Maybe I had not been baking very much recently, so when my hands were starting to itch to bake from the start of the week, I knew I had to bake something this week.
And so yesterday I baked a banana walnut cake using a recipe that I found online. Here is the finished product. The cake was moist and not too sweet, which was how I liked it.
Serves 8
Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4, 350°F (180°C).You will also need a 2 lb (900 g) loaf tin, lightly buttered.
Begin, as soon as the oven has pre-heated, by spreading the nuts out on a baking sheet and toasting them lightly in the oven for 7-8 minutes – use a timer so that you don't forget them. After that, remove them from the oven to a chopping board, let them cool briefly, then chop them fairly roughly.
Now, in a bowl, peel and mash 3 of the bananas to a purée with a fork, and peel and chop the other one into ½ inch (1 cm) chunks.
Next take a large mixing bowl and sift the salt, baking powder, cinnamon and both the flours into it, holding the sieve up high to give it a good airing, then adding the bran that's left in the sieve.
Now add all the remaining ingredients (except the chopped banana and nuts) and, using an electric hand whisk, begin to beat the mixture, first on a slow speed for about half a minute, then increasing the speed to mix everything thoroughly and smoothly.
Then lightly fold in the chopped banana and walnuts. You may need to add a drop of milk to give a mixture that drops easily off a spoon when you give it a sharp tap on the side of the bowl.
Next pile the mixture into the tin, level the top with the back of a spoon and sprinkle on the demerara sugar.
Bake in the centre of the oven for 1¼-1½ hours, until the cake feels springy in the centre.
After that, remove it from the oven and let it cool for about 5 minutes before turning it out on to a wire tray. Then let it get completely cold before serving or transferring it to a cake tin.
I didn't have any brown sugar so I used caster sugar instead, which may explain why the taste of the banana walnut cake was not as intense as I had expected. And I halved the grated zest of both lemon and orange as I did not want my banana walnut cake to taste like a fruit cake. Luckily I did that, because even with the halved portion of zest, the taste of the bananas was somewhat masked by the aroma of the lemon and orange. However, all in all, it was good, and Gary liked it. (^^)
Then yesterday I baked Sweet corn muffins in preparation for church's potluck lunch on saturday. Usually, several ladies will cook after lesson has ended which is about 12.30pm, and everyone will contribute something, be it buying the vegetables or rice, etc. Since everything is already accounted for, and I can't cook local Sichuanese food yet, I will bring something that I can make easily at home, which is baked stuff. So far, I've brought oreos cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes and oatmeal and raisin cookies. And it has been pretty well accepted by the group, so I continue to bake for them.
I had a craving for Kenny Rogers sweet corn muffins, so i decided to bake something like that to satisfy my craving. Here it is:
I can't remember which website I got the recipe from, but the recipe is as follows:
Sweet Corn muffins (Makes 12 muffins)
- Pre-heat the oven to 200°C. Lightly grease a 12 cup muffin pan.
- Cream the softened butter and the sugar together in a bowl.
- Beat in the honey, eggs and salt into the creamed butter mixture until smooth.
- Mix in the flour , cornmeal and baking powder in the smooth mixture, until just mixed.
- Stir in milk into mixture, until batter is smooth.
- Fold in the corn kernels.
- Spoon into prepared muffin cups, and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until tops of muffins are lightly browned.
I added a tsp of vanilla essence for the flavor even though the recipe didn't call for it.
The result? It was yummy-licous! The muffins were moist and full of flavor. It's definitely a keeper.
However, I didn't manage to bring the muffins to church coz Gary fell sick and he was heavily medicated on Friday night. So we stayed home so he could sleep off the medication. In the end, I gave the muffins to June's family (both Kai and Wen love muffins) and William, our next door neighbour.
And look what I cooked for Gary for lunch (the medication was so powerful that Gary slept till 1pm) using the slow cooker than Neil and Anna bought for us before they left for Melbourne -
Porridge with mushrooms and vegetables
The cooking process
The finished product
I got the recipe from Kelly's Jook. It was my second try at cooking 'chok' and I loved it! It's easy and convenient. Just have to try different variations - Carrot porridge anyone? (It was my favourite.)
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