Banana Chocolate and Pecan Loaf

Hi everyone I’m back from a lovely restful weekend at the lodge. The weather wasn’t the best and it rained on and off but we made the most of it. When the weather was dry we picked more cooking and eating apples, chopped up wood to bring back for our open fires and enjoyed our walks around the woodland and open field we have at the lodge. It was a very productive weekend and I came home with 2 gorgeous new tablecloths and matching napkins that my mother in law made with the fabric I recently bought from eBay. My Lemon Curd and Blueberry Loaf Cake was thoroughly enjoyed and didn’t last beyond Sunday evening, it’s definitely a must bake! In addition I also made this scrumptious Banana Chocolate and Pecan Loaf, I couldn’t go away for the weekend and leave the sad looking bananas in my fruit bowl. I adapted this loaf to my taste and added chocolate instead of raisins and Total Greek Yoghurt instead of buttermilk. The end result was a moist, chocolatey, nutty and very yummy banana loaf.

Banana Chocolate and Pecan Loaf

Ingredients

100g softened unsalted butter

140g light muscovado sugar

2 large eggs

3 large ripe bananas, mashed (about 450g/1lb total weight)

50g pecans, roughly chopped

50g milk chocolate, chopped (or raisins)

150ml buttermilk or Total Greek Yoghurt

280g plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Preheat the oven to fan 160C/ conventional 180C/gas 4. Butter a 20 x 13cm loaf tin and line the base with greaseproof paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the butter and sugar with an electric whisk until creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time (don't worry that the mixture looks curdled). Stir in the mashed bananas, pecans, chocolate and buttermilk/Greek yoghurt.

Sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda on top of the banana mixture, then fold in until evenly mixed, taking care not to overmix. Spoon into the prepared tin and level the top.

Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes until a skewer pushed in the centre comes out almost, but not quite, dry. Remove from the oven and leave for about 10 minutes, then turn it out of the tin on to a cooling rack to cool.

Lemon Curd and Blueberry Loaf Cake

Hubby is back tomorrow morning and I’ve missed him! I know he misses being away from home and looks forward to coming home to my home-baked goodies and me. So today I’ve spent a lovely day baking and making delicious cakes for hubby’s return. As you know I have a fridge load of Total Greek Yoghurt and thought I’d kill 2 birds with 1 stone and find something yummy to bake for my man that also incorporated the yoghurt. I didn’t have to look far and found this absolutely amazing Lemon Curd and Blueberry Loaf Cake. The yoghurt makes this heavenly citrusy cake light and incredibly moist. We are off to the lodge again this weekend and I have a feeling this cake and the Banana Chocolate and Pecan Loaf (I will blog about it over the weekend) I also made will go down a treat! Have a great weekend everyone. x

Lemon Curd and Blueberry Loaf Cake

Ingredients

175g softened butter , plus extra for greasing

500ml tub Greek yogurt

300g jar good lemon curd

3 eggs

zest and juice 1 lemon

200g self-raising flour

175g golden caster sugar

200g punnet of blueberries

140g icing sugar

edible flowers , such as purple or yellow primroses, to serve (optional)

Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease a 2lb loaf tin and line with a long strip of baking parchment.

Put 100g yogurt, 2 tbsp lemon curd, the softened butter, eggs, lemon zest, flour and caster sugar into a large mixing bowl. Quickly mix with an electric whisk until the batter just comes together.

Scrape half into the prepared tin. Weigh 85g blueberries from the punnet and sprinkle half into the tin, scrape the rest of the batter on top, then scatter the other half of the 85g berries on top.

Bake for 1 hr 10 mins-1 hr 15 mins until golden, and a skewer poked into the centre comes out clean.

Cool in the tin, then carefully lift onto a serving plate to ice. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in enough lemon juice to make a thick, smooth icing.

Spread over the top of the cake, then decorate with lemon zest and edible flowers, if you like. Serve in slices with extra lemon curd, Greek yogurt and blueberries.

Smoked Salmon and Pea Pasta

Hubby's gone to Singapore on business again this morning but thankfully this is a short trip and he is back Friday morning. I hate it when he goes away and miss him terribly, so I keep busy around the house, cleaning, baking and making yummy meals for one! Comfort food is something I always crave when I am home alone and I found it in this recipe for Smoked Salmon and Pea Pasta. This recipe definitely delivered comfort; it’s low fat and incorporated Total Greek Yoghurt! A heart healthy, speedy meal packed with omega-3s and ready in 20 minutes.

Smoked Salmon and Pea Pasta

Serves 2

Ingredients

175g fusilli or other pasta

100g frozen peas

125g pack cooked smoked salmon fillets

3 rounded tbsp 0% Greek yogurt

2 rounded tsp horseradish sauce

Cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling water according to pack instructions, adding the peas for the last 3 mins. Meanwhile, flake the salmon and set aside, then mix the yogurt with the horseradish, salt and pepper.

Drain the pasta, then return to the pan and stir in the salmon and yogurt, letting the heat of the pasta warm the sauce. Tastes great with a crisp green salad.

Prawn Curry

Last week I received an email from the lovely people at Total Greek Yoghurt asking if I would like to receive a sample of different variants of Total Greek Yoghurt. Having seen other bloggers that have also been selected to trial the range I immediately sent an email back saying YES! I received my huge delivery from Ocado this morning and my fridge is now bursting with small and big pots of natural Greek yoghurt, 0%, 2% and natural ones with honey.

I couldn’t wait to put my yoghurt to use and decided on this Prawn Curry that I have adapted in order to incorporate the 0% Total Greek yoghurt, which also made it low fat to suit my needs. This curry is mild, creamy and has a hint of mango sweetness from the chutney. A thoroughly enjoyable experience, although I will probably add a stronger curry powder next time as I only had mild. Watch this space for more recipes incorporating yogurt.

Prawn Curry

Serves 2

Ingredients
225g king prawns, rinsed
2 small onions, finely chopped
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp plain flour
300ml chicken stock or fish stock
1 tsp tomato puree
1 tbsp mango chutney
½ lemon, juice only
3 tbsp 0% Total Greek Yoghurt

Fry half the onion in a little vegetable oil over a low heat for 2-3 minutes until transparent.

Stir in the curry powder and fry gently for 1 minute.

Blend in the flour and cook for 2-3 minutes more.

Gradually add the stock and stir until the sauce thickens and comes to the boil (3-5 minutes).

Add the tomato purée, chutney and lemon juice. Simmer for 5 minutes, then strain the sauce through a sieve.

Heat the other tbsp of oil in a frying pan and fry the remaining onion until soft, then add the prawns.

Blend in the curry sauce and bring to the boil.

Stir in the 0% Total Greek Yoghurt and remove from the heat.

Arrange the prawns in the sauce on top of boiled rice and serve with naan or poppadums.