Basic banana cake

Unintentionally we've been going somewhat old school in our house recently. 


Tuna mornay, sausage casserole, and tonight my family's basic banana cake.

Maybe it's the cold weather, or the stresses of life. Whatever it is, sometimes you just can't beat the old, comforting classics of your childhood.


So here's my family's basic banana cake recipe. It's super simple and not at all complicated or fussy. The method may seem somewhat backward and mixed up, and you may think you'll end up with a curdled mess, but somehow it all turns out in the wash (or oven!). Tonight I added a shake or two of dry ginger and cinnamon. 


I also made a basic lemon drizzle icing (icing sugar, lemon zest, and just enough lemon juice to make it drizzley). I spread it on while the cake was just still a little warm so it would run and drizzle down the sides a little, and also absorb just a tad into the cake. I have just served it with a dusting of icing sugar,... or bake it in a round tin and ice with a cream-cheese lemon or vanilla frosting with banana chips for decoration.

And from my eldest son, the banana hater, it scored "100%".


Banana Cake
Ingredients:
125g butter
1 cup sugar
2 mashed bananas
1 tsp bicarb soda
1/2 cup warm milk
2 beaten eggs
1 3/4 cups sifted SR flour
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
(ground ginger, cinnamon, honey or any other flavourings you want to add)


Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
2. Cream butter and sugar until pale.
3. Mix in mashed bananas.
4. Dissolve bicarb soda in the warm milk and add to the creamed mixture.
5. Add beaten eggs and vanilla, and mix.
6. Stir in the flour and salt (add extra flavourings at this stage).
7. Pour into a greased, lined square baking tin. Bake for 30-55 mins depending on the size of your tin. Check at 30 mins and cover with foil if getting too dark before the centre is cooked.
8. Cool on cooling rack. Ice, or simply sprinkle with icing sugar.




What's your favourite old school, comforting meal or treat?
Let me know how you go baking the banana cake. Enjoy xx

End of an era...

I worked in a crisis service with young people experiencing homelessness.
I worked there for the last 7.5 years! 
This is longer than my children have been alive.
Yesterday was my last day :(
I'm sad, but it is also time for me to move out of a crisis role.
I'm starting in an education role in the same organisation next week.
I will greatly miss my co-workers and my clients.
It has been an experience!
It has been a blessing and a privilege.

http://www.hypa.net.au/index.php?page=focus-areas-home

So in true Erin style I baked to mark the occasion.
I'm sure my colleagues may lose some weight now I'm gone.
New colleagues watch out!


Since we'd been acknowledging occasions all week with food I refrained from bringing in my usual chocolate goodies.
I made a blueberry, lemon and sourcream pound cake.
It was polished off within 30 minutes!

I got this recipe from the Martha Stewart website after seeing it pinned on pinterest.
http://www.marthastewart.com/356083/blueberry-sour-cream-pound-cake-lemon-cream
I did change it up a bit by adding lemon zest to the batter rather than serving it with the suggested lemon cream.
I also halved it to just make one pound loaf cake.
I hope you enjoy it too.

Blueberry, Lemon & Sourcream Pound Cake

(this recipe makes 2 loaf pound cakes)

Ingredients

• For The Cake

  • 1 pound (3 1/4 cups), plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon coarse salt
  • 3 sticks softened unsalted butter, plus more for pans
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 9 large, room-temperature eggs
  • 2 cups blueberries
  • zest of 2 lemons (if you want to make it like I did)
  • 2 tablespoons sanding sugar

• For The Topping

  • (I have not tried this, but it sounds yummy!)
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar
  • 2 teaspoons lemon zest

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees. Butter two 5-by-9-inch loaf pans. Combine 3 1/4 cups flour and salt in a bowl.
2. Cream butter, sour cream, and sugar with a mixer on high speed until pale and fluffy, for 8 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. Reduce speed to medium, and add vanilla extract.
3. Lightly beat eggs, and add to mixer bowl in 4 additions, mixing thoroughly after each and scraping down sides. Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture in 4 additions, mixing until just incorporated. Toss blueberries in remaining 2 tablespoons flour; fold into finished batter (you add the lemon zest at this point). Divide batter between pans. Tap on counter to distribute; smooth tops.
4. Before baking, sprinkle sanding sugar over each cake. Bake until a tester inserted into center of each cake comes out clean, about 65 minutes. Let cool in pans on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Remove from pans, and let cool completely on wire rack.
5. Make the lemon cream: Combine heavy cream, confectioners' sugar, and lemon zest in a bowl. Beat until soft peaks form.

I made a wedding cake...

One of my besties, Amanda got married at the end of last year. 
It was a gorgeous, intimate sunset service on a balcony over the beach.

I offered to make the wedding cake. 

Honestly it was harder than I thought it would be. 
I would not have pulled it off without a lot of help from my brother Christopher.
However I made a wedding cake. I'm pretty proud of myself.
I made 2 types of cupcakes - vanilla bean and black forest (choc cherry) both with vanilla butter-cream icing. 
I made a raspberry white chocolate mudcake for the top tier which was iced with white choc ganache and choc curls. 
I even made the fondant from scratch.
It took 2 full days in the very heat of summer, during the Christmas season, with my 2 kids running around the house. I probably wasn't at my best by the end of the process!
Not sure if I'd quickly offer to make a wedding cake again, but feel it's worth noting that I once made a wedding cake!

Hello,

I'm Erin. 

I love to cook. 

Mostly I love to bake. 

There's no better way to express your love then spending your time making something truly delicious for someone. 

Well that's how it works for me!

I am also somewhat of an organisational control freak :) and love that when you follow a recipe you get what it says. Order is restored and baking calms me from the chaos of life.

My life is a bit chaotic as a wife, mum of 2 young boisterous boys, and as a social worker with at risk young people.

Currently I'm in the process of changing roles, offices and teams at work. My colleagues say they are going to miss my cooking (yes us social workers comfort eat a lot, and no it's not usual for us to be hoeing into a cake at 9:30am!) and require a recipe per week, hence the creation of this blog.

I hope you enjoy it too.

xx