So my parents got back this morning & it happens to be my dad's birthday, I baked him a cake yesterday as you'll know by now how much I love baking! I did have a very productive day yesterday with a never ending to-do-list which I managed to tick everything off! :)
Banana & Walnut Loaf
SERVES 8
INGREDIENTS
100g/4oz softened butter, plus a little extra for
greasing
140g/5oz caster sugar
1 beaten egg
225g/8oz plain flour
2 tsp baking powder 4 very ripe bananas 85g/3oz
chopped walnuts 50ml/2fl oz milk
METHOD
Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4. Grease a 2lb
loaf tin with some butter, line the base with baking parchment, then grease
this as well.
In a large bowl, mix together the butter, sugar and
egg, then slowly mix in the flour and baking powder. Peel, then mash the bananas.
Now mix everything together with the nuts and milk.
Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 1 hour,
or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack before
removing from the loaf tin.
The loaf can now be wrapped tightly in cling film
and frozen for up to 1 month. Defrost and warm through before serving.
Dad's birthday cake - Mary Berry's Victoria Sponge
Ingredients
4 eggs
225g/8oz caster sugar,
plus a little extra for dusting the finished cake
225g/8oz self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
225g/8oz baking
spread, margarine or soft butter at room temperature, plus
alittle extra to grease the tins
Method
1. Preheat
the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2. Grease
and line 2 x 20cm/8in sandwich tins: use a piece of baking or silicone paper to
rub a little baking spread or butter around the inside of the tins until the
sides and base are lightly coated. Line the bottom of the tins with a circle of
baking or silicone paper (to do this, draw around the base of the tin onto the
paper and cut out).
3. Break
the eggs into a large mixing bowl, then add the sugar, flour, baking powder and
baking spread.
4. Mix
everything together until well combined. The easiest way to do this is with an
electric hand mixer, but you can use a wooden spoon. Put a damp cloth under
your bowl when you’re mixing to stop it moving around. Be careful not to
over-mix – as soon as everything is blended you should stop. The finished
mixture should be of a soft ‘dropping’ consistency – it should fall off a spoon
easily.
5. Divide
the mixture evenly between the tins: this doesn’t need to be exact, but you can
weigh the filled tins if you want to check. Use a spatula to remove all of the
mixture from the bowl and gently smooth the surface of the cakes.
6. Place
the tins on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Don't be
tempted to open the door while they're cooking, but after 20 minutes do look
through the door to check them.
7. The
cakes are done when they’re golden-brown and coming away from the edge of the
tins. Press them gently to check – they should be springy to the touch. Remove
them from the oven and set aside to cool in their tins for five minutes. Then
run a palette or rounded butter knife around the inside edge of the tin and
carefully turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack.
8. To
take your cakes out of the tins without leaving a wire rack mark on the top,
put the clean tea towel over the tin, put your hand onto the tea towel and turn
the tin upside-down. The cake should come out onto your hand and the tea towel
– then you can turn it from your hand onto the wire rack.
9. Set
aside to cool completely.
10. To assemble the cake, place one cake upside down
onto a plate and spread it with plenty of jam. If you want to, you can spread
over whipped cream too.
11. Top
with the second cake, top-side up. Sprinkle over the caster sugar.
I cut the 2 pieces of cake in half then whisked 300ml of whipping cream with 3 tablespoon of icing sugar & sandwiched them between the cake. Then wrote "happy bday dad" with bits of peach which didn't quite work would have been easier if it was "mum". I was trying to be creative, then chopped strawberries in half & put slices of galia melon around it. I put walnuts into the cake to make it a bit more interesting but I think it's a bit dry as I've burnt out the hand whisk so it's not very strong so the mixture isn't whisked as much as I'd like it too sadly!
Also I got my mum to buy me the Zara cutout boots while they were in Spain as they're £20 cheaper with the exchange rate! Most of the stuff is £10/20 cheaper in Spain than here which is annoying as I think Zara has gone really expensive lately!
I finally have a pair of cutout boots!! & they're real leather. They were 69,95€ which exchanges to £60.18. In the UK they're £79.99! I'm so happy my mum got me a pair they're a size which makes my feet look big as I have skinny ankles but I love them!
Tomorrow Kelly's having a leaving BBQ as she's going to America for year as part of her degree! I'll miss her but she's back for Christmas & hopefully go visit her while she's there too! Hope the weather is nice & warm tomorrow today was pretty miserable, cloudy & quite chilly
Julie
XxX
