Posts tagged chocolate

Chocolate & Amaretto Cremeux with Raspberry Sorbet

February 7, 2021 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

…this dessert followed those pig cheeks. My word. Given the horrific weather forecast ahead of us this week, this provided some solace.

remeux sounds a bit posh but its essentially a “chocolate creme anglaise” i.e. custard. It’s served here in a very rustic form as a rich spoonful alongside some sharp fresh raspberry sorbet. The cold sorbet cuts through the rich chocolate in such a pleasant way.

Topping with something crunchy is a must for texture – I added some sugared almonds but a crushed ginger nut biscuit, baked crumble topping or even a sesame seed snap would work wonders. You can serve fresh raspberries if you don’t want to make your own sorbet or some roasted fruit but try and stick to something cleansing as the cremeux if fairly rich.

Serves about 6

This you’ll need to prepare at least the morning of eating, if not the day before as many of these elements need to cool/set.

Sorbet

500g raspberries (I use a bag of frozen ones, defrosted)
200g caster sugar
270 ml water
1/2 lemon

Cremeux

200g dark (70%) chocolate
150ml double cream
150ml whole milk
2 tbsp amaretto (optional)
2 eggs
1 tbsp caster sugar

Start with the sorbet. Heat the sugar and water in a saucepan until sugar is dissolved. Bring the heat up and simmer for a few minutes so you get a nice sugar syrup. Remove and leave to cool.
Blend the raspberries in a blended until purred. If using defrosted ones, make sure they are fully defrosted.
Push through a sieve using a spoon to press the pulp through and remove the seeds. Discard the seeds and add the pulp to the cooled sugar syrup and whisk to combine – its should be glossy and vibrant pink. Add the lemon juice.
Churn in an ice cream maker for about 20 minutes before spooning off into a tupperware and freezing fully.

Cremeux

Whisk the sugar and eggs in a large bowl until combined.
Chop the chocolate finely and place in another large bowl that will ultimately hold the finished mixture (so needs to fit in the fridge)
Heat the milk and cream in a pan just until it comes to the simmer. Add the amaretto.
Take the hot mixture and pour slowly into the eggs whisking the whole time so it doesn’t scramble.
Return the whole mixture back to the saucepan and very gently heat stirring continuously with a wooden spoon – again to ensure it doesn’t scramble.
The mixture will begin to thicken and when it can coat the back of the spoon, remove from the heat.
Pour the hot ‘custard’ over the chocolate and leave alone for a few minutes.
All the chocolate should have melted well but give it all a good stir to melt the last chunks and fully combine until you have a glossy chocolate custard!
Leave to cool before covering with cling film (to prevent a skin) and pop in the fridge to set for at least 6 hours.

When ready to serve, you may need to remove the sorbet from the freezer ahead of time to let it defrost a bit as it might be rock hard. Then, take a spoonful of your lovely cremeux and gently spoon onto a plate. Sit a lovely scoop of sorbet alongside and top with some crumble, roasted nuts or anything crunchy to give a nice contrast.

Tiffin

June 9, 2020 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

iffin sits with a lot of childhood memories for me. I think its been overtaken by its more indulgent, American cousin rocky road in recent times but a traditional brandy punching tiffin is a winner. I do wonder if my childhood tiffin was quite as alcoholic.

Its a rich treat so be warned! You can make all sorts of substitutions to this recipe and its completely open to personalising. For example, its traditionally made using Digestive biscuits but I rather like the spice of a ginger nut and the contrast to the brandy. I’ve made some suggestions below on how to adapt but feel free to go wild.

50g dried cranberries (or try raisins)
75g dates, chopped
4 tbsp brandy (or try Amaretto)
350g dark cooking chocolate
150g unsalted butter
3 tbsp golden syrup
250g biscuits – traditionally digestives but I use ginger nuts. You need a plain biscuit though so no oreos or custard creams.
Zest of 1/2 orange

Grease and line a brownie tin or round 20.5cm tin with parchment
Put the cranberries, dates and brandy in a bowl and let them soak for 20-30 minutes
Melt 125g of the butter, 200g of the chocolate and the syrup in a bowl over simmering water stirring until smooth. Remove from the heat.
Crush the biscuits – I like to put them in a sandwich bag and bash them with a rolling pin. You get some large and small chunks and a bit of biscuit dust.
Add the biscuits, orange zest, a pinch of salt and the cranberry/date mix (including the brandy) to the chocolate and stir well.
Tip into the tin and level the mixture pushing it into the corners. Leave to cool before chilling for 1 hour.
To make the topping, melt the remaining 25g butter and 150g chocolate in a bowl over simmering water until smooth.
Pour over the chilled tiffin and smooth it out. Chill for 2-3 hours until the topping is set.
Remove from the fridge and cut into generous chunks and enjoy with a cup of tea on a blue Monday – it’ll help!

