Banana and salted caramel cake

Yes banana is healthy, but when combined with copious amounts of butter, sugar and cream, the benefits are most probably cancelled out...

100g soft brown sugar
50g soft brown sugar
150g unsalted butter
250g plain flour
one teaspoon of cinnamon
half a teaspoon of ground ginger (optional)
half a teaspoon of nutmeg (optional)
one and a half teaspoons of baking powder
two eggs, beaten
one vanilla pod
three bananas, mashed
50 ml milk
a dash of orange juice

equal weights of butter and soft brown sugar (I used 100g of each and still had enough to fill a jar size 190g)
coarse sea salt - to taste
double cream

Preheat the oven to 200C and line two 18-20cm cake tins.

Lined tins.

Cream together the butter and sugar.
Deseed the vanilla pod, and add to the butter and sugar.
Gradually beat in the eggs to the butter and sugar - if you do it too quickly, the mixture will curdle and separate.
Add half of the dry ingredients to the mixture and whisk.
Then add all of the milk and orange juice, and whisk.
Once thoroughly combined, add the rest of the dry ingredients.
Add the mashed bananas to the mix and stir together.
Pour into the tins and cook for 30 - 40 minutes.

Cake.



 

Salted caramel sauce.
 



Melt the sugar and butter in a sauce pan over a medium heat.
As soon as they have both fully melted, take off the heat.
Then add the salt and cream, and stir.
Leave aside to cool and thicken.
When lukewarm, drizzle onto the cake.

I topped the cake with extra pieces of cake.

For texture, you could add toasted walnuts to the mixture.

 

Guacamole

Well my one at least.

I find avocado to be very spreadable when puréed, so its a healthy yet tasty alternative for butter. Often used in Mexican culture, guacamole is traditionally made by mashing avocado and mixing it with: pepper, salt, citrus juice, chopped tomato, sliced chilli and diced onion.

However my recipe is a little different, perhaps a slightly anglicised(?) one?

1 avocado
freshly cracked pepper
drizzle of olive oil
2 teaspoons of worcestershire sauce
handful of cherry tomatoes, halved

Mash the avocado into a smooth consistency with a few lumps.
Mix in the olive oil, and pepper.
Then mix in the worcestershire sauce.
Add the tomatoes, stir in, and voila!

Serve with crisped prosciutto or baked salmon.

 

Alternatively, you could,
replace the worcestershire sauce with some tequila
add lime juice
add chilli

Chestnut glazed mousse

Chestnut glazed mousse

Chestnut glazed mousse

Ingredients:
350ml crème fraîche
400ml fromage frais
2 tbsp caster sugar (use icing sugar if you prefer a finer mixture)
a vanilla pod


half a jar of homemade chestnut jam

Method:
Whisk together the crème fraîche, fromage frais, caster sugar, and the seeds from the vanilla pod until you have a smooth mixture.
Generously decant into several pots- small jam jars would look nice.

In a small saucepan, heat the jam over a medium heat. When it has melted, pour it over the creamy mixture. However if your chestnut jam is more of a purée, immediately pour over the creamy mixture.

Variations:
For extra lightness, whisk egg whites and add to the mix.
For a richer mixture, replace some of the crème fraîche and fromage frais for double cream.