Banana and Date Loaf Cake

I made this classic beauty on Tuesday to celebrate the final of The Great British Bake off (I already miss it and it's not 8pm on Tuesday yet!). Whilst I'm on topic, what did everyone think of the final? I was so elated with the outcome and I think all three gentlemen did amazingly well. As James said, it didn't feel as though there were any losers or runners up.

This is essentially Mary Berry's banana loaf recipe (which can be found in her Baking Bible), but I made a few tweaks to be more tailored to my taste buds. I have made the loaf around three times, sticking strictly to Mary's instructions – I can't argue with her now can I? She is a legend and just such a lovely lady. She would be my number one dinner party guest or afternoon tea partner – I think she'd be fascinating.

 

I added one more banana than the recipe states and around 100g of dates as I believed they could evoke a lovely, toffee like edge in the cake. It tasted as I'd hoped and gave it a different texture, richness and depth. I was ridiculously pleased that the dates baked consistently throughout the cake and didn't sink. I embraced the classic technique of rolling them in flour first and it must really work. This method was truly a baking myth for me, as it had never worked in the past with some fruits, but worked beautifully in this instance.

I added a honey glaze and walnuts to the top of the loaf, as although the cake isn't dry in any way, I simply wanted more decadence.  Additionally, I know that dates and walnuts work in harmony just like mascara enhances our eyelashes for example. 

I made the glaze with around 4-5 tablespoons of Acacia honey and 60g of butter. All you have to do is melt the two together and it soon becomes thick and cloudy. Once you visibly see this sticky matter changing like this, take it off the heat and leave it set for about two minutes and drizzle accordingly.  Add as many walnuts as you like, I think the nuttier the better!

I could have easily devoured this all by myself, but I took most of it to work to share with my friends.  It received excellent reviews and certainly perked them all up at 3pm!

My whereabouts and bunting cake

Wow, I haven’t blogged in a while! I have missed it. Since I last blogged I’ve turned 25, visited Liverpool for my birthday weekend, been to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park (I love animals – the meerkats and squirrel monkeys were my favourite) and attended my friend’s beautiful wedding in Essex.  With a lot of baking in between!

I’m a huge Beatles fan so our weekend in Liverpool was inspired by them.  We went to the Beatles Story Exhibition in the day and to the Cavern Club at night.  Two incredible experiences.  Liverpool is a very cool and friendly city.  People were interested in why we were there and it had a buzzing atmosphere, day and night.  Our hotel was fantastic, so if anyone is thinking about visiting Liverpool, check out Hotel Indigo.  Very fashionable and well located (two minute walk from the Albert Docks and ten minute walk away from the Cavern Club). 

As you can imagine, I baked treats in aid of my birthday (which is also my Dad’s birthday so double the reason for treats!) I made a Maltesers cake and mini Snickers cheesecakes from Iced Jems.  You can find the recipe here.

Over the Jubilee celebrations I made my very first sugarpaste covered cake.  I tried to use skills I’d learned in my cake decoration class and applied the tips I’ve read about in all my books.  I think it went well for my first attempt, apart from a mishaps with small holes in the sugarpaste where it had maybe become too dry and ripped.  However, armed with damage control knowledge (sometimes demonstrated on Ace of Cakes) you can cover up the mishaps by placing articles over them!

The main inspiration for the cake was the cute cake bunting I bought from Ebay.  It was £5.95 from a brilliant and efficient seller.  You can find this gorgeous bunting here.

I used Mary Berry’s madeira cake recipe from her Baking Bible and substituted lemon zest for vanilla extract.  It had a layer of marzipan underneath the sugarpaste.  A very rich flavour, yet so satisfying.

Peanut butter obsession continued... including banana loaf cake

So the obsession continues! Peanut Butter Cup cakes... the richest cupcake I've ever tasted and I have a very high threshold for sugar. These cupcakes are the updated and variation on the Mr Hershey cupcakes that I blogged about last year. They are a moist chocolate sponge topped with a gooey peanut butter icing. I used around equal parts of icing sugar to peanut butter. Ina Garten used this method for her peanut butter muffins. I added about three or four tablespoons of whole milk to smooth the icing out. Then topped with miniature Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  The first time I made them I used crunchy peanut butter in the cake mix.  They smelled absolutely divine as they baked, however was a hindrance to the cake once baked as it seemed to dry it out.  

That being said, they were beautiful. Rich but delicious. Definitely not for the faint hearted! My friend Gemma said that they tasted and had texture like a Snickers bar. I can definitely tell what she means. 

These are the Peanut Butter Cup cakes I made for my amazing sister. She got a new job after a long time trying to better herself. Karma finally was on her side! Aside from the fact that she deserved a break and was perfect for the role.

I made a banana loaf cake today Mary Berry style and look what I did... piled on the peanut butter! I think I need to be sponsored by the stuff!

 

Finally, here's a topical picture for this blog post.  I bought this last year in Selfridge's in Birmingham.  It was like I'd struck gold, I just had to have it!

Bakeware Haul

 Take a look at my shopping spree!

TK Maxx could be my favourite place.  It’s amazing for bakeware, PME fondant cutters and sold at really reasonable prices.  I’m impressed every time I go there.  Joe was impressed too, as he bought a particularly sleek knife set to replace our old cheap set.  Now, I know we can’t get excited about knives, but I promise that these are really cool! – They’re ‘pointless’ and stand in a transparent block.

I bought the pastry cutters, flower cutters and pastry brush from Atkinsons in Sheffield.  A great, local store that seems to have every staple you’d need.

The fluted flan tin is to quench my need to make a Tarte Au Citron, Mary Berry style.  I’ve been studying the Great British Bake Off book and Mary Berry’s Baking Bible of late and I’m really excited to try the classic, yet difficult to master recipes!

Next things on my ‘to buy’ list is a 1 lb and 2 lb loaf tin.  Chocolate and banana loaf here I come!