Banana Sultana Oaty Traybake

Can you tell from the title that this is one of my leftover spectaculars? What to make when you have loads of random baking cupboard ingredients to use up: this apparently. I may have completely winged it, but it actually tasted really nice and kept me going at work.

Ingredients

800g bananas (about 5)

400g plain flour

400g oats

4tsps baking powder

1 ½ tsp ground mixed spice

1tsp nutmeg

2tsps ginger

1tsp cinnamon

200g golden syrup

100g black treacle

1 egg

Demerara sugar to sprinkle

Preheat the oven to 180⁰C, and prepare a traybake tin with baking parchment.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, oats and spices.

Melt the syrup and treacle in a small saucepan and leave to the side to cool slightly.

Mash the bananas in a separate bowl or jug.

Add the egg to the mashed bananas.

Pour the banana mixture into the dry ingredients and mix.

Add the melted syrup and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon to combine.

Scatter over the sultanas and fold them into the batter.

Pour into the prepared tin and sprinkle the top liberally with the sugar.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch. Cool on a wire rack.

This cake freezes really well and generally lasts for ages.

Malt Loaf

In an attempt to make healthy(ish) snacks to take to work I thought I’d give malt loaf a go. It was really tasty but didn’t rise quite as much as I expected it to. That might be because I didn’t leave it long enough/my kitchen wasn’t warm enough, but I’d have to try it again to see.

Ingredients

25g unsalted butter

1tbsp soft dark brown sugar

3tbsp malt extract

2tbsp black treacle

350g strong white bread flour

100g strong wholemeal bread flour

8g salt

14g instant yeast

225g sultanas

250ml warm water

1tbsp honey, warmed

First of all these ingredients are to make two loaves so if you only want to make one like I did just halve everything. Grease your tin/s with butter to start.

To a saucepan add the sugar, butter, malt extract and treacle and gently heat until the butter has melted, stirring all the time. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

Combine the two flours into a large mixing bowl. Add the salt to one side and the yeast to the other.

Add the sultanas, and mix.

Pour in the cooled malt mixture and warm water. Combine everything using a wooden spoon.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a couple of minutes.

Roll the dough into a sausage shape and place into the prepared tin.

Cover the whole thing in an inflated plastic bag and leave to prove for 2 hours.

Heat the oven to 190⁰C. Bake the loaf in the middle of the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

When the loaves come out of the oven brush, or dribble if you have no brush…, the warm honey all over the top and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Absolutely to be served buttered with a hot cup of tea.

Raisin Parkin

This is a really dark, moist Parkin because of the black treacle. I know you’re all thinking that I’m a tad blasphemous for shoving some raisins into the mix, but because they’re cooked for an hour they practically disintegrate and simply add to the delicious, rich flavour of the cake. I promise. (Plus I had some raisins I needed to use up, and they make cake healthy in my eyes).

Ingredients

175g golden syrup

100g black treacle

85g light muscovado sugar

225g butter

100g oats

250g plain flour

2tsps ground ginger

2tsps bicarbonate of soda

1 egg

3tbsps milk

2 generous handfuls of raisins

Preheat the oven to 160⁰C and prepare a square tin with baking parchment.

In a saucepan gently melt the syrup, treacle, butter and sugar together and then leave to the side to cool slightly.

Combine all of the dry ingredients except for the raisins into a large mixing bowl.

Create a well and pour in the melted syrup mixture, and mix to combine.

Beat the egg with the milk and add to the mixing bowl, making sure to combine everything completely.

Throw in 2 big handfuls of raisins and stir through the mixture.

Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 50 minutes to an hour.

Leave to cool in the tin. The best thing about this cake is that it will then last for ages if you cover it in foil. Any guess as to what I’m taking to lunch every day for the rest of this week?

Cheese and Paprika Loaf

The complete lack of blogging lately would be to do with the fact that I’ve been having a massive faff about my life, and the fact that I should probably do something with it now that I’ve finished my degree. So in true ostrich-head-in-the-sand style I am instead staying and working in Portsmouth for another month, to put off the big scary graduate world. However, since all of my friends have left and I’m living in a house with no internet connection (and I managed to idiotically use my whole month’s data allowance on my phone in about 5 minutes, don’t ask), I don’t really know what to do with myself. Well, apart from baking, painting my nails a different colour every day and reading a lot.

Thank God I have work to go to most days or I would just turn into an obese Amish housewife or something. Anyway, I had some cheese to use up and I wanted something tasty to make my lunches with and this is what I came up with. It goes reeeeeeeally well with any form of pork, and a dash of HP sauce.

Ingredients

250g wholemeal bread flour

250g strong white bread flour

7g sachet instant yeast

2tsps paprika

Around 400ml water

Lots of cheese

Measure the flours into a large mixing bowl with the yeast and paprika. It’s got to be a bit of a trial and error with flavourings in bread so basically put as much paprika in as you like, but 2tsps is a good basis.

Add 350ml of water to begin with and use your hands to bring the dough together, adding small splashes of water as necessary until it forms a rough dough. There are all sorts of debates about whether the water should be tepid, warm, cold, whatever but I usually go on my mood and if the kettle has been boiled recently or not. At the end of the day it all makes bread, so go with what your gut tells you to.

Drizzle a small splash of olive oil onto your work surface and knead the dough for a good 10 minutes, really working it to evenly distribute the paprika.

Lightly rub oil onto the inside of your mixing bowl and pop the dough into it. Cover with a plastic bag and leave in a warm spot for an hour, or until doubled in size.

Grate about 200g of cheddar cheese, or crumble it if you’re a tit like me and didn’t bring a grater to your new house.

Punch the dough to expel the air.

Stretch the dough into a rectangle and plop the cheese all over. Gently knead a couple of times to distribute the cheese throughout the dough. Roll it into a rough cob shape and place onto a baking tray lined with parchment. Cover the whole thing with an inflated plastic bag and leave for another hour to rise some more.

Preheat the oven to 200⁰C. Grate, or crumble, some more cheese and when the loaf is ready to be baked sprinkle it all over the top with some more paprika to make a tasty crust.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown on top and hollow sounding when tapped underneath.

This is delicious eaten whilst still warm from the oven, when the cheese is still a bit gooey, but it’s just as nice the next day with a cold slice of ham.