And so we have ourselves another long weekend! It really does feel as though we’ve had quite the run of them lately.
Unfortunately the weather has been a little drab, meaning outdoor adventures are not all that appealing. Instead, we’ve been making the most of having quiet time at home. Movies have been watched, artwork has been created, and games have been played. I even managed to finish another book (!) and gratefully ticked off some little admin tasks I’ve had on my ‘to do’ list for a while.
There has also been time spent in the kitchen. I cooked up a chicken tikka masala last night, and I’ve got some homemade vegetable stock currently bubbling away on the stove. And this morning, when I realised a couple of bananas had seemingly turned brown overnight, a batch of banana muffins was the solution!
I decided to add a chocolate spin to my regular recipe – for with the fog lingering outside – chocolate would surely add some cheer. Some were topped with walnuts, some without (school friendly). We enjoyed some of the muffins warm straight out of the oven for morning tea, with the rest being packaged away to be added to the lunchboxes during the week.
Not a bad way to spend a long weekend indeed!
| Servings |
muffins
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- 125 g butter softened
- 1/2 cup caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 ripe bananas mashed
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbs cocoa powder
- 1.5 cups self raising flour
- 1/4 cup Milk
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts optional
Ingredients
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- Preheat oven to 160C (fan forced). Line a 12-cup muffin tin with muffin cases.
- Cream butter and sugar in a mixer until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Add the banana and vanilla, and beat until combined.
- Sift in cocoa powder and flour, and add milk. Stir until just combined.
- Spoon into prepared cases, and top with walnuts (optional). Bake for 30 minutes (or until cooked through).
I mentioned 
I wanted to try a new slice creation when asked to ‘bring a plate’ to a friend’s BBQ the other week. Normally I take my 
Combined, pressed into a pan, then topped with white chocolate and more biscuit pieces. Then it was into the fridge to set – no baking required.
Then, after a few hours, the slice was ready to slice and serve.
I’m pleased to report that the slice had all the hallmarks of their biscuit inspiration. Full of chocolate and crunch.
A word of warning though….you may find it difficult to stop at just once piece…
My two eldest girls can be quite challenging when it comes to food. Miss C will happily eat avocado, mangoes and prawn dumplings by the bucket load, but is generally not all that food focused at meal times (preferring instead to snack and graze throughout the day). Little J would happily have yoghurt for breakfast lunch and dinner, and has no interest in more ‘traditional’ meals such as sandwiches.
The texture of this slice is almost fudge-like, and we all loved the little pops of crunchiness throughout. Covering the slice in dark chocolate took the whole slice to the next level too – and worked perfectly to fool my suspicious eaters!
Growing up, our family had a regular Sunday night ritual. After dinner, Dad would present four chocolates of different varieties to the family, with instructions that we could each choose one. We’d then sit down to some TV time as a family, and noting the era, we probably watched an episode of The Wonder Years, Xena Warrior Princess or, perhaps, Home Improvement.
I’m all for a little indulgence, albeit in moderation. And what could be more indulgent that a chocolate / nut / berry combination – in the form of a homemade brownie. Inspired by a recipe I came across in 
Filled to the absolute brim with dark chocolate, pistachios and raspberries, they were far from “healthy”, but ticked all the boxes when it came to satisfying my sweet tooth. The raspberries added a nice touch of tartness too, meaning the end result was not sickly sweet, while the pistachios gave the slices a little texture.
So, if you are looking to satisfy a craving for sweets, may I suggest you make a batch of these! Be warned, though, they were hard to stop at just one piece…
This week’s healthy lunchbox treat was named by Miss C. For she is a big fan of lamingtons, and declared these little balls to be rather similar to lamingtons when I packed some in her lunchbox.
But, unlike their cake counterparts, these little balls have no butter, sugar or flour. Rather, they are sweetened with medjool dates, and given their chocolate flavour with some cacao powder.
Others I kept ‘plain’…
Kid approved!
I’m interrupting my ‘healthy snack’ series this week, to bring you an extra special treat. I say “interrupting”, as this treat far from healthy, and its nut and sugar content would probably entice a sternly worded letter from your child’s teacher if you sent a piece along in their lunchbox.
After the success of 
They slice nicely too, making them perfect to pack into little lunchboxes, and could easily be jazzed up with the addition of walnuts or the like (if you don’t have any school nut-bans to be mindful of, that is). 
It’s been a while since I put my ‘cake creation cap’ on. But when I was tasked with supplying dessert at a recent family dinner, well I figured it was well and truly time to dust off the ol’ cap and get to work. Particularly when it was to be a birthday and “bon voyage” cake all in one.
I’ve seen lots of layer “drip” cakes doing the rounds, and decided to give one a try. I think my ganache was a little runny (resulting in rather drippy drips that were far from their picturesque pinterest cousins), but the flavour was still there. And I even went so far as to try my hand at Italian meringue buttercream in place of the usually sickly sweet American buttercream – and boy I’m glad that I did. For it worked just beautifully at mellowing out the otherwise rich caramel mudcake hidden inside – and meant that we reserved our sugar overload for the other goodies piled high on the cake – twix bars, jersey caramels, chocolate stars, malteasers and butterscotch popcorn.
Caramel chocolate celebration cake