Protein Breakfast Loaf: Banana, Oats and Sultana

No gluten, no butter, no sugar... no joy...? No. I love my food, I think you all know that. Whilst I'm not on a fat busting crusade, I'm trying to up the amount of good stuff that I eat. I was sick of feeling knackered and felt that I'd lost my bounce so to speak. 

I have three periods of the day where I am at risk of reaching for the KitKats; mid morning with a brew, around 3pm when the PLL kicks in (post lunch lull) and about 9pm when I finally sit down. I'm not a huge fan of eggs, and start work early so don't really have time to go faffing with some fancy breakfast, plus the idea of protein shakes sends me west. So, I set about finding something which would fill me up, could be prepared the night before, and did not look like frog spawn. 

I found lots of recipes online which incorporated bananas and oats; pancakes, muffins, bars... but they all seemed to lack the element of excitement I was craving, and some reminded me way too much of Trill. So, I made up my own from a few different ones, with a bit more flavour! Not only does this fill you up for hours, but it tastes pretty nice too. I'd highly recommend having this with your morning brew. 

Ingredients:

• 2 medium bananas - ripe as hell and mashed up
• 250ml low fat greek yoghurt (more protein than natural)
• 2 medium eggs - beaten
• 4 tbsp honey
• 150g porridge oats, blitzed to a rough powder in a food processor - bits are ok
• 2 tsp gluten free baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• Pinch of salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp mixed spice
• 100g fat sultanas

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas 4/180 C
2. Line a 2lb loaf tin either with a liner or greaseproof paper. 
3. Mix all the wet ingredients together.
4. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a big bowl.
5. Add the wet to the dry. 
6. Tip it into the loaf tin and level out.
7. Bake for an hour and fifteen minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. 
8. Whilst it's still warm, brush with more honey.

Really, that's as hard as it gets! It'll last for a few days if you keep it in an airtight container too, so you're good for a few breakfasts.

Yorkshire Tea Cup Loaf

This week I have been inspired by our new Clandestine Cake Club sponsor, Yorkshire Tea. When the news was announced, every man and his dog seemed to agree that they make a cracking cuppa! I like my tea strong with a tiny bit of milk and no sugar; pretty much the same colour as this cake actually, although at work it's described as a 'David Dickinson'.

So this week's mid-week bake had to be some sort of tea loaf. Tea and cake are the perfect partners, so I thought I'd spruce up a traditional recipe with our favourite brew and a little spice. I've called this recipe a tea cup loaf because it uses a tea cup to measure! This is a really simple recipe and can be made with little effort. You don't even need to soak the fruit (avoids the death stare from the tea loaf purists...). The result is a large, moist loaf which is bob on with a nice cup of Yorkshire Tea.

Ingredients

• 1 teacup of tea - left to cool
• 125g unsalted butter - cubed
• 1 teacup of good quality mixed fruit 
• 1 teacup of large sultanas
• 1 teacup of dark brown sugar
• 2 teacups of self raising flour
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Method

1. Add the tea, butter, fruit and sugar to a large, heavy saucepan and mix on a low temperature until everything has melted.
2. Turn the heat up to medium and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 3 minutes.
3. Put to one side to cool off.
4. Grease and line a 2lb/900g loaf tin - this gives you something to do whilst the fruit mix is cooling!
5. Sift the flour, spices and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl.
6. Pour in the warm fruit mix and mix until there is no flour visible.
7. Pour into the prepared loaf tin and bake on gas 4/180 C for 1 hour.
8. You'll know it's done when a skewer comes out clean. 
9. Leave it on a wire rack for ten minutes before turning ut tof the tin. Allow to cool before eating (this stops utter cake carnage - they are a bit crumbly warm!)

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Banana and Chocolate Loaf

This recipe is sooo easy. It's the kind of cake I don't even switch my mixer on for. This is a bowl and a spatula kind of job. It's also an easy one for children to make. It yields excellent results every time, and folk generally think you are very clever, even though you barely had to lift a finger!

This is a cake I used to make regularly before I became obsessed with all things bundt. I hate bananas, yet some weird cake alchemy makes this cake utterly irresistible. One of my work friends won't touch any fruit related cakes, but adores this one. I like to think that the chocolate rebalances the healthy/unhealthy seesaw. The cake feels very heavy if picked up as a whole, but its texture is light and fluffy. The addition of demerara sugar on top means you get a lovely crispy outer shell which is a wonderful contrast to the soft centre. 

