Espresso, Cocoa Nib Banana Bread

Baking, for me, has always been therapeutic, it was probably the main reason I started to take it seriously in the first place. In a story I have recounted more times than I can count, baking became an escape from a job I thoroughly disliked (suing people for a living definitely didn't make me happy) and baking was my reaction, it was what I thought about as I was sending out summons, whilst I was being sworn at over the phone, it was what made me happy. After The Great British Bake Off, the story of which im sure you dont want to hear again, I decided that I would try and make baking my living: and remember this was after the first series, it wasn't clear to me if being on the show would be a kickstart to any form of career, it definitely felt like moving to London and quitting my job was a big risk. 

Many of my friends who worked in the food industry and baking in particular told me that baking for a hobby and a career were two very different things and I have definitely come to learn that. Baking isn't my escape anymore, it's my constant and I am forever grateful that is the case, but I so very rarely bake for just myself anymore, because the mood strikes. Baking is now my job, when the oven is on the cake or cookies that come out of it are for a magazine article or a book or maybe even a TV show, so when I get a rare opportunity to slow down and bake for pure pleasure, I relish in it. 

I have recently moved into a new flat and after the slightly stressful (read scarily expensive, London rents are so ridiculous) move, things are slowly finding their new homes and I am falling back into my work rhythm. After finishing a project a day earlier than expected I decided the new flat needed christening with something delicious, work baking doesn't count, and I wanted something easy but comforting and not much else can fit the bill so well as banana bread, okay maybe apart from a warm chocolate chip cookie, which I think is the answer to most problems. Instead of the classic banana bread that I make regularly, I ended up making a loaf spiked with coffee and cocoa nibs and it's definitely worth a try, whilst it might not seem the most obvious combination it works so well. This is the sort of cake that I want toasted, spread with a little salted butter and served with my morning coffee, it is sweet but not cloying, and the coffee and the cocoa nibs just work so well together!

Sometimes an idea pops into my head and it sits there for a few days, scratching away, begging to be tried, and this recipe started out exactly like that. I had finished a week of testing fruit recipes for a project and was left with a bunch of bananas slowly starting to head towards banana bread territory and, after unpacking another box from my move, I found my tonka beans and cocoa nibs, the idea of adding these to my recipe popped into my head and wouldn't go away.  

I, of course, tweeted about the idea because, have we met, I have a slight social media addiction! My friend Chloe suggested that I should try the bread with coffee instead and that initial idea was, very temporarily, shelved and I settled on trying an espresso and cocoa nib banana bread and I'm rather pleased with it, the coffee isnt super strong and the mix of the nibs, coffee and banana is delicious!

Espresso and Cocoa Nib Banana Bread

225g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp ground coffee
25g cocoa nibs
250g ripe bananas (weighed without skins)
100ml sour cream
185g light brown muscavado sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
150g unsalted butter, melted

1. To make the banana bread, grease a loaf tin with a little butter and line with a strip of parchment paper, so that the ends hang over the long sides of the pan (this makes removal of the cake a lot easier) and preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan) 350F.

2. Place the flour, baking powder, salt, coffee and about 2/3 of the cocoa nibs into a bowl and whisk together to combine. (see tips for adjusting strength of the coffee in the cake)

3. Place the banana into a large bowl and use a fork to mash, until just a few small lumps remain. Add the remaining ingredients and mix together until smooth and uniformly combined. 

4. Pour the flour mixture over the banana mixture and gently fold together, mixing until the flour is just combined, but being very careful not to over mix, as this will make the bread chewy and tough. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and top with the remaining banana, simply sliced through the middle and placed on top, cut side showing. Sprinkle the remaining cocoa nibs on top of the cake, avoiding the banana.  

5. Bake in the preheated oven for about 50-55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out just about clean. 

6. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before carefully inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely. Kept wrapped in clingfilm in a sealed container this cake will keep for up to three days but can also be frozen for up to a month (I like to freeze it in individual slices and then I can have a piece whenever I fancy).  

