I like winding up small children. I probably shouldn’t admit that, but it’s really easy and I think it’s quite fun.
Month: June 2013
…So, if you could do that, that would be great..
I’ve made a rod for my own back. I meant to sort things out earlier, but I forgot, and forgot how slow things in Tanzania can be. So the last couple of days have been very stressful.
But it would probably help if I go back to explain what I’m on about.
It goes to show you never can tell.
Auntie Dot was a small, roundish old Brummie woman with dark hair that had been set in rollers, thick rimmed glasses, a mole on one side of her face and a hearing aid in the opposite ear. My cousin once asked me if I would go to kiss her near the mole, or to risk feedback from the hearing aid. I never came up with a good solution to that little problem.
Auntie Dot was not my aunt, but my great aunt. She married Mum’s Uncle Stan and they never had children, but loved their nieces and nephews as though they were their own.
All by Myself…
Indy blog
We don’t need to know the way home
Actually we probably do but that’s not the most pressing part of tomorrow’s adventure.
My Famous Chocolate Orange Brownies
This is the one that most people ask me about. It’s gooey, rich and full of flavour. I started off with this Nigel Slater recipe and decided I could make it better…
From this…
…to this!
Triple Ginger Sponge Cake
A ginger cake is good, a double ginger cake is better, but a triple ginger cake is fantastic. It can be served warm or cold and fits just as well with tea on a summer afternoon as with an autumn evening by the fire. And it doesn’t need icing.
Triple Ginger Cake
Chocolate Banana Cake with Caramel Sauce
Chocolate Banana Cake
I adapted this recipe from one I learnt in primary school. I decided to combine it with a caramel sauce and there are some optional extras you can add in if you want to.
Ingredients:
For the cake
• 250g/9oz plain flour
• 25g/1oz cocoa powder
• 1tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• Pinch of salt
• 200g/7oz golden caster sugar
• 2 or 3 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed (if you like a very banana flavour add the third, otherwise stick to two)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 125g/4 ½ oz butter, melted
Extras:
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• 75g milk chocolate chips.
For the caramel sauce
• 250g caster sugar
• 142ml double cream
• 50g butter
• 2tbsp water
Method:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C, grease and line a loaf tin.
2. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, sugar and cinnamon, if using, into a large bowl. Stir until well combined.
3. Mash the bananas in a separate bowl, stir in the beaten egg and melted butter.
4. Fold the bananas into the flour mixture until just combined. Spoon into a loaf tin.
5. Bake for 50-60 mins or until the cake is risen and a skewer comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 mins.
6. Whilst the cake is baking begin to make the caramel. Tip the sugar into a heavy based pan, stir in the water and place over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved.
7. Turn up the heat and bubble for 4-5 mins until you have a caramel.
8. Remove from the heat, carefully stir in the cream and butter until you have a smooth sauce.
9. When the cake has cooled, pour the caramel sauce over the cake, serve warm.
Over hills and far away... 