Chocolate Orange Ice Cream

May 9, 2020 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

ank holiday weekend is upon us again and the sun is taking part! Another slap in the face bank holiday given we’re still sitting solo in lockdown. Had this been the weekend I’d originally planned, I’d be celebrating the return home of my sister from her escapades in Australia and devouring the beauty that is my family home and garden in Wiltshire with a giant G&T courtesy of Mrs Wardlaw.

Alas! Ice cream was required. It seemed like the only fix here. A sweet, chocolatey refreshing plaster on my painful cancelled plans and the perfect antidote for the weekend.

usually always make a crazy or adventurous ice cream (see my current repertoire) but a few years ago (sadly its taken me years!) my fiancee asked if we could just have plain chocolate? Plain chocolate? Was he turning in my Dad! Like my Dad, he is a simple man with his ice cream flavours. Unlike my sister and I however who would opt for walnut, pistachio, toasted coconut or anything other.

That said, as you can see, I have attempted this request. Albeit, I couldn’t keep on the straight and narrow and ‘accidentally’ added some orange zest. Truth be told, chocolate orange holds a very nostalgic place in my childhood heart having eaten chocolate orange angel delight for weekly desserts as a child with my best friend topped with cornflakes and 100s & 1000s. I’m not even sure you can buy that flavour anymore which makes me sad…however, this beats it hands down!

NOTE: If you don’t have an ice cream maker, freeze it in a tupper ware and try to whisk the ice cream every hour or so if you can. Its not the end of the world it just won’t be as smooth and may have some crystals of ice in.

Recipe (adapted from Jamie Oliver)

300ml whole milk
300ml single cream
100g dark chocolate (at least 70%)
85g caster sugar
1 orange
3 egg yolks

Pour the milk into a saucepan. Break the chocolate into pieces and add to the milk. Place over a medium-low heat and gently warm through until the chocolate has melted well, stirring often. Do not let it boil. Once melted, remove the chocolate milk from the hob and leave to cool slightly. Taste for fun.
Whisk the egg yolks and the sugar in a large bowl until creamy. Add the zest of the whole orange.
Place to bowl on a tea towel to keep it from moving as you add the warm milk. Stirring continuously with a whisk in one hand, stir the eggs whilst slowly pouring in the warm chocolate milk with the other hand. Stir well, whisking quickly until well combined. Return the whole mixture to the saucepan.
Place over a low heat (do NOT let it simmer or boil) and stir with a wooden spoon consistently until it begins to thicken a bit and coats the back of the spoon.
Remove from the heat and leave to cool until cold. (You should really sieve the custard here to remove any lumps but then you miss out on the orange pith. I was conscious of this so made sure I whisked really well but if you fear any lumps, sieve your custard and add some more orange zest afterwards).
Once cold, stir in the cream.
Churn in an ice cream machine according to your manual instructions. Failing that, put the mixture in a low tupper ware and freeze. Whisk to break up the ice crystals every hour or so. It will freeze eventually but may not be as smooth as with an ice cream maker.
Serve however you please….spoon and bowl in our house as we didn’t have cones.

Speedy (Health Conscious) Millionaire Shortbread

September 16, 2017 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

‘ll start by warning (yes warning) you that this recipe should not be compared to the decadence of the traditional millionaires shortbread. Firstly is the reduciton in indulgence ingredients, mainly butter and sugar, that I love so very much and praise. However, if you have a craving for this dangerous treat, but also want to balance this guilty indulgence with some form – even if tiny – of health awareness then its a good one. That said, it really is a speedy way to make your own version! The traditional version takes time – baking the shortbread base, making the caramel and then applying the chocolate. This, can be done in an hour!

If you do want to make a recommended amendment if time isn’t your’e enemy here, I think this recipe could be equally as good as the real thing just by changing the base for a traditional baked shortbread. Use 50g caster sugar, 125g unsalted butter and 150g plain flour – example recipe here. I personally think the date caramel is far tastier than the normal boiled sugar version! Firstly, its less rich so you can eat more of it…and secondly its natural sugar. Yes, still sugar but its far healthier.

