Yummy yummy yummy I've got banana loaf cake in my tummy...

Cake is my downfall in every way, it is the reason I can't under any circumstances get under 10 stone, it is responsible for the piles of washing up that I can't be bothered to do... Take care with this cake, it is evil and delicious and while I think everyone should bake this one at least once, it is SO evil and delicious that you might not be able to stop yourself from devouring the whole thing. Just sayin'. 

You will need:

4oz Butter

4oz Sugar (I used a mixture of caster and brown, you can use whatever you like best)

2 Eggs

8oz Self Raising Flour

1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

1tsp Cinnamon

1 tbsp Golden Syrup (optional)

3-4 very ripe Bananas

145g Raisins (optional - can also be substituted with chocolate chips if you'd prefer...)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees and grease and line a large loaf tin.

Cream together butter and sugar, then beat in the eggs.

Mash 3 bananas and slice one, and gently stir into the butter, sugar and eggs mixture.

Add the raisins and the golden syrup.

Sift in the flour, bicarb and cinnamon and fold in gently until completely combined.

Pour into your loaf tin and bake for 45 minutes

Enjoy the baking smells... While this was baking my fiancee asked me if we could live in a banana loaf cake. It smells THAT good.

When it's cooked, let it cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes and then move onto a cooling rack. 

EAT IT.

Mine looks like this...

Yes. This is the piece I just ate for my breakfast. No joke. Well it has fruit in it, it's pretty much healthy... Right?! It has got to be better for me than the Alpen with gone off milk I ate yesterday morning.

Baking

Alright so, in this case, I am a bit of a typical 'Mum' in the sense that I LOVE BAKING.


My Mum is an excellent cook and I enjoy most things she makes, but her cakes are seriously good. So in short, I got brought up eating awesome cake (amongst other things).


I would quite happily bake every single day of my life. For about a month and then I'd probably get fed up of working in a hot kitchen and all the washing up, but you get my point. 


I like to bake for other people - I get a lot of satisfaction watching somebody enjoying something I have made, and I always like to be told I'm good at something... Everyone loves a little ego boost from time to time! I quite frequently bake on a Thursday and take the goods to work on a Friday. It goes down well, I'm not going to lie. In all fairness I think it is one of the only reasons my boss likes me (not you Em, the other one). She only started to like me after I started feeding her cake.


Today, I've made Toffee Apple Crumble and Apple, Raisin and Cinnamon flapjacks.


Thought I'd share a recipe with you. It's been adapted off the top of my head from a recipe for flapjack that my Mum gave me, and I THINK that it came from my Great Aunty... Who knows, it could have been from either Granny, I'm sorry that I don't know that.


So. You will need....


Condensed milk - about 1/3 of a can
Porridge oats - a 1kg bag... You'll probably need between 500-600g, 
Golden Syrup - 4 tbsp
Brown sugar - 245g (i'll admit, I do round this up to 250g. Now that you mention it.)
Butter - 300g
Raisins - handful?
2 cooking apples
cinnamon




Heat the sugar, golden syrup and butter gently, stirring all the time until completely melted.


Grate in the 2 cooking apples.*


Chuck in a handful of raisins...


Sprinkle some cinnamon over the top... About 3/4 tsp depending on how much you like it.


Stir it all together and heat gently for a little while. Like... a minute. Then put about 1/3** of a can of condensed milk in and stir it.


Chuck in the porridge oats a little bit at a time and stir well. Make sure all oats are covered. 


Put into a tray of some description and bake it at 160 degrees for about 20 minutes, and then if you like the top to be a bit crispy, whack it up to about 200 for a few minutes. 


Leave it to cool in the tin.


* I really don't know if grating apples was the right thing to do. Maybe they would be better off diced or something, or even dried apple... I will experiment. Feel free to let me know if you decide to try it out.
** ABOUT 1/3, but remember the more you put in the more gooey your flapjack will be and it is likely to be best eaten with a spoon and some ice cream. Trust me. If you put in less than 1/3 it will probably end up being firmer, a bit more chewy.


Mine look like this...

Om Nom Nom Nom Nom...

I'll be really honest, they're pretty good but I think these sorts of things could always be improved upon. If you have any idea's please leave me a comment and let me know... 


If anyone actually tries this recipe I'd love some feedback too! 


<3