Wednesday 8 May 2013

Sunshine and Bananas

My favourite month of the year has well and truly arrived and in spectacular fashion too. May is a very special month for me, as it is the month in which we celebrate the birth of Little T, but also because it signals the start of Summer and long sunny days.

To kick off the month of May, we were blessed with a few gloriously hot, blue-skyed days, perfect for jumping into the car bright and early and heading down some green lanes to discover more of this glorious countryside around us.


To stop in pretty little villages along the way for a relaxing walk through streets lined with quirky shops and crossing antique bridges to find that perfect picnic spot.


To come across some rather wonderfully arty installations with a backdrop of a forest coming to life again after the long Winter.


To simply marvel at the beauty that is nature.


Naturally once we got home, feeling marvellously relaxed and sun drenched, I headed straight to the kitchen to potter about for a while and bake something sweet and homely for our afternoon treat. Bright yellow bananas were sitting in my fruit bowl, ripe and ready for making banana bread.


This soft and delicately sweet  "cakey" bread has been a favourite of mine for as long as I can remember. The smell of it transports me right back to my mum's kitchen, eagerly waiting for that first slice to come my way. This really is a sunny day baked in a tin.


Banana Bread

90g Unsalted Butter (softened and cubed)
115g Caster sugar
2 Large eggs
1 tsp Vanilla extract
250g Plain flour
2 tsp Baking powder
2 Large, very ripe bananas (cut into chunks)

Preheat the oven to 180 deg C and grease a 8 x 16 cm loaf tin.
Put all of the ingredients into a food processor and process until you have a smooth batter.
Spoon into your prepared tin and place in the centre of your oven to bake for 50 - 60 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

I love to eat this sliced thickly, still slightly warm and spread generously with butter. Of course it still tastes great the next morning, covered in Nutella too :)