Banana and Pecan cake

I haven't made a cake for a while so i'm going to revisit one of my favourites, Banana bread. This time i've used pecans and sour cherries to make a rum infused topping.

Ingredients

4 Ripe Bananas

3 Beaten eggs

Agrave Nectar 4 tbsp (or to taste)

120 ml Sunflower oil

50 g Spelt Flour

70 g Plain Flour

1.5 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp ground cardamom 

1 tsp Ground Cinnamon 

1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg

Topping

1/4 cup dark rum

1 tbsp Maple syrup

1/2 tsp pomegranate molasses

1/4 tsp Vanilla Essence

100g Pecan Nuts

50g Dried Sour Cherries

Directions

*1*

Put the rum, syrups and spices into a pan and heat gently until reduced to a syrup consistency. Stir in the pecans and cherries.

*2*

Mash the bananas roughly with a fork. Add the spices and Agrave nectar (if the bananas are very ripe you may not need much). Beat in the oil until smooth and then stir in the beaten eggs.

*3*

Sift in the flours and baking powder and mix gently with a spatula. Pour into a loaf tin lined with baking parchment and top with the pecans and cherries. Bake for 35 minutes at 175 degrees centigrade.

Cinnamon roasted plantain

Plantain

I love plantain. As a child one of my favorite stories was ‘Anansi and the plantain’. To cut it short Anansi (the spiderman trickster) had no money and no food to bring back for his family. Just as he was about to set off home empty handed Bredda rat trots past with a giant sack of plantain. Anansi helps Bredda rat carry the plantain to market and gets to keep four small plantains. ‘I’m not hungry’ Anansi says with his stomach rumbling (reverse psychology) since there are only enough plantain for his wife and two children. His children are about to tuck in when they all decide to cut their plantain in half and give Anansi half, so he gets the most!!

Ingredients

1 plantain (not too ripe/ black)

1 tbsp sunflower oil

¼ tsp ground mild chilli

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp molasses sugar

¼ tsp pomegranate molasses

Directions

**1**

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade. Cut the plantain in half and remove the tough outer skin. Next slice the plantain into strips using a mandolin or into 1 cm thick coins.

**2**

Put the plantain into a bowl and coat with the sugar, pomegranate molasses, cinnamon and chili powder. Add the oil and coat well before placing the strips onto greaseproof paper. Bake for around ten minutes until slightly crisp and golden.

Belated Cola Pics

Heres some pics from the Ridley road bar cola launch, tasty stuff.