(Based on a recipe by ‘The Plant-Based Londoner’)

Base

90g oats
130g nut of choice (cashew, brazil, almond)
1 tbsp lacuma powder (optional)
6 tbsp of nut butter of choice (try substituting in some coconut oil. Note, it will dominate the flavours)

Caramel & Topping

300g pitted dates
Pinch sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1tsp vanilla extract
200g dark chocolate

Start on the base. Pulse the flour, lacuna powder, nuts and nut butter in a food processor until you have a soft dough that holds together. If it needs to be more moist add a little more nut butter. Tip out into a lined baking tray (line with parchment, foil or cling film) big enough so that the mixture is about 1 cm deep. It doesn’t matter what dish you use, just use one that is a suitable size.(20cm x 20xm recommended) Cover and chill in the fridge.
Next, pulse the dates, sea salt, cinnamon and vanilla in the food processor. Add a splash of water and keep adding until you get a smooth but thick date caramel.
Spread this caramel evenly over the chilled base and then cover and chill again.
Break the chocolate into small pieces and melt in a heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water until fully melted.
Tip the chocolate over the chilling date layer and smooth out until even and completely covering the caramel.
Cover again and chill until the chocolate has set hard.
Once hard, tip the bar out onto a chopping board and cut into the desired square/rectangle. Please note – the top layer WILL crack where unwanted and not every piece will look perfect, if any. The 3 in the image I have are the only ones that did not misbehave. But the look isn’t everything so cut randomly into chunky morsels. Its more tasty that way.

Date & Himalayan Pink Salt Truffles

May 11, 2017 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

ts safe to say I’ve been provided with my fair share of artisan chocolate samples for blog experiments. From Green & Blacks to Doble & Bignall the ampersand seems to be a common (and successful) theme here (If we forget the Loving Earth samples. Dairy free, doesn’t count). That said, next in the greedy queue naturally seemed (drum roll)…Doisy & Dam. A superfood chocolate they say! Quickly discovered to be due to the ingredients added and not the output of its consumption. Sadly. So when D&D approached ‘forage in the pantry.’ with a teasing package of goodies to sample I was keen to take up the challenge of a new creation!

Doisy & Dam are indeed just that. Teasing. A mixture of naughty and nice. Chocolate and superfood ingredients creating delicious bars of solid and artisan chocolate. I think the first thing I said on trying these samples was ‘Wow, the textures are great!’ and it wasn’t until researching their background that I discovered their claim for ‘irresistable texture’. They’ve nailed it. Take the ‘Cocao Nib & Vanilla’ bar which is my favourite so far. The cocao not only adds a lovely crunch and texture but a subtle unassuming bitterness to the what is after all a dairy milk bar. Their chocolates are said to never be made with more than eight ingredients (minimum 8% superfoods and have a high cocoa content to squeeze out the room for sugar and fat). Whilst I’m a true 90-99% gal, this comment I can casually breeze over but quite rightly. The flavour is worth it.

So, down to the recipe. The best way to really taste the true flavour of a chocolate (besides sampling fresh from the packet in slab form) is to make something pure. Pure flavours, nowhere to hide. Truffles? Forget chocolate fondants and mousses, truffles really do not hide bad quality. Now I normally lean towards dark chocolate truffles. They are more stable at room temp and have a better flavour and quality. Whilst my goodie bag contained a mixture of dark and milk, I couldn’t help being drawn towards the ‘Date & Himalayan Salt’ edition and that I did.

A healthy indigence as D&D would say….thats wiped out here sadly with the cream addition…

s I’ve mentioned I wanted to keep these super simple so they are plainly tossed in cocoa. However for a twist try adding an extra ingredient/texture to the mixture before pouring into the container (e.g. chopped nuts, diced ginger, more cocoa nibs, more salt, coconut…). Equally you can roll the finished truffles in this ingredients of choice instead and forgo the cocoa powder.

Ingredients

2 x 80g bars D&D ‘Date & Himalayan Salt’ bars (or a flavour of choice)
1 x 100g plain dark chocolate
300ml double cream
Cocoa powder for dusting

Heat the cream in a saucepan until just below the simmer.
Break up the chocolate and stir into the warm cream off the heat. Stir until fully melted and combined.
Line a shallow bowl or tupperware with cling film. Pour the mixture into the dish. It should be about 2cm in thickness but this is optional. Allow to cool, cover and refrigerate.
Once set, place in the freezer for about 1 hour or until hardened. This just makes it easier to cut.
Get a large mixing bowl and add a few tbsp of cocoa powder
Turn out onto a chopping board and cut into pieces (size optional). Mix in the cocoa powder and then store in the fridge in a container.

