Emily's Banana Bread

So, I know I haven't blogged in a while but I've done two out of three exams and the last one is next Friday (revision is next week's problem) so I'm just easing myself back into my routine.
One of my favourite bloggers, Emily, posted this recipe and after spying it and feeling envious on Instagram, I had to make my own loaf, and then show you all.

Whilst the cake was baking, the whole house filled with its delicious aroma, and that, in my opinion, is how you can tell that it's going to be a good cake.

I lurked around the oven for the last 10 mins, yanking it out when the timer went, then, my sister and I descended. Hindsight has taught me that it's probably a good idea to let it cool a bit before slicing it open, because the break in the crust sort of broke, but that doesn't affect the taste, so it doesn't matter.

Lucy had to make do with grated chocolate on hers because we couldn't find any Nutella, and I went for a naked slice (the crust obviously, the best bit).

 

 

 

Oh my goodness, you have to make this because a) if you need comfort food it's the most homely thing b) it's the best banana bread I've ever tasted.

I'm finishing this post off so I can charge back downstairs for my 4th slice...

Perfect Poached Eggs

I have been yearning for poached duck eggs ever since my birthday, the problem was I had no idea how to go about recreating them uuuuuntiiiilll I saw this post by Valentina, which is the easiest thing in the world!
All you need is some cling film, a mug and your egg!

I covered the mug with the cling film, making a little well for the egg,

























 Then I twisted the top to make an "egg parcel" and popped it in a pot of boiling water until it all goes white.

 























Give it a little prod or two if you're not sure.

 

Twist the cling film really well before it goes in the water, in case it has a tendency to unravel slightly, like mine did.

 

Then pop it on a plate and serve with whatever you like, seeing as I was dreaming and yearning for the Crabtrees breakfast that I had last week I served it with smoked salmon and the home made bread I made yesterday.

One of the easiest, tastiest and simplest breakfasts!

Bank Holiday Bread

For my birthday one of my friends got me How to Avoid a Soggy Bottom by Gerard Baker which is filled with all the GBBO baking tips and secrets.

 

Not only did she give me that but she also made me an enormous cornflake tart (one of my favourites) so this morning I cut myself a hunk of tart and started flicking through.

It's divided into cake & biscuits, pastry, desserts and flavours & fillings, but it was the bread section that particularly grabbed me. We have a bread machine but I thought I'd try and make the "Simple White Loaves" all by myself.



To make 2 large loaves:

800g strong white flour
2 tsp. salt
1 sachet or 7g yeast
550 ml tepid water

Oven: 220 C

Put all of the flour in a bowl and if, like me, you are using dried yeast, mix the salt in with the flour thoroughly.

In a separate bowl mix the yeast with a little water until it forms a paste not unlike, for lack of a better description, sorry, the consistency of a face mask.

Then add this to the rest of your tepid water and pour into the bowl of flour.

 

 

After mixing all the ingredients well together, turn out the dough onto a clean surface and get kneading. Resolve any anger management issues by pummelling that dough. You'll have to knead for 10-15 minutes so not only are you making a pair of yummy loaves, you're also getting a workout.
Then pop it into a bowl, cover it in a damp tea towel and leave in a warm place until it doubles in size.

Once its doubled, give it another quick knead to make it nice and smooth, then divide into two.

Roll it with your hands to make a fat sausage and bring the long edges in to make a crease down the centre.

 

Pop it into a greased bread tin with the crease side at the bottom.

Then put it back into the warm place for another hour or until it has doubled.

Then sprinkle your loaf with flour,

 

And score a line about 1/2 deep along the centre of the loaf. 

 Bung your loaves into the oven at 220 C/425 F then after 20 minutes, turn them around so they bake evenly and reduce the temperature to 180 C/350 F and leave for another 20-25 minutes.

Test to see if they are done by turning them out and knocking on the bottom, if they sound hollow, you're done!

 The recipe says to allow them to cool, but I think that warm bread is the best bread.

 

Especially with lashings of butter...

Rose's Soda Bread

I'm supposed to be revising for my A level mock exams but when my Mother announced that we needed some bread, I jumped at the chance as there was a cetain recipe by Rose that I wanted to try out.

Now, soda bread has to be one of my all time favourite breads, second only to a baguette which, if I was given some garlic and butter, I'm pretty certain that I could devour a whole loaf in one sitting, but my love of carbohydrates and overeating are different matters entirely.
A large amount of flour goes into this, about half a bag, but you end up with two heavenly smelling loaves which take only half an hour to cook, or one large loaf that would take about an hour.

 

I made one plain and one fruity, this was because I wasn't sure how well the fruity one would taste...

 

Clearly the loaf with cranberries and pinenuts didn't go down too badly, seeing as I, ahem, ate half a loaf in one sitting...(slight loss of dignity)

 

I urge you to try out this recipe, it's delicious.