Banana, mango, white chocolate and nutty spelt bread (sugar free)

It's no big secret that I love baking banana bread. I'm always looking for new recipe ideas and often create my own recipe based on ingredients that I'd like to use.  This month's We Should Cocoa challenge which was created by Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog and Chele from Chocolate Teapot challenges us to create something with chocolate and mango. We have Shaheen from Allotment to Kitchen to thank for the special ingredient (mango) as she is our lovely guest host this month.  As I had a lot of brown bananas to use up, I decided to create a recipe that incorporated bananas, mango & white chocolate.  I also made it sugar free by using honey and used spelt flour instead of plain flour. The result was a moist and flavourful bread. My mango was quite raw so it stayed intact during baking and was still visible in the bread. The white chocolate added a nice sweetness to the bread and the nuts added extra crunch and texture. Everyone seemed to enjoy the bread and there wasn't a crumb left by the end of the day. 

This recipe also gave me the opportunity to review an all purpose measuring jug with digital scale by find me a gift. It has a sturdy design and a slip-free base. The scale worked beautifully and was particularly handy for a recipe like this where I had to measure out different liquid and solid ingredients. It has measurements in different units and has a re-set function so you can set it back to zero after each ingredient. It does warn you not to submerge the base and handle in water as this may damage the digital scale function. I had no trouble washing and drying the jug and the digital scale is still fully functional. 

 total volume is 1L or 4 cups which is a decent size. The cup measures are divided into thirds (1/3) and quarters (1/4) and the liquid measures are divided into mls (50ml per marker) and ounces (2 oz per marker)

 It has a very handy preset weight measurements for sugar, flour, milk, water and oil (based on their density). The units can be switched from grams, mls, cups, ounces.

My verdict - a very useful and handy kitchen gadget which does what it says on the box. I think it would make a great gift for a baker/gadget lover and is ideal if you have a tiny kitchen and want to save space as this will easily double up as a measuring scale. It's also great when you're baking from an American recipe with measurements in cups - no conversion scales required! It's easy to wash although you have to be careful not to submerge the base and handles in water. I got a bit of water into the base whilst rinsing but dried it immediately and the scales were not affected. You have to use it on a flat surface otherwise the scale will read 'unst' (unstable) but that's the same with a normal measuring scale.

 spelt flour, walnuts, pecan nuts, honey, mango & passion fruit yoghurt, fresh mango, white chocolate chips, very brown bananas 

 adding the mango and white chocolate chips

 stir in the nuts 

 I got my banana bread pan out of the cupboard for this 

 ready to go in the oven 

 I love that you can see whole mango pieces in the bread!

An original recipe by bakingaddict

Makes 2 large loaves as shown - if you prefer a sweeter bake, add 50 - 75g brown sugar

 5 brown bananas, mashed

125ml vegetable oil

100g honey

450g yoghurt (I used mango & passion fruit but you can also use plain yoghurt)

1 medium sized mango - peeled and chopped

100g white chocolate chips

100g nuts (I used a mixture of pecans and walnuts as I had a bit of each left in the cupboard)

450g spelt flour

4 eggs

1.5 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• Measure out the oil, honey and yoghurt and mix well.
• Add in the eggs.
• Pour into a large bowl and add in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
• Stir in the mango and white chocolate chips.
• Finally stir in the nuts.
• Divide into 2 loaf tins and bake for approximately 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. If the loaf is browning quickly, remove from the oven and cover with foil to prevent the top burning. 

Disclaimer: I was sent the measuring jug to review free of charge. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own. 

Cinnamon and Caramel Cookies

It's been months since I last participated in the Improv Cooking Challenge hosted by Kristen from Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker. It's a monthly party where everyone is assigned the same 2 ingredients and creates something with it whether it's sweet or savoury. This month the 2 ingredients are cinnamon and sugar which immediately made me think of cookies! I found this delightful recipe which uses soft caramel in the cookies but as I didn't have any to hand, I used caramel buttons. The cookies were fragrant and smelt amazing whilst baking. I would not have combined cinnamon and caramel previously but they do go well together. 

I'm also sending this to Tea Time Treats hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage and co-hosted by Kate from What Kate Baked. The theme this month is The Biscuit Tin and Cookie Jar so I think these would fit perfectly. 

 ground cinnamon, mixed spice and caramel drops 

 ready to go in the oven

 place a caramel drop in the centre when it's almost done and bake for a further 6-7 minutes 

Makes 40 cookies
225g butter
140g caster sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
280g plain flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground mixed spice
pinch of salt
40 caramel drops or caramel sweets

• Preheat the oven to 190C.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 
• Add in egg and vanilla extract.
• Sift flour, cinnamon and mixed spice and add to the mixture. 
• Scoop small balls of dough on to the baking tray spaced apart.
• Bake for 8 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and place a caramel on top of each cookie and bake for a further 6-7 minutes. 
• Allow to cool on the baking sheets for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Kinder Bueno Cupcakes

When my co-host for AlphaBakes Caroline announced that this month's letter is 'K', the first thing I thought about was kiwis hence my kiwi and strawberry muffins.  However, the more I thought about it, the more I realised that K was not that difficult as quite a few things start with and/or contains the letter K. One of these is Kinder Bueno which is a milk chocolate covered wafer with a milky and hazelnut filling. I decided to re-create this chocolate bar in a cupcake form and came up with these! A white chocolate and ground hazelnut cake filled with