Tips: If you want the coffee flavour to really punch you in the face then I would suggest adding two tablespoons of hot water to the coffee and stirring together before adding to the wet ingredients, this way the flavour will soak into the bread a lot more.

If you want to try this recipe and cant find cocoa nibs I get mine from Sous Chef

Banana Cream Pie with Passion Fruit and Coconut

I love American baking, two of my three cookbooks are littered with US inspired recipes and it's a style I return to time and again. With a pie shell made, I asked on Instagram what I should fill it with. The answers were varied but I went with those that asked for Coconut Cream and Banana Cream Pie, actually I decided to combine the two and, with the addition of passion fruit, give these classic southern recipes a slightly tropical feel. Instead of using a vanilla custard with sliced banana I decided to flavour the custard using coconut milk, roasted banana and passion fruit puree, which makes for one rather special pie, if I do say so myself!

Banana Cream Pie with Coconut and Passion Fruit
Serves 8-10

Shortcrust Pastry/Pie Dough
225g plain flour
pinch of salt
1 tbsp caster sugar
120g unsalted butter, diced and chilled
2-4 tbsp ice-cold water

Banana, Coconut and Passion Fruit Custard
2 medium ripe bananas 
400ml coconut milk
2 large eggs
4 large egg yolks
200g caster sugar
50g cornflour
Juice from 3 passion fruits

Topping
450ml double cream, lightly whipped to soft peaks
1 passion fruit
40g toasted desiccated coconut

Preheat the oven to 180C(160C fan) and line a baking tray with parchment paper. 

To make the pastry place the flour, salt and sugar into the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse very briefly, just once or twice. Drizzle in half of the water and pulse until the dough starts to form clumps. If the dough is still dry add the remaining water. Once the dough is just starting to come together tip out onto the worksurface and use your hands to bring together into a ball. Press into a disc and wrap in clingfilm and refrigerating at least an hour before using.

To make the custard place the bananas onto the prepared baking tray and roast until blackened, about 20-30 minutes. Whilst the bananas are cooking place the coconut milk into a medium sized saucepan and over medium/high heat bring to the boil. Meanwhile place the eggs, yolk, sugar and cornflour into bowl and whisk together until smooth and combined. Once the milk is at temperature pour over the egg mixture whisking constantly to avoid cooking the eggs. Pour this custard back into the pan and cook, whilst whisking constantly, until thick. Scrape the custard into the bowl of a food processor and add the roasted bananas. Process the custard until smooth and lump free. Scrape the custard into a clean bowl and add the passion fruit juice, stirring to combine. Press a sheet of clingfilm onto the surface of the custard and chill thoroughly at least three hours. 

Once the pastry is chilled roll out on a lightly floured worksurface until about 10-11 inches then carefully drape into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim the overhang to about 1inch and roll under itself to form the edge (this cylinder of dough should sit on the edge of the pie plate). Crimp the dough and then refrigerate for an hour until firm. At this point the pie shell can also be frozen for up to a month. To bake line the pie shell with a piece of parchment paper and fill with baking beans or rice. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes before removing the parchment and beans and baking for a further 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Allow to cool fully before filling.

To assemble the pie pour in the custard and top with the whipped cream, finishing by decorating with the remaining passion fruit and sprinkling over the coconut. 

Semlor - Swedish Cardamon Buns

For a long time I’ve had a fascination with foreign baking traditions, the recipes that centre on religious or national holidays. Every country has their own and whilst there can be similarities across countries more often than not there is something new to discover. The fascination led me to write my last book Patisserie Made Simple but more than that it appears in all my work, I love the stories, the emotion behind them and the character it gives to the country they're from and I happily latch on these recipes and make the traditions my own. 

Tuesday is Shrove Tuesday, otherwise known as Pancake Day, a Christian holiday to mark the start of lent. Around the world Tuesday is also known by different names: in Spanish and Italian speaking countries it is called Carnival, in Iceland it is known as Bursting Day but my absolute favourite is the Swedish name of Fat Tuesday. The best bit about Fat Tuesday, other than the name obviously, is the recipe that goes along with it, Semlor, a cardamon flavoured bun filled with almond paste and whipped cream. It sounds incredibly simple but the sum is so much more than its parts, I have a big soft spot for this recipe. 

