Banana Nut Cake

Add chocolate chips or make these into muffins. mmmm!
2 1/3 cup flour
1 2/3 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups mashed bananas
2/3 cups chopped nuts
2/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup buttermilk
3 eggs
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/.4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt


Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour 13x9x2 inch pan.

Beat all ingredients on low speed, scraping sides of bowl constantly, 30 secs.
Beat on high for 3 min. Pour into pan

Bake for 45 to 50 min. Frost with Creamy vanilla frosting or just sprinkle with icing sugar.

Maple Oat Cookies

These are a healthy, nutty, crunchy delight! My friend found this recipe on a korean website and we baked them together. Its really versatile - add any sort of nut, seed, coconut etc - whatever tickles your fancy!

Makes 20-24 cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/4 C wholewheat flour
1- 1.5 C plain oats
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2tsp salt
100g butter
2/3 C brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup nuts (or seeds etc)

Mix together butter and brown sugar. Beat the egg in a seperate bowl and add to the sugar mixture. Mix flour, sugar, baking soda and salt, then add to the sugar mixture. Add oatmeal and nuts.
Shape into balls and place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake on 360 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

Chocolate Squash Cake

This is a delicious, chocolatey cake and you can use zucchini or yellow squash. Once the cake is cooked you don't even notice it!

Heat Oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13" pan.

Cream together:

1/2C butter
1/2C oil (or applesauce)
1 C sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Beat in 2 eggs. Then stir in 1/2 C yogurt or sourcream alternately with 2 1/2C flour.
Add 3/4 C cocoa powder and 2 tsp expresso (optional). Fold in 2 C shredded zucchini and 1/2 C chocolate chips.

Bake for 35-40 minutes and frost with chocolate icing if desired!

Carrot Cake - Joy of Cooking

This is a lovely, flavour-filled cake from the recipe book "Joy of Cooking". Use apple-sauce instead of the oil and it makes the cake really moist.

Grease and flour two 9x2" round pans, two 8" square pan, or one 13x9" rectangle pan.

Whisk together:

1 1/3 C flour
I C sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp salt

Whisk together and then combine with the flour mixture: 2/3 C vegetable oil (or applesauce) and 3 eggs

Stir in: 1 1/2C shredded carrots, 1C chopped walnuts (or cashews), 1C raisins, 1/2 C crushed pineapple, drained lightly (optional)

Bake 25-30 minutes for rounds/square pans or 30-35 minutes rectangle pan.
Allow to cool and then frost with cream-cheese icing, or brown butter frosting.

Quick Brown Butter Icing
Heat 6 T butter in a sauce pan on medium heat and stir constantly. Gradually whisk in 1 1/4 Cups Icing/powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. Scrape into bowl and beat til smooth. Use immediately.

Custard Powder Biscuits

These are a childhood favoutite of mine - I love their buttery flavour and the way they crumble in your mouth as you bite into them!

Since custard powder is not readily available in the States, and I was desperate to make these, I decided to try a substitute. I used cornstarch (cornflour) in place of the custard powder and added an extra 1/2 tsp of vanilla. It worked wonderfully!
I've heard you can find custard powder in some Asian food stores but haven't looked myself...

7 oz butter

1/3 cup icing/confectioners sugar

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour

1/2 cup custard powder (or cornstarch + 1/2 tsp vanilla)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

3 Tbsp milk

Cream together the butter and the icing sugar. Add the flour, cornstarch and vanilla and beat well.

Add the milk and mix firmly until dough forms a large ball.

Roll into small balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Press each one down with a fork and bake on 300 for 15 minutes or until lightly browned (Be Careful! It is very easy to burn the bottoms of these - be sure to check them continually) Remove from cookie sheets and allow to cool on wire racks.

Makes 35-40 cookies.

Tomato-Mango Chutney

So this is my first try at my mom's old recipe - she makes it at home all the time. I have memories of it bubbling away on the stove, the whole house filled with deep, rich smell of spices! We always have several jars stashed away in the pantry.
The chutney goes with anything - on sandwiches/rolls with cheese, in fried rice or with pasta, in stir-fries, as a dipping sauce for sausages or chips...anything!

There are several changes from the original recipe; I've added a few things and left some out. It has a bit of a bite which I love! And the aroma as it bubbled away on the stove reminds me of home...

(Makes 1 med. sized bottle of chutney)

2 Cups (heaped) tomatoes, chopped
1 small mango/apple chopped (approx. 3/4 Cup) This is optional, you could just add more tomato
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed or chopped small
1/3 Cup white vinegar

Place all the above ingredients in a medium sized pot and simmer on med-high until soft. Slowly add 1/4 cup more vinegar. Allow to simmer for another 10 minutes or so.

Add and stir in 1/4 Cup white sugar and 2 Tbsp brown sugar.

Add 1/4 tsp of each the following spices:
                    salt
                    curry powder
                    paprika
                    turmeric
                    cayenne pepper
                    dry mustard
                    ground cloves
                    ground ginger
Add 1 bay leaf, & 3-5 peppercorns

Turn down to Low, cover and leave to simmer for about 1 hour. Add 1-2 Cups water (depending on how vinegary you want it to be...). Cover and keep simmering for another 1/2 hour. Then uncover and let simmer for a final 1/2 hour.

When done remove the bay leaf and peppercorns. Leave chutney to cool. In the meantime warm the jars/bottles in hot water. Pour chutney into bottle(s) - there should be a layer of liquid sitting on top - and seal with melted wax.

Or pour into containers and refrigerate/serve immediately. My dad says the chutney is best if you leave it to age a little... :)

Fridgecake - Search for the BEST recipe!

Having at last moved into a new apartment and unpacked most of my kitchen things, I decided to try a new fridgecake recipe. I have been searching for the best recipe/combination of ingredients and the one below is my latest experiment/attempt - if anyone knows of a top notch recipe please let me know!

Fridgecake is a chocolatey treat that I loved when I was a child, though my mother herself did not make it very often - I mainly had it at the houses of friends. I recently discovered that it has Scottish origins/connections and is called Tiffin. It is a fairly versatile recipe; you can play around with the ingredients you wish to include, so long as you keep the basic quantities the same. The recipe below is for a fridgecake that I made last night.

1 C (2 sticks) butter/margarine
2 T honey (golden/corn syrup works too)
2 T cocoa powder (or several slabs melted chocolate)
1 package (200g) *Marie biscuits/cookies (several options for this - see below!)
1/2 C powdered sugar
1/2 C coconut flakes
1/2 C raisins
1/4 C nuts

Melt the butter and honey together. Add the cocoa powder and mix well.
Place the Marie Biscuits in a plastic bag and beat/crush until it is a mixture of crumbs and chunks. Add this to the butter mixture and combine. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.
Press firmly into a 7x11" brownie pan (or any dish of a similar size) and refrigerate overnight.
Cut into squares and enjoy! It is best to keep them stored in the fridge...unless of course you finish them all at once ;)

*There are several different options for the crushed cookie/biscuit ingredient. I have only ever used Marie Biscuits, which can be found in Zimbabwe. I was delighted to find them in American grocery stores too! - they are usually in the International or Spanish Foods section with the GOYA products. Other possibilities vary depending on where you live:

UK - Digestives
South Africa - Tennis Biscuits
USA - Graham Crackers