B-A-N-A-N-A-S

If you're anything like me, you'll remember the spelling of bananas simply because of Gwen Stefani. And if your family is anything like my family, you'll always have a few bananas sitting unloved in the fruit bowl. Yesterday I decided to make a banana loaf to satisfy my sweet-tooth cravings and conquer the fruit bowl. I couldn't find a recipe I liked (aka had the majority of the ingredients for) in our cook books so decided to trawl the internet for inspiration - FYI, finding good recipes only for them to be in American measurements (cups) gets pretty frustrating. 

I managed to find a recipe of Sophie Dahl's which was posted on her site 'At The Kitchen Table', which I then had to adapt a bit as I typically still didn't have enough of all of the ingredients. After a failed choc-chip muffin attempt last week (which I obviously won't be posting more about), I was so happy when this loaf cake turned out wonderfully, with the stamp of approval from my family too - especially my Dad, self proclaimed King of the Banana Loaf. I added chocolate chips on top to fulfil my chocolate addiction - I would completely recommend it (it added that extra yum), but if you'd rather kid yourself you're being healthy without them, or save this recipe for over lent, feel free to leave them out - it's still a kick-ass banana loaf recipe without them. The method written isn't one I found online - none were that explicit, more like 'throw everything in' so I had to try and work it out myself - as it turned out so well, I thought it would be better just to explain the steps I followed/made up!

The Ultimate Banana Loaf

Ingredients: 75g soft butter, 150g soft brown sugar, 1 tsp agave nectar, 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 1tbs vanilla extract, 170g spelt flour, 1 beaten egg, a pinch of salt, dark chocolate chips, your very ripe bananas (I used two and a half as it was all I had, but feel free to add more - the original recipe said 4!)

You will need to preheat your oven to 180c (160c for a fan oven or gas mark 4)

Method:

1. Mash your bananas with a fork, then add your soft butter and egg and beat. Then add the sugar, agave nectar and vanilla extract and stir in with a wooden spoon. 

2. Sieve in your spelt flour and add your bicarbonate of soda and salt then beat again. If your butter looks a bit funny (as mine did at this point) - don't panic (as I did).

3. Spoon the mixture into your pre-lined loaf tin and sprinkle chocolate chips on top, if you wish. Bake for an hour, or until your take tester comes out clean.

This is delicious eaten warm out of the oven or cold. Feel free to gently re-heat it later, if you enjoy your banana bread warm or toasted!

Liv x

(this recipe was based upon that of Sophie Dahl, which is credited here: http://www.sophiedahl.com/2014/03/banana-bread/ - this will also be useful if you're American as it contains your metric system!)

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3 Best of January: Make-Up

As I mentioned in my first blog post, I am a self-confessed make-up obsessive. I am constantly on the look out for new products and during January I both discovered and re-discovered 3 products which have invaded my normal day-to-day make up routine, which I thought I'd quickly share with you all. Given I often ramble on and on whilst talking about make-up, I'm going to try and keep it brief.

MAC Strobe Cream - I only have the mini version because with this product a little goes a long way, and it means I can take it in hand-luggage. It's both hydrating and luminous - I dab it under my eyes and up my cheek bones after moisturiser but before my base make-up...it's magical.

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer (Shade: Vanille) - Hands down, the best concealer I have ever used for my under-eyes. It balances good coverage and a natural finish to perfection - I blend this out with my Real Techniques contour brush (my favourite for any concealer blending). It brightens and conceals, which is why I also use this around and down my nose, but my local NARS counter recommend not using it on spots as the radiance it gives will just draw attention to them....which is never what we want. If I could buy every girl I know one of these, I would.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz (Shade: Taupe) - The products I own the most of are definitely those for brows, but this has already become my favourite. The product is cool-toned and natural-looking, adding just enough extra colour and thickness to my brows without looking drawn on at all. It also has a spoolie at the other end, which saves space in my make-up bag - always a plus! If you, like me, found the dip brow pomade's too hard to work with for day-to-day make up, and prefer something natural and perhaps similar to the MAC 'Eyebrows', this is definitely the product for you - and the colour range is great too. Anastasia Beverly Hills is hard to get hold of in the UK, but you can get it off BeautyBay and Cult Beauty where they also have a useful table system to help find your shade!

Liv x

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Having my cake and eating it (all)

Recently I've been rediscovering my love for baking, so yesterday I decided to try and re-create an amazing orange cake that I had before Christmas at The Fine Cheese Company in Bath (best lattes you can find outside London, by the way). I love loaf cakes because 1) they're simpler to make, so you can get on with eating it quicker and 2) you can easily have a slice or three with your cuppa and it all stays neat and tidy.

One of my favourite baking cookbooks is, of course, the timeless 'How To Be A Domestic Goddess' by Nigella Lawson - I'm hoping that if I continue to use this throughout my gap year I could end up a domestic goddess, in an ideal world looking like Candice Swanepoel too, despite the tonnes of cake I'm going to make and subsequently gorge on. To make the cake I adapted one of Nigella's recipe's for lemon cake and to my surprise it turned out really well - so I thought I'd share the recipe. Don't be scared, as I was, by the orange and lime - it merely cancels out the over-sweetness one might anticipate the cake to have, whilst making the cake lovely and moist (I hate that word).

Orange and Lime cake

Ingredients
125g unsalted butter
155g caster sugar
2 medium size eggs
175g self-raising flour
4 tbsp milk
pinch of salt
zest of 1.5 limes
zest of 1.5 oranges
for the syrup
juice of 1 orange & 1 lime
100g icing sugar

You will need to have preheated your oven to 180c (gas mark 4).

Method:
1. Cream together the butter and sugar, then add & beat in the eggs and zest.
2. Fold in the flour and salt, then add the milk. Spoon the mixture into a lined loaf tin and put in the oven for 45 minutes, or until risen, golden brown and your cake tester comes out clean.
3. To make the syrup, gently heat the juices and icing sugar until the sugar is dissolved.
4. As soon as the cake is out the oven, puncture the cake all over (seriously, take any anger you have out on it) and then pour your syrup over the cake. Leave to cool and then cut and ENJOY!

Liv x

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