One of the reasons that I look forward to them every year is that they are a rare seasonal bake, there is absolutely no reason you cant bake them year round but despite that they only appear in bakeries for a few weeks or months around the holiday and as the saying goes, distance makes the heart grow fonder. Living in London we are lucky to have a few Swedish bakeries that sell them but generally I make them myself and they are no more difficult than making a simple bread recipe.

Semlor

250g plain flour
250g strong white bread flour
1 tsp ground cardamon
50g caster sugar
1 tsp salt
50g unsalted butter, room temperature
300ml milk, lukewarm
7g dried yeast
1 large egg (plus 1 extra  for glazing)

Filling
200g marzipan
175ml milk
600ml double cream

To make the semlor preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan) and line two baking trays with parchment paper.

To make the dough place the flours, cardamon, sugar and salt into a large bowl and mix together to combine. Add the butter and rub into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the milk and the yeast to a jug and stir to combine. Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the milk and egg, mix to form a shaggy dough then remove from the bowl and knead for about 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Form the dough into a round, place into a bowl and cover with clingfilm. Set aside at room temperature for about an hour or until doubled in size. Remove the dough from the bowl and gently knock out the air. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and form into rounds. Place the rounds of dough onto the prepared baking trays and cover lightly with clingfilm. Set aside for about 45-60 minutes or until the buns have almost doubled in size. 

When ready to bake brush each bun with the remaining egg and bake in the preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool fully before filling. 

To make the filling slice the tops from the buns and scoop out the filling. Rip the bread into breadcrumbs and place into a bowl. Grate the marzipan into the bowl and add the milk, mixing together to form a paste. Divide the filling between the buns and set aside. 

Place the cream into a large bowl and whisk until the cream holds soft peaks. Add the cream to a large piping bag fitted with a large star piping tip and pipe on top of each bun, finishing by placing the lids of the buns on top of the cream, dusting with a little icing sugar. 

(ps. Semla - Singular, Semlor - Plural)

Pistachio and Pomegranate Cake

This time last year I remember writing a post about Valentines day and how I was single and bitter, slightly tongue in cheek but definitely with a dash of truth (I was recently single to be fair). A year on and well, not much has changed! Okay so thats not exactly true, I’m still single but I’m far from bitter and this cynic is taking a more open approach to Valentines Day. It is far from my favourite holiday but who am I to stop people celebrating there relationships (sounds like the bitter/sarcastic me is slipping back a bit!). The one thing I don't like is cookie cutter solutions, a card and flowers bought lazily from the corner shop is not up my street, effort and originality on the other hand, well that will always gain you points with me. What better way to show someone you love them than with something homemade. With a cake this pretty and colourful it would make the perfect thing to spoil your loved one with and even better it isn't too sweet or heavy, always a no-no for dates.

Pistachio and Pomegranate Cake

225g unsalted butter, room temperature 
200g caster sugar
Zest of 2 large oranges
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
70g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
200g green pistachios, plus extra for decoration
Seeds from 1 pomegranate

Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan) and grease a deep 20cm round cake tin with a little butter and line the base with parchment paper. 

To make the cake place the pistachios into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely ground (to prevent the nuts forming a paste you can add a tbsp of the flour to the processor).

Place the butter into a large bowl and, using an electric mixer, beat until light and creamy about 3 minutes. Add the sugar and the orange zest and beat together until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Add the eggs a little at a time, beating until fully combined. Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt together, add the pistachios and mix together. Add the dry goods to the butter mixture and gently fold together until combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared tin and gently level out. 

Bake the cake in the preheated oven for 50-55 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and when a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, if the cake is browning too quickly lightly cover with a piece of foil. 

Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. To finish the cake sprinkle with extra chopped pistachios and the seeds from a pomegranate. 

Because this cake is made with ground nuts it keeps brilliantly, at least 4 days if kept in a sealed container. 

Notes: You can use pistachios from supermarkets but the colour won't be as vibrant and as they are roasted the cake won't be quite as moist - green pistachios available here)