Pound Cake

I've always wanted to make a pound cake.

I expected pound cakes to be sturdy, solid cakes.

The kind that require a strong cup of black tea with lashings of sugar.

I was wrong.

Pound cakes are soft, moist and so delicious that they don't need a hot drink to aid their consumption.

Where's that cup of tea?

Do you use your oven timer?

My mother has never used an oven timer.

A lot of what I know about baking comes from my mother.

Which means that I have never used an oven timer.

Until now.

A friend was over and we were talking in my kitchen.

She asked me how I liked my oven timer.

I told her that I didn't know how to use them so I never bothered.

She laughed at me, turned the dial and my oven timer was ticking away to it's goal time.

How easy!

The following banana bread is made using honey and buttermilk.

It is super delicious and soft.

The recipe also includes a saucey glaze which I sadly didn't have time to make.

Recipe from here

Ingredients (serves 8)
Melted butter, for greasing
125g butter, cubed, at room temperature
185mls (3/4 cup) honey
2 eggs, lightly whisked
3 medium ripe bananas, mashed
60mls (1/4 cup) buttermilk
300g (2 cups) plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Thick cream, to serve

honey almond syrup
160mls (2/3 cup) honey
80mls (1/3 cup) fresh lemon juice
80g (1/2 cup) almond kernels, coarsely chopped

Method
1. Preheat oven to 170°C. Brush a medium (8.5 x 19cm, base measurement) loaf pan with the melted butter to lightly grease.
2. Use electric beaters to beat the butter and honey in a large mixing bowl until creamy and evenly combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each addition until well combined. Add the bananas and buttermilk and beat until just combined.
3. Sift the plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and ground cinnamon. Fold the flour mixture into the honey mixture with a large metal spoon until just combined. Spoon mixture into the greased loaf pan and bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Cover with foil and bake for a further 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the bread comes out clean. Stand bread in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a cutting board.
4. Meanwhile, to make the honey almond syrup, combine honey, lemon juice and almonds in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
5. Slice the hot bread, place onto plates and drizzle with the honey almond syrup. Serve immediately with thick cream.

MIA

I was a little shocked to realise that I have not blogged since February.

FEBRUARY!

I have certainly baked and cooked during the last few months but a few things have eaten away at my time and prevented me from blogging.

Things such as:

getting married

Turning this

into this

(obviously still a work in progress!)

and returning to school to once again be a teacher

Our house renovations are almost complete, the wedding is a happy memory and my return to the classroom is slowly starting to feel routine.

So the next few months should mean lots of blog posts as I put my new kitchen to work.