Chocolate Mint Tart with Sugared Pistachios

June 14, 2015 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

y recent adventure to the colourful delights of Morocco has naturally fuelled my blogging obsession once again. I have, for this week at least, exhausted the classic tagine and now have only sweet treats on the mind. Green & Blacks recent emphasis on colour in our taste and perception can not only be reflected in their packaging but I couldn’t help but see this mirrored in Morocco which is a country that is summed up by colour and flavour. A feast for the eyes. With teasing fresh mint tea available in Morocco at any opportunity (whether requested or not) I stole this flavour inspiration using Green & Blacks new ‘Mint Crisp’ bar.

If you’re a chocolate connoisseur you’ll already have noticed Green & Blacks new bars – ‘Thins’ – so this won’t come as surprising news. Long ago I spotted the ‘Mint Crisp’ flavour and stocked up. I love this new format or bite-sized slices of flavoursome chocolate. Ironically here I’ve used the new ‘Thins’ bar in this recipe….which won’t make you that. But hey, the mint brings back the buzz of the Medina’s and Riads.

This tart is rich and dense. If you’re not a mint fan then feel free to make this soley dark or try using G&B’s salted caramel thins in stead. The crunchy topping adds a lovely texture but again can be substituted with pecans, walnuts, or almonds (which would go particularly well with the salted caramel bar). Devour with some clean simple ice cream or fruit.

Pastry

1 x quantity of shortcrust pastry (see here for recipe) made with additional small handful of desiccated coconut.

Filling

150g Green & Blacks ‘Mint Crisp Chocolate’
100g Green & Blacks dark 70-80% chocolate
100ml single cream
250ml whole milk
3 beaten eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Topping

50g pistachios
1 tbsp caster sugar
4 tbsp desiccated coconut
1 large lime, zest only

Start by making the pastry case according to the link above and using a deep 20cm wide pastry case. Add a handful of coconut to the flour if you like.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Set aside your blind baked pastry case while you make the filling.
Mix the cream and milk together in a saucepan and heat until just about to come to the boil.
Remove from the heat and break in the chocolate in small pieces. After a few minutes mix together until the chocolate is smooth and fully melted into the cream. Use a whisk to throughly combine the cream and melted chocolate.
Leave to cool until lukewarm.
When lukewarm, beat in the eggs and vanilla.
Place the tart case on a baking tray and fill ¾ full with the chocolate filling.
Place the tray on the oven shelf and once its stable, fill the tart to full with the remaining mixture (or as much as will fit int your tin! I had a little left over)
Bake for about 20 minutes until just set and shiny.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely.
Meanwhile make the topping. Crush the nuts in a pestle and mortar until finely crushed but with a few chunks here and there.
Toast the coconut in a dry hot frying pan until just beginning to colour golden and then add to the nuts. Stir in the lime zest and the sugar and combine.
Once the tart has cooled, use this mixture to scatter over the top of the tart.

Chocolate Fondant with Frangelico Mascapone

February 17, 2015 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

I’ve always been in awe of the chocolate making process after watching an enlightening series featuring the modern day Willy Wonker, Willie Harcourt-Cooze. An enthusiastic middle class chocolate dreamer, he set about to live his dream of authentic chocolate making. To me, England feels like a country of chocolate addicts, or more likely, sugar addicts disgusing themselves as cacoa enthusiasts!? Without sounding like a chocolate snob, many of the milk chocolate bars that litter the countries newagents shelves have such a low cacao/‘chocolate’ content that in some countries it would be illegal to title this chocolate!

I’m an adorer of the dark stuff. The darker the better. I’ve always been amazed at how a 100% bar is created? With no sugar to bind it together its a pure cacao lovers heaven. Its painful sharing my 90% bar of goodness, when I just know that the majority will screw up thier faces in fright as they force down the ‘bitter soap’ they’ve just eaten as they compare to the likes of our dairy milk. But my chocolate interest has promted me to sample styles made from a variety of beans from all over the world and to really appreciate the differences in flavours. refining my love of the pure taste and the lower sugar content.

