Which is why I was surprised that my answer to Capper's question of "What's your 3 favourite things to do besides play with me?" was "writing and gardening... and baking". Baking, really? Well... yes! I've been a happy little baker for well over a year now. There's this thing called a recipe, you see. And if you follow it religiously (and then get to know the particular foibles of your oven...), out come the baked goods, yum, yum, yum. I love trying out different recipes for classics, finding my very favourite and sticking with it (hence my previous postings for the ultimate apple teacake, ultimate scones and ultimate muesli bars...)
Try this one from delicious. magazine on for size...
Beyond Beautiful Banana Bread
1 1/2 cups (225g) plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (110g) caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/3 cup (80ml) sunflower oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 ripe bananas, mashed (if your children are anything like the Tsunamis and detest 'bits' you'll want to spend a fair bit of time going over the banana with a fork...)
65g pecans or walnuts, roughly chopped
• Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line the base of a 900ml loaf pan (test the size by filling the pan with water and then pouring it into a measuring jug.)
• Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, sugar and salt into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the egg, oil and vanilla.
• Add to the dry ingredients with banana and pecan and fold until just combined - do not overmix.
• Place into the loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then remove, and slice thickly. Serve spread with butter and drizzled with honey.
[Image by Mark Roper]