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 ... 

Mocha Cupcakes

‘Time to wake up and smell the coffee...’

The hectic last few months have resulted in the sorry realisation that I haven’t posted on the perfect bake for nearly two months, the realisation that it is in fact March, apologies make that mid-March; deadlines are constant and the work is ever present and it seems like there won’t be any let up for a few months. Nightmare. On the upside, it’s now light on the way to work, which makes getting up that bit easier. It was getting warmer, which is a dream when you work in what is essentially a very tall greenhouse, however the last fews days seem to be tring to replicate deep dark winter.

The reasoning for work being so hectic seems to be the same source of many friends’ current extended working hours and stress ... the end of the financial year. It is the first time I have experienced the end of the financial year in the this context, usually I only note that it is the end of the financial year because I need to renew my ISA or I get a lovely little cheque from HRMC with my tax rebate. Not sure if I’m a fan of this version.

I added to the chaos by finally putting down roots in London, SW6 and I have to say it's working out pretty nicely.

Life’s pace has picked up and I can’t see it slowing down in the near future; not that I’m complaining. I just think that perhaps its time for a little help, like the daily vitamins I've started to take and perhaps some coffee in the cakes.

Makes 14-16 Cupcakes

(depending on how full you fill your cupcake cases)

Pre-heat oven to 180°C

Bake to perfection for 16 minutes



You will need the following:

Cupcakes

175g Butter

175g Golden Caster Sugar

175g Self Raising Flour

3 Eggs

1Tbsp Baking Powder

2Tbsp Camp Coffee Essence

1Tbsp Cocoa Powder

2Tbsp Water

Icing

300g Cream Cheese

60g Icing Sugar

1Tsp Camp Coffee Essence
1 drop vanilla essence

Chocolate for grating over the icing

Method:

Cream together the butter and sugar

 Add in the eggs one at a time

Mix together the camp coffee, cocoa powder and water

Pour into cake mix

 Sift in the flour

Using an ice cream scoop, dollop the mix into the cases; one scoop per case

Bake in the oven at 180°C for 16 minutes

Make the icing whilst the cupcakes are baking by combining the icing sugar, sugar and cream cheese

Add a drop of vanilla extract

Using a small palette knife or the back of a teaspoon smooth the icing over the cupcakes once they have cooled from the oven

Grate over the chocolate

Enjoy...a great justification for elevenses

Roasted Peaches & Pistachios

New Year, new you...

This is a mantra that many of you will be applying to yourselves; starting the new year as you mean to go on, usually in a healthier way than you ended the year! With Christmas seeming like a distant memory, we all try and happily forget about the vast glut of food that we indulged in over the festivities between Christmas and New Years & go about rectifying this situation - 

The gym at work is quite frankly hilarious; rammed with regulars, those who are committed to a new year's fitness plan, those who feel like it is the new year and therefore should try and attend the gym (even if they aren't sure what they are doing) & those who are there solely to blast off that Christmas excess. The conversations in the changing rooms mainly revolve around different tactics as to how to go about shifting that mince pie muffin top! I'm hoping at some point that some gym-goers give up on going as finding a free machine or set of weights is proving tricky. I need emphasise that this gym is by no means small... it must be about four times the size of the gym we had at Exeter. at least. 

Admittedly I am on my usual post Christmas health drive ... I have a body MOT at the gym booked in next Friday; I booked this before Christmas, this was the earliest appointment they had! The only problem is that I get to the two week wall and start to cave at the weekends. This weekend I came home & when I come home, food rules go out of the window. I have been fairly good but Sunday presents the challenge of a full on roast & pudding - which I am not going to turn down. I have therefore visited the fruit stall and am going to share with you a new year's refreshing pudding that is indulgent without piling on too many pounds!! ...Might as well be topical! 

Serves 4

Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C

Bake to perfection for 20 minutes 

You will need the following:

6 Peaches or Apricots 

2 Oranges, juice of 

25g Pistachios

 Method:

Halve and stone the peaches

Lay skin side down on a baking tray

Halve the one of your oranges

Juice one of your oranges

Pour the orange juice over the apricots

Place in the oven to roast for 20 minutes

After 10 minutes of baking top your peaches with chopped pistachios

Juice the second orange & pour over your peaches as they come out of the oven

Serve with natural yoghurt

Enjoy a healthy & guilty free pud...

Christmas Biscuits



 



Sooo its been a while since I have blabbed about my life and written up another recipe ... starting up a new job has been a bit more overwhelming than I thought. I shaln't complain however as I am enjoying it and I think I have possibly the best view out of the window. There are some perks to working on the 29th floor of a building; the other day we were above the cloud line, the sun was shining and only the tips of the yellow O2 arena spikes could be seen. In all honesty I felt like I should be skiing, not working. There comes one downside to working on the 29th floor and that is that you have to go up 29 floors in a rather speedy and efficient lift system ... motion sickness is a big issue in my life at the moment!

 

Last week we had our secret santa at work and with a budget of £5 and a person to buy for who I had known for the grand total of 2 days, it was not the easiet of tasks. So after much failed searching I decided to bake something seasonal & bought a nice tin to put the Christmas Biscuits in... easy.

 

These biscuits are soooo yummy I baked a double batch of the quantity specified below & having been eating the extras at a current rate of roughly 3 a day... oops to the diet.

 

 

Makes 16ish large Christmas Trees (10cm high)

or many more if you go for little biscuits

Pre-heat your oven to 180˚C

Bake to perfection for 8-10 minutes

 

You will need the following:

 

200g Self Raising Flour

100g Butter

100g Soft Light Brown Sugar

1 Egg

½tsp Mixed Ground Spices

1¾tsp Cinnamon

 

100g Icing Sugar

1-2tsp Water

 

Rolling pin

Christmas Cutters

 

 

 

 

Method:

Pre-heat your oven

Cream together the butter and sugar

 
 

Add in the egg

 

Sift in the flour and spices

 Mix until combined into a solid cookie-like dough

 

 Then flour your work surface and rolling pin

If you prefer you can half your mixture and roll out half at a time

 
 

Roll your mixture to the thickness of a £1 coin, use your cutter to push down and cut out the shapes

 

Place on a baking tray that has been lined with greaseproof paper

 

Place in the oven for 8 minutes, if they look uncooked or slightly wet looking,

put them back in for 2 minutes more

 

Remove from oven and cool on wire rack

Mix your icing sugar and using a knife,scoop some icing sugar and drizzle over the icing like tinsle on the trees


Leave to dry on a wire rack


Enjoy with a cup of tea, a glass of milk or a more festive glass of mulled wine ...