So when a work collegaue refreshingly and surprisingly bought in some tasty samples of his families homemade chocolate from their humble little Cotswold business – Doble & Bignall – I was keen to devour a piece and was taken by the first bite. Like beer, cheese and wine, chocolate varies in flavour substantially. Not just with the percentage but with the beans and country. Doble & Bignal have a small range of bars using beans from the likes of Panama and Venezuelan. The chocolate is smooth, tasty and distinctive. Perfect for a cheeky recipe. I kept the fonadant simple (I know…me not messing with a recipe!? Shocker) Firsty because shamefully this was the first fondant I’d attempted ever to make and the goo-cented, molten chocolate lava that should sterotypicaly weep from the middle like a happy sobbing child was far too much pressure to meddle with at this stage. So instead, go crazy on accompaniment. Frangelico mascapone, vanilla and orange ice cream or just heavily doused in a thick wall spporting, cement-like spatula of whippped double cream.

Serves 6

Fondant

85g caster sugar
150g unsalted butter
150g dark chocolate (E.g. Doble & Bignal’s bar)
3 whole free range eggs
3 whole eggs yolks
1 tbsp plain flour
Soft butter and cocoa powder to line the moulds

Start by greasing 6 small dariole moulds with butter. Dust with cocoa powder and shake of any excess. Set aside on a baking try.
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
In a heatproof bowl combine the sugar, butter and chocolate and melt over a pan of barely simmering water. Allow to melt fully then set aside to cool slightly.
When it is luke warm, whisk in the eggs continuously. The mixture will begin to thicken but keep whisking (don’t be tempted to add the eggs while the chocolate is still too warm of the eggs will scramble…yuck). Then fold in the flour.
Pour the mixture evenly into the moulds and then chill for at least 25 minutes.
Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes. Take out of the oven, run a knife around the edge and turn out onto a plate. Serve with a dollop of your chosen cream and watch and enjoy in awe as (hopefully) your gooey fondant melts all over your plate…!

NOTE: I took my first test fondant out of the oven after 10 minutes and it still felt a little squishly in the middle to the touch. With the risk of having an overocoked fondant I took it out anyway. Shamefully on turning out it collapsed all over the plate….hence the additional mintues. However, oven will vary so perhaps cook for less time and do a touch test before remving the whole batch if the pressure is on…!

Frangelico Mascarpone

Please note – I did this by taste so the below measurements are a total guide. Start with less and keep adding more sugar and liquer until it is to your taste.

250g mascarpone
About 4 tbsp sieved icing sugar (or as much as you like just to sweeten)
1-2 tbsp frangelico liquer (to taste)

Whisk the frangelico and icing sugar into the mascarpone, tasting as you go along to sweeten as you like.

Pear and Cinnamon Cake with Lotus Buttercream

October 25, 2014 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

wanted to create an Autumn cake that would fit with the seasons. Having been a bit of a stranger to baking recently, a gloriously empty leafy weekend back home seemed like a good time to reassure myself that The Great British Bake Off hadn’t detered me from the cake world! Pears seemed like a good choice here and I’m a cinnamon addict. After recently discovering the delights of ‘Lotus spread’ I felt it needed a place in one of my recipes so is used here in a crunchy coffee tainted buttercream. The chocolate leaves are a nice Autumnal touch here for a special occasion but feel free to leave these off if life is far too short in your eyes…

Makes 2 small cakes or 1 large one

Cake

740g pears
40g butter
3 tbsp light muscovado sugar
½ heaped tsp cinnamon
200g butter
200g sugar
200g self raising flour
½ tsp baking powder
3 large eggs, beaten lightly

Peel, core and halve the pears and diced.
Heat the 40g butter, sugar and cinnamon in a frying pan until melted.
Add the pears and cook until the pears and softened and the caramel thickens and coats the pears. Set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 170°C. and grease and line 2 small cake tins (15cm wide) or one large one (24cm spring form tin)
Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy.
Add the eggs bit by bit with a little flour if it curdles.
Fold in the flour and baking powder
Finally fold in the pears and their syrup and spoon into the tins.
bake for about 35-40 minutes until springy to touch and cooked in the middle. Leave to cool.

NOTE: Cake tin size: I used two small tins. This isn’t really a recipe that could make a tiered cake due to the pears which make it more of a dense cake. So either use 2 small tins for 2 cakes or one large one. I also had some extra mixture so made a few muffins (which will take about 20 minutes to bake) as gifts to take to some willing friends.

Topping

160g unsalted butter, softened
80g ‘Lotus biscuit spread’, crunchy
90g ish icing sugar
40-50g dark chocolate
Handful mint leaves

Start with the chocolate leaves. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over some simmering water until melted.
Use a pastry brush and coat the back of the mint leaves very thickly. Done too thinly and they will snap when ready. Don’t worry about doing these really thickly. Lay over a rolling pin to dry and pop in the fridge.
Once set, remove from the fridge. I won’t lie, this bit is fiddly and I think I only ended up with 2 whole leaves. But, the effect is still good. Make sure your hands are really hot and carefully peel the mint leaf from the chocolate. Repeat and set these aside carefully.
For the buttercream, cream together the butter, spread and as much icing sugar to taste. This is a guide and your tastes will vary.
Spoon into a piping back and use to pipe your cakes
Decorate with the leaves and serve!

Lime Curd Bounty Bites

September 27, 2014 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

A little experiment from another Greek treat my sister and I recently collapsed over in owe and love on our recent holiday. ‘Calm down’ you may say, its basically a bounty stuck on a biscuit? Agreed. But a good one and after a 5th evening of baklava, this was most welcome.

On returning home I’ve adapted my own version. I usually use recipes, books and blogs just for inspiration more than a guide and I’m not one to steal recipes like for like without my own twist. But the filling needed a starting point so I’ve used the solid recipe from a fellow blogger (see here….but please return!) and spiked mine with lime curd. Like I say, it was an experiment and apparently lime curd doesn’t freeze? (see recipe for more detail on this) But these still turned out pretty awesome.

PS. No I didn’t stick mine to a biscuit but a ginger snap wouldn’t go a-miss here. Or anywhere for that matter?

Makes about 15

140g unsweetened desiccated coconut (and some for decoration)
40ml coconut oil, melted
30ml maple syrup
Lime curd – optional (enough for 1tsp/bite)
Zest 1 lime
100g Green & Blacks 85% dark chocolate (Also good here would be their lemon flavour bar)

Begin by combining the coconut, 35ml of the coconut oil, syrup and a pinch of salt in a food processor until well combined.
Use a ice cube tray or mini cupcake mould and line with cling film. If using the lime curd, drop a small tsp into each.
Fill each hole with a tsp or so of the coconut and push down until compressed well on top of the curd (if using)
Freeze until set for about 2 hours.
After this, melt the chocolate over simmering water and set aside.
Remove the coconut from the freezer and take each from their wells and place on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. The lime curd will probably be a bit sticky but go with it if you can.
Dip each piece using two forks into the bowl of melted chocolate until covered fully and place flat side down on the baking parchment
Repeat with the remaining pieces and top with a sprinkle of coconut and lime zest while the chocolate is still not fully set.
Place in the fridge until set and then store in an air tight container so they don’t pick up any nasty fridge odours…!

Banana and Cardamon Loaf

June 25, 2014 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

This is my go-to banana loaf recipe for when those bruising and sweetly turning bananas are slowing deteriorating in the fruit bowl, unaware of their potential. This loaf is easy to knock out and can be kept for a while in the cake tin. Here I’ve added the beautifully pungent ground cardamon but this can be left out or substituted.

I love banana loaf as its one of those ‘cakes’ that is less restricted by Paul and Mary’s dreaded ‘science’ of baking. This recipe for example only has one egg in the entire mixture but still manages to set with a lovely rich texture. The recipe is therefore hugely open to adaptation and I change mine practically every time. Try these little additions which I’ve done in the past:

Ground cardamon, cinnamon or ginger
Replace hazelnuts for your classic walnut
Add chunks of chocolate chips
Add a handful or desiccated coconut
Add a decadent molten layer of peanut butter/salted caramel/Nutella inside
Top the mixture with a crumble mixture before baking
Soak the bananas in rum for a bit…

Makes 1 loaf (Taken from Delia Smith’s ‘All in one Banana Loaf’ with a few adaptations)

75g butter, softened
110g caster sugar
1 large egg, beaten
225g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cardamon (or other spice of choice)
4 ripe bananas, mashed
70g hazelnuts, toasted and chopped roughly.
Handful demerara sugar

Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a loaf tin with parchment.
Place the butter, sugar and egg in a food processor and combine (or use an electric hand whisk)
Sieve over the flour, spices and baking powder and combine (don’t worry if it looks dry!)
Add the bananas to the processor and combine until you have a smooth and creamy batter.
Stir through the nuts (or any chocolate chips, coconuts additions etc)
Pour into the loaf tin and sprinkle generously with the demerara sugar (or crumble) to create a nice crunchy topping. (If adding a layer of peanut butter/caramel etc, add half the batter to the tin, dot with the chosen filling and then spoon on the remaining batter to cover before baking)
Bake for 50-55 minutes until cooked.
Leave to cool in the tin before removing and slicing

Gorgeous sliced, toasted and layered with cinnamon butter