried fruits, vanilla extract and spices, then cook over a low heat, stirring frequently, for 1 hour until the apple has broken down, the dried fruits have plumped up and all the liquid has evaporated.  Leave to cool, then mix in the sugar, chocolate and toasted hazelnuts.

Spoon into cool, sterilised jars, press a waxed disc onto the surface of the mixture and seal.  Refrigerate and use within 1 month.

Makes about 1.2kg mincemeat

Adapted from Delicious, Dec 10

* Because this mincemeat is made with butter instead of suet, it keeps in the fridge for no more than a month.  However, it freezes well for up to 6 months.  For a mincemeat with a longer shelf life, omit the butter and stir in 100g shredded suet at the end, along with the sugar, chocolate and nuts.  This will keep for up to a year in a cool dark place.

The smell from this mixture bubbling away on the stove for an hour was so Christmassy and comforting.  The mincemeat is now sitting happily in the freezer at the moment, can't wait to sample it in pie form! 

Spelt, Raisin and Macadamia Bread

Recently I've discovered Spelt Flour, mainly due to reading The Ordinary Cook's posts and decided I would like to give this flour a whirl in some of my own baking.  Trying to locate the flour was a bit of a trial, its not as widely stocked as some of the other speciality flours, at least not in my neck of the woods, so it meant a special trip to one of the bigger shops to get a bag ... then I needed to have some spare time up my sleeve in order to get cracking (... and then in order to post this I needed my internet to be working which has probably been the biggest trial of all over the last month or so.  Touch wood everything seems to be going fine at the moment)!

Encouraged by The Ordinary Cook's adventures I've been keeping my eyes peeled for more and more recipes using spelt flour so I was delighted when this recipe turned up in one of my magazines recently.  The bread was delish and the addition of the earthy and oily macadamias helped to even out the sweetness from the raisins and honey.  I really enjoyed the bread, so much so that Hubby didn't even get a look in!  Its great as a change from the normal fruit bread if you are looking to vary things a bit.

Spelt, Raisin and Macadamia Bread
7g sachet, fast action dried yeast or easy bake yeast
2 tbsp honey
250g spelt wholemeal flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp veg oil
125g macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
125g raisins

Put the yeast and honey with 200ml water in a large bowl and mix.  Add the spelt flour and salt, mix and begin kneading, adding a little more water if the mixture seems dry.

Add the vegetable oil to the dough and knead in well before kneading in the macadamias and raisins.

Cover the bowl with a cloth then leave the mix to stand for 1 hour in a warm place.  Tip out onto a floured board and knead briefly, then shape into a loaf and put in a 500g loaf tin.  Leave to stand for 45 mins.  The loaf will rise to fill the tin a bit more (its not a huge rising bread though).

Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C.  Bake for 25-30 mins until the crust is dark golden brown.  Cool completely before slicing.

Makes 1 x 500g loaf
Olive Mag (can't remember which month but it was this year!)

Fruit Bread Revisited!

Remember this post from last year?  Oh what a difference a year makes!  I'm actually not minding autumn happening this year, in fact I'm quite liking it .... does this mean I've been living in the UK for too long?!?!?!

So last weekend, that autumnal blast of chilly air and the evenings drawing in made me lust after long for some of this bread, warm from the oven with butter melting in and a nice sedate cuppa to wash it down with (does this mean I'm getting too old?!?!?!?!  Not so sure I'm liking the way this post is heading!) and set about making a loaf. 

Its been a while since we last enjoyed this recipe but I still wanted to do things a little differently this time so instead of finding the usual dried cranberries, dried apricots, sultana's, currants and raisins this time it has dried blueberries, dried apricots, dried mango, sultana's and raisins. 

I have to admit that the first bite was a bit of a hallelujah moment.  Sigh .....

If this is the taste of autumn then I'm pretty sure I can live with it getting a bit colder and a bit darker that little bit earlier .... for a few months anyway ;0)

Fruit Bread

Its time for me to face reality. Summer is gone and Autumn is well and truly kicking in, the leaves are turning, darkness looms earlier and there is a very certain nip to the air. To most people these alone would be a fair indication of a change in the seasons, it would appear though that I'm quite good at turning a blind eye to these signs. My reality check came when I purchased our Christmas Advent calenders yesterday. I hear you cry "It's only September"! Of course you are right, it is way too early for things like this to be on the shelves but in my world this means Christmas is on its way and if Christmas is on its way then so is winter which, in turn, means I need to start enjoying Autumn! Just between you and me I can't wait for Christmas to come!

Naturally when it comes to this time of year my stomach turns to comfort food. I'm not going to lie to you, I make this recipe year round but when its dark outside and its time to cozy up, a slice of this still warm from the oven with some butter or marg melting over the top is the bees knees. I have been drooling all day at the anticipation of my first slice.

Fruit Bread

300g mixed dried fruit - I use sultanas, currants, raisins, dried cranberries and dried apricots

450ml hot tea

90g light brown sugar

1 lemon, zested

3 cups SR flour

1 tsp mixed spice

1 large egg

Place the fruit in a bowl, pour over the hot tea, cover with plastic wrap and set aside at room temp overnight.

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease a 10 x 25cm loaf pan.

Strain the fruit, reserving the liquid then combine with remaining ingredients. Gradually add the reserved liquid, stirring until a soft dropping consistency is reached. Pour into the pan and bake for 45-50 mins.

Meanwhile, make a sugar syrup: place 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water in a pan over low heat and stir to dissolve the sugar. Simmer for 10-15 mins. Brush the fruit loaf with syrup while still warm.

Set aside on a wire rack to coll, then slice and serve with butter.

Makes 1 loaf

Adapted from Australian Delicious Mag, April 2002 issue

A few points on this recipe - always, always, always remember to grease the pan. It has remarkable sticking properties otherwise! Also, the original recipe says to use Earl Grey tea but I make it with whatever flavour tea I have to hand, Scottish Breakfast Tea from the Edinburgh Tea and Coffee Company is my current tea of choice but I'm going to try using my favourite 'Tea Pig' flavour next time round (Chocolate Tea - defo worth a try if you haven't already, lovely cuppa!)

I make this is in two smaller pans rather than one large one. I find the top browns well before the middle is cooked in the larger pan, no big deal as a covering of foil once the desired level of goldeness has been reached solves the problem. We like the smaller pans though so we can have one for now and freeze the other for latter or pass it in to Jason's Mum - who has a particular soft spot for Fruit Bread - just reduce the cooking time. Doing it this way also eliminates the need for foil. The sugar syrup as made above is far too much for the bread whether it is made in a large pan or two dinky ones so I keep what is leftover in a jar in the fridge, it'll keep for ages that way.