Chocolate & Banana Marble Bread

Image 1 Comment 26/03/2017 the wee caledonian cook

First try at marbling, I’ve seen it loads of times in magazines but never tried it, who knew it would be that simple!

125g butter

150g light brown sugar

2 eggs

2 ripe bananas

1 tsp vanilla essence

200 g self raising flour

2 tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarb soda

pinch of salt

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp. cocoa powder

1. Preheat oven to 170 deg.

2. Line a baking tin with greaseproof paper

3. Place butter and sugar in a large bowl and mix together until smooth and fluffy

4. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking well.

5. Mash the banana and add with the vanilla essence and mix

6. In a separate bowl sift the flour, baking powder, bicarb soda, salt and cinnamon together, fold into the wet mixture until combined.

7. Pour half the mixture into another bowl and mix through the cocoa powder

8. Spoon both mixtures into the baking tin alternating between each so you have layers.

9. Drag a knife through the mixture a few times to marble then bake for approx. 1 hr or until knife comes out clean. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Chocolate Banana Cupcakes

Image Leave a comment 19/03/2017 the wee caledonian cook

Oh we do love a good cupcake for afternoon coffee break. We bought some new coffee beans to try but then realised we didn’t have any cake to go with it…..so off I went to the kitchen to see what I had. Bananas from last week that were perfect for cake making, so that made my decision, banana cupcakes it was. So yummy! My decoration is in need of some practise though…lol!

Makes 6

80g self raising flour

120g light brown sugar (or you can use caster sugar)

20g cocoa powder

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 tsp salt

30ml milk

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 medium ripe banana – mashed

Preheat oven to 180 deg. Put all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, cocoa powder) into a mixing bowl and mix through.
Then put all the wet ingredients (egg, milk, vanilla, banana) into a separate bowl and whisk together.
Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk together. It should be runny but not too runny.
Put some cases into a muffin tin and pour the mixture into each, only 1/2 to 3/4 way, leave room for rising. Bake in the oven for 15-20 mins or until a knife comes out clean.
Allow to cool on a rack and then decorate to your own tastes. I just used some icing as I didn’t have any frosting.

I made some plain chocolate ones too, follow everything above but just take out the banana.

Spinach Pesto

Image Leave a comment 18/03/2017 the wee caledonian cook

I had some Garlic Bread left over from dinner last night, so I wanted to try something different with it rather than just heating it up. I just love spinach, so why not? It turned out absolutely delicious….if I do say so myself. lol!

Makes 1 small pot – about 1 cup

2 cups of fresh spinach leaves or 6 rounds of frozen spinach

1/2 cup of fresh flat leaf parsley. (you could use basil also)

1/4 cup of walnuts or pine nuts

1/4 cup of parmesan cheese – freshly grated

2 garlic cloves

juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp black pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

Put everything into a food processor and blitz until blended together.

Serve up. I had mine on bread but you could use this as a base for pizza, in salads, so much more. Will keep in fridge covered for up to 3 days.

Afternoon Tea Empire Biscuits

Image 4 Comments 11/03/2017 the wee caledonian cook

I just love my Empire Biscuits, I do have to say they are rather tasty. Having the afternoon to myself I fancied getting my creativity on this afternoon and trying some new techniques. I thoroughly enjoyed my creating and so glad they turned out…..I don’t have the steadiest of hands…lol. Although my love hearts could do with more practise…lol!

For the Empire Biscuits:-

Makes approx 12 – Empire Biscuits

Designs:-

I used 1 spoonful of the icing in each tub and added food colouring.

I used a skewer that I had in my kitchen drawer, but anything with a pen like nib would do.

Once you have put your white icing onto your biscuit you then choose your design colours.

I started off with roses. Put the nib of the skewer into the red colouring and place a small dot onto the icing and start to rock and circle the skewer to make your design. Clean nib then dip into the yellow and add a dot in the middle. Clean nib then dip into the green and draw small leaf shapes at the bottom. Finish design with small dots of colour randomly.

I done the same thing but on a bigger scale for me single rose.

Then using each colour draw lines on your biscuit.

Then drag the tip of your skewer firstly down the way then up the way to create the design.

Happy Baking!

Eggs in Toast with Spicy Avocado Bites

Image Leave a comment 11/03/2017 the wee caledonian cook

I just love eggs and toast on a Saturday morning but wanted to jazz it up a bit today, so here is my eggs in toast with some spicy avocado bites.

2 Slices of Wholemeal toast (you can of course use white if you prefer)
2 eggs
1/2 avocado – mashed
tsp of chilli flakes
rainbow pepper
knob of butter

1. Heat butter in a pan
2. Using a cutter take out the centre of the bread slices

3. Place bread slices into the pan and crack the eggs in the centre. Also put the circle bites into the pan.

4. Cook for about 1-2 mins, then flip over and cook for a further 1-2 mins (depending if you want yolk running or not)

5. Meanwhile, mash up the avocado and sprinkle with chilli flakes.

6. Remove the toasts from pan and place on a plate. Take the 2 round pieces and place the cutter you used to cut over then spoon in the avocado mix, remove cutter and place on plate. Sprinkle with rainbow pepper to taste. Yummy!

THE WEE CALEDONIAN COOK

DISCOVERING MY INNER CHEF

Month: March 2017