Banana Butterscotch Pudding

Who doesn’t love a hearty pudding? I think puddings were made for chilly winter days but then again I could easily eat them come sunshine, rain or snow! I had 2 small ripe bananas left in the fruit bowl after making the muffins yesterday and I knew exactly where to put them to good use! I had the perfect recipe in mind and one I had remembered seeing in Rachel’s Favourite Food at Home (just loving this book). This recipe is originally from Bill Granger’s book, Simply Bill but features in Rachel’s book, as she adores this pudding and I can see why!! This self-saucing, all in one pudding is baked until the sponge has risen and set, while underneath is hiding a luscious sticky sauce. If you fancy something sweet, sticky and utterly yummy, you can’t go wrong with this pudding, especially served with good-quality vanilla ice cream.

Banana Butterscotch Pudding

Serves 4

Ingredients
For the pudding:
125g/4½ oz plain flour
3 level tsp baking powder
125g/4½ oz caster sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 banana, mashed
250ml/8fl oz milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
85g/3¼ oz butter, melted

For the topping:
100g/4oz soft brown sugar
2 tbsp golden syrup
150ml/5fl oz boiling water

To Serve:
Vanilla Ice cream or softly whipped cream

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4).
Sift the flour, salt, sugar, baking and powder into a bowl.
Add the mashed banana, milk, butter, egg and vanilla extract and whisk together until well combined.
Pour into a greased 1.25 litre baking dish.

To make the topping, place the brown sugar, golden syrup and water in a small pot and bring to a boil.
Pour the boiling mixture carefully over the pudding, then bake for 30-40 minutes or until cooked through when tested with a skewer.
Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Banana and Peanut Butter Muffins

It seems since making the Toffee Apple and Almond Crumble recipe I’ve been unable to put down Rachel Allen’s Favourite Food at Home. There are so many great recipes in this book that I had forgotten about (that’s what happens when you own nearly 200 cookbooks, eek). I’m making it my mission during the month of March to try out recipes I have book-marked, but don’t quote me on that, he he! In our home we adore muffins and they make a great breakfast on the run, especially for teenage boys who deny they have time for brekkie in the morning (tomorrow Jake will have no excuse)! These muffins are deliciously moist, sweet and nutty and bursting with flavour. I couldn’t resist adding some Nestle Swirled Milk Chocolate and Peanut Butter Morsels for that extra scrumptious touch.

Top of the Muffin to ya!

Banana and Peanut Butter Muffins

Makes 12 (I ended up with 17)

Ingredients
275g/100oz plain flour
50g/2oz oats
1 tbsp baking powder
2 eggs
150g/5oz light brown sugar
2 bananas (200g/7oz), peeled and mashed
125g/4½ oz crunchy peanut butter
50g/2oz butter, melted
250ml/8fl oz milk
150g/5oz Nestle Swirled Milk Chocolate and Peanut Butter Morsels (optional)

Preheat the oven to 190oC/170oC fan oven/375oF/Gas mark 5. Line a muffin pan with 12 paper muffin cases.

Place the flour, oats and baking powder in a bowl, mix together and set aside. In another bowl, whisk the eggs; add the light brown sugar, mashed bananas, peanut butter and the melted butter. Stir to mix, then add the milk and stir to combine. Add the dry ingredients and fold in gently, do not over-mix.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin cases and bake for 18-24 minutes, or until the tops spring back when gently touched. Allow to stand in the muffin pan for a minute before turning out to cool on a wire rack.

Wholemeal Shortbread Biscuits

Biscuits we all love them don’t we? I definitely do and what better accompaniment is there to a cup of tea, after all tea and biscuits go hand in hand! This morning I decided to stick to my promise of baking more biscuits and cookies. Some recipes can be so quick and easy, with an end result that is far superior to shop-bought. I made the Wholemeal Shortbread Biscuits from Rachel Allen’s Favourite Food at Home; these golden biscuits are not too sweet or too savoury and full of wholesome goodness. If you love digestives, these are like a lighter version and simply delicious!

Tea and biscuit anyone?

Wholemeal Shortbread Biscuits

Makes about 20

Ingredients
75g/3oz wholemeal flour
75g/3oz plain flour
100g/4oz butter, softened
50g/2oz caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 180oC/160oC fan oven/350oF/Gas mark 4. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and whiz until the mixture almost comes together and resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Then tip onto the work surface and bring it together with your hands. If you are not using a food processor, rub the butter into the combined flour and sugar in a bowl and bring together with your hands.

Sprinkle your work surface with a little flour (brown or white) and roll out the dough until it is about 5mm/ ¼in thick. Using a biscuit cutter, cut into whatever shapes you like. Transfer onto a baking tray (no need to grease or line) and bake in the oven for 6-10 minutes depending on the size, or until they are pale golden and feel firm on top. Remove carefully and cool on a wire rack.

Toffee, Apple and Almond Crumble

If there is one thing I love about weekends, it’s the opportunity to entertain friends or family at our home. This weekend we had my lovely mother in law over on Sunday for the day, she arrived just after 1pm, which gave me plenty of time for preparations. I got up early and prepared a chicken and mushroom bake in the slow cooker and then got started on what I can only describe as the most divine crumble ever! I had come across this recipe ages ago in my copy of Rachel Allen’s Favourite Food at Home but I’d never got round to making it, that is until Beth at Jam and Clotted Cream blogged about it recently and I was sold! The combination of toffee, apples and almond in this crumble transforms this favourite comfort pudding into something really special. This crumble was served with vanilla ice cream and extra toffee sauce and was a big hit all round! I loved this so much I did a Nigella and helped myself to seconds later on in the evening to eat while watching Lost, pure bliss!

Toffee, Apple and Almond Crumble

Ingredients:

Toffee Sauce:

125g Golden Syrup

125g Light Brown Sugar

50g Butter

100ml Single Cream

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Crumble:

175g Self Raising Flour

Zest 1 Lemon

85g Butter, cubed

85g Light Brown Sugar

50g Ground Almonds

Filling:

6 Eating Apples, cored, peeled, quartered and cut into 2cm/¾in chunks

25g Butter

Method:

Preheat the oven 180oC/350oF/Gas Mark 4. Put all ingredients for the toffee sauce into saucepan over a medium heat and boil for 3 minutes, stirring until smooth. Set aside. Make the crumble topping by placing flour and lemon zest in a bowl and rub in butter, leaving it a little rough and uneven. Stir in the sugar and ground almonds to the crumble and place in the fridge until you are ready to use it. To make the filling, melt the butter in a saucepan or frying pan, add the chopped apples and toss on the heat for a few minutes until the apples start to soften. Add 125ml of the toffee sauce (about half; keep the rest for serving) and continue to simmer for a few minutes longer until the apples are just cooked. Pour the apple mixture in a pie dish and sprinkle over crumble and bake in the preheated oven for 20-40 minutes or until the crumble is light golden and with toffee sauce juices bubbling up the sides. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream and a jug of the remaining warm toffee sauce!