One slightly scorched Orange, Banana and Cranberry Loaf. I've not baked for weeks and though I had to literally force myself to do it, the end result was worth it. It's so difficult to shake off the Glums at the moment. Here's the recipe, from Emma Patmore's Baking:
175g/6 oz/1 1/2 cups self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
150g/5 1/2 oz/1 cup soft brown sugar
2 bananas, mashed
50g/1 3/4 oz chopped mixed peel
25g/1 oz chopped mixed nuts ( left them out)
50g/1 3/4 dried cranberries (I only had mixed fruit with cranberries in)
5 - 6 tablespoons orange juice (I used up an old orange for this)
2 eggs, beaten
150ml/quarter of a pint/ 2/3 cup sunflower oil
75g/2 3/4 oz icing (confectioners')sugar, sieved (I didn't bother with the icing)
grated rind of one orange (I added this to the mix instead)
Grease a 900g/2 lb loaf tin and line the base with baking parchment. Sieve the flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar, bananas, chopped mixed peel, nuts and cranberries. Stir the orange juice, eggs and oil together until well combined., Add the mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until well blended. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in a preheated oven - 180deg. C/350deg. F/Gas Mark 4 for about 1 hour until firm to the touch or until a fine skewer inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean. Turn out the loaf and leave it to cool on a wire rack.
Mix the icing sugar with a little water and drizzle over the loaf. Sprinkle the orange rind over the top, and leave to set before serving.
I was planning a morning out yesterday, but had to wait until the Care and Repair chap had come to fit a rail in the bathroom for Keith. I had suffered a very bad night's sleep too - still awake at 1 a.m. and felt fit for nothing, so I didn't go any further than town just to get a paper and then tried to have a nap on the sofa, but of course, I had kittens either burrowing under the blanket (Lulu) or landing on me from a height (Pippi) so it ended up just being half an hours' "shut eye" and NO sleep. By the end of the afternoon I had rallied enough to make home-made Pizza for tea.
Anyway, I sat quietly in the evening and planned a little trip out today to the Garden Centre for various veg seeds, and then on to bother a church at Llangorse. I have been there before but not inside. It is apparently open daily. Still grey and cold and miserable outside, so a wrap up warm day.
Have a good weekend.
Oh to be as elastic as a cat. When I light the fire I always sit on the floor and do half an hour of stretching - especially necessary yesterday after moving 10 bags of logs from car to woodstore. The logs were in ‘liftable by me’ bags which will be returned to the woodyard. I kept moving after that with a spot of weeding in the veg plot and picked purple sprouting broccoli for supper. Broad beans are through outside and rocket and lambs lettuce doing well in the greenhouse and should be ready for picking in a couple of weeks. Must remember to check on my pot of chilli seeds in the warm cupboard where the pipes for the kitchen underfloor heating live. So exciting - I am loving this cold dry weather, it’s so good for cycling and gardening. S has been like a new man after his long cycle with friends and they are doing it again next week. One of his friends (a uni friend) is a recovering cancer patient and the other (high school friend) is going in for a knee op at the end of the month so none of them is in the best of health but they had a laugh and cheered each other up. I visited the church at Burpham (near Arundel) yesterday whilst collecting wood. It occupied an important strategic position overlooking the Arun floodplain and had well-preserved 12th century parts as well as some fine Victorian improvements. Look after yourself BB. Sarah x
ReplyDeleteStretching here is done via gardening - though I used to do Yoga back in the day, but tbh, enjoyed the meditation at the end more - that could be a bit far out with our Yoga teacher, who had studied in India. I went to the garden centre yesterday and got some seeds - Ridge Cucumbers, Sunchocola Tomatoes, Sweet Peas and Snapdragons. Need to get myself in gear with the garden when it warms up again - too cold to be out there the last couple of days.
DeleteSo glad that S enjoyed his long cycle ride and the company of good friends. Keith can manage to walk further but can't do it every day.
Burpham church sounds a good one. Must look it up.
Love the elastic kitten.
ReplyDeleteGood for you for baking when you didn't feel like it, the cake looks delicious, loaf cakes are my favourite these days, I've gone off loads of icing and decorations.
Alison in Wales x
The cake is fine, but not the best recipe I've ever made. I have never bothered with icing and extras - I rely on taste!
DeleteSlightly scorched or not, it still looks rather delicious. And you have more hwyl than I have for baking. Glad Care and Repair is helping you out. Scarce as hens teeth in our area.
ReplyDeleteDeb in Wales
Care and Repair are very good in our area. Dependable and the chap that does the work is a nice guy.
DeleteThat cake looks just fine to me. And I applauded the no-washing-up baking tin. I also enjoyed reading your recipe with the numerous substitutions you made - my baking is like that too, often the finished product is a far cry from the recipe! I'm sorry you have the Glums, you've a lot on your plate, and the winter weather doesn't help, does it. May you find some joy in little things, very soon - cat antics if nothing better presents itself. XX
ReplyDeleteI used one of my heavy bread tins and always use a liner. The Glumsare partly down to the weather I think.
DeleteCats do seem to be able to bend in very strange ways.
ReplyDeleteYour baking still looks lovely.
God bless.
Bendy cats are fun - Pippi likes to stretch out backwards down the back of the sofa and just slide down!
DeleteThe cake looks lovely. Kittens just wanted to show they love you... Elastic kitty is funny! I hope you're having a good night's sleep.
ReplyDeleteOh they DO love me, but are sometimes torn between loving and attacking! Slept badly again last night. Fed up with it.
DeleteCake pleasant, but not a favourite.
There's just no sleeping and relaxing during the day with baby animals is there. I'm glad ours are old and happy to cuddle up and sit still, although the snoring is getting a bit loud these days. I bet your house smelled lovely with cake and pizza being cooked in one day. Oh to be as bendy as a cat!!
ReplyDelete