I decided to make this recipe when I was kindly given a loaf tin by George Wilkinson's; the makers of Great British Bakeware. I wanted to know if these tins were functional as well as pretty to look at. As this is a recipe I have made many times, it was the ideal choice.

The tin behaved wonderfully! No warping, even baking, easy release and a dream to clean afterwards. I really liked the fact that the edges were cool enough to handle after the cake had cooled for ten minutes too. Just makes life easier!

I'm currently running a competition on my blog to win a set of these limited edition vintage floral tins. Make sure you enter before 28th February 2013! Alternatively, you can purchase them from Amazon.

Ingredients:

• 250g self raising flour 
• 150g golden caster sugar 
• 1 tsp cinnamon 
• Pinch of maldon sea salt (normal salt will do though)
• 100g melted unsalted butter 
• 2 medium eggs - beaten 
• 2 large ripe mashed bananas 
• 150g milk chocolate chips/chunks 
• 1 tbsp demerara sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to gas 4/180 C 
2. Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin (this can also be split into 2 x 1lb tins). Pre-cut pleated liners are pretty useful here!
3. Sift the flour, sugar and cinnamon into a large bowl 
4. Sir in the sea salt 
5. Mix in the melted butter - it will be thick with remaining flour round the edges. Do not fret.
6. Add the beaten eggs and mix gently
7. Fold in the mashed bananas and chocolate chips
8. Pour into the prepared tin/s
9. Cover the mixture with demerara sugar 
10. Bake for 1 hour in the middle of the oven or until a skewer comes out clean. Just bear in mind some melted chocolate is ok...
11. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Let it cool fully before slicing. If you can. It just makes it easier to cut...

Fancy something a bit different? You can substitute the chocolate chips for fudge pieces, dark chocolate, nuts or a mixture!

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Disclaimer: I was given this tin by George Wilkinson's because I am currently running a competition to win the range. I offered to review one of the range to ensure I was happy with the items. 

Baking with Passion, Dan Lepard & Richard Whittington

I was attracted to this book for two reasons. It was an earlier publication from baking super-power Dan Lepard, and I'd heard about Baker and Spice when researching bakeries in London.


Dan Lepard's name is synonymous with baking perfection. I must have read over ten reviews of his new book, Short and Sweet in the last couple of months. I also flocked to buy the book on release, like all the other excited baking folk. This guy knows his stuff. He is no celebrity charlatan. He has worked at some of the finest establishments, including St John in London, which currently resides at 41 in the San Pellegrino 'Best Restaurants in the World'. I've eaten there and the desserts are to die for! Aside from his book, he is probably best best known for his column in the Guardian Weekend.


Baker and Spice's ethos is to sell goods which are home made - from scratch. They've been doing this since 1995, so were real trailblazers when it comes to resurrecting the art of baking on the high-street.


So, I had a good read through this book. I'm a baker with a passion, so I was hoping we'd be well suited! It reminds me of a school textbook (which incidentally, we never had in Food Technology...) but is filled with mouth watering pictures too. It covers all the classic baking disciplines; including cakes, meringues, scones, biscuits, cookies and pastries.


I have to stop myself from making the same type of cakes all the time, so I decided to resurrect the old loaf tin, and make something spicy. I was a little nervous, as the only loaf tin I could find was a wide bottomed one, but I threw caution to the wind and used it anyway! (I leant my other 2lb-ers to a friend who I'm encouraging to bake...)


I made their Honey and Spice Cake. It's light as fluff itself and so unbelievably moist. The batter is very runny, and the cake didn't rise a massive amount, but I had used that wide tin. All I'm bothered about at this point is the taste. The work guinea pigs were well impressed with this one. I also have a sneaking suspicion that if it was left for a few days it might just go all sticky like a good gingerbread. Alas, mine didn't last that long! This can only confirm it was a belting cake. 

It was a nice alternative to parkin or gingerbread, and had a warm honey taste followed by a cinnamon kick. 

Buy this book if you like a robust cake, pastry or loaf that is packed with flavour. You'e not going to find any Jane Asher-eque cakes in here. 

Baking with Passion (Baker & Spice Collection) by Dan Lepard and Richard Whittington

Publisher: Quadrille, 1999

Paperback, £12.99

Disclaimer: I reviewed this book because I am a baker and have passion dammit! I received no payment from the publisher for doing so.

Read more about the authors at Quadrille.

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