Banana and White Chocolate Muffins

What an incredible day for a marathon, today thousands took to the streets of London and ran a phenomenal distance for remarkable causes. This morning I found myself pounding the streets of London, however, I opted to stick to the borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, and very briefly Putney. It was such lovely weather I opted for a mini marathon, alright a brief run is probably more of an apt description in comparison - you have to start somewhere! 

I have to say that the one downside to running in the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham is that you have to make running look effortless and chic. Everyone is rather fit and healthy around here and they have the gear to make them look like this, even if they aren't! The roads are laced with the latest sweaty betty gear or male equivalent bopping along so I was quite happy to drop onto the path along the river and find it runner free. It meant I had time to snap this little shot and more importantly give myself a 30 second breather... 

So in light of the marathon I thought I'd share a banana muffin recipe...I'm sure that many bananas were eaten by the runners in training for the marathon ... now its time to use any left over ripe bananas as an energising and rewarding treat! ...with white chocolate!

Makes 16 muffins

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C

Bake to Perfection for 15 minutes

You will need the following:

2 Bananas

120g Butter 

180g Golden Caster Sugar

2 Eggs

240g Flour

¼ Tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

1 Tsp Baking Powder

100g White Chocolate

2 Tbsp Warm Milk

Method:

Line a muffin tray with paper cases 

Sift the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl

Make a well in the middle with the spoon

 Melt the butter in the microwave for 2 minutes and mash the bananas with a fork 

 Pour the bananas and butter into the well you made and gently fold in

In a separate bowl, scramble your eggs and pour into the mixture

Stir well

Heat the milk for 20 seconds in the microwave and carefully fold into the mixture

Finally dice your white chocolate into small pieces and fold in

Fill your cases with roughly 50ml of mixture, which is the same as an ice cream scoop 

(half a case)

Bake to perfection and leave to cool for a few minutes and try to resist eating all in one go, unless you've ran a marathon and then I guess you've earned it

Enjoy ... 

Hot Cross Bun Pudding

Easter weekend provides a four day break to be enjoyed with friends and family. When I was at university the Easter weekend meant just a a bit more chocolate than usual and some time spent with the family, actually last year it symbolised the start of crunch time revising days spent up in the library. This year it is an amazing four day weekend, without taking any extra holiday...Consequently, it also means two four-day weeks!

I have just returned from a beautiful wedding in Norfolk; quite simply the great way to spend the weekend. We had an amazing day ... emotional and beautiful ceremony, G&Ts on arrival, a solid play list, great food, and even better company. The dance floor held some unbelievable scenes and some deadly killer movers!

...So it came to Easter Sunday and I got in my car, when I felt it safe to, got 20 minutes down the road and had to stop to buy supplies of water and strong mints to keep myself awake, I then carried on my journey and felt progressively more and more sorry for myself as I drove two and a half hours home. Silver lining to my day ... a roast on the table when I walked in the door! Couldn't have been happier. When it came to pudding I decided to make use of the copious amounts of hot cross buns that seemed to have invaded our house over the weekend. It couldn't have been a better ending to the day and helped to soak up the remaining headache!

Serves 4

Pre-heat oven to 180°C
Bake to perfection for 35 minutes

You will need the following:

4 Hot Cross Buns, buttered
200ml Milk
3 Eggs
3Tbsp Caster Sugar
1 Drop Vanilla Essence
A Little Zest of Lemon

Method:

Slice your hot cross buns in half and butter

Arrange the buns in an ovenproof dish so that they stack around nicely

In a pan pour in the milk and gently heat,

this will take 3-4 minutes and should be bubbling slightly at the edges

In a bowl beat the eggs

Add the eggs, sugar and vanilla essence to the milk 

Turn the heat off and whisk your mix till light foamy bubbles appear on the surface

Pour the mix over your hot cross buns and pop in the oven

After 35 minutes you should have a tasty pudding

Enjoy with some ice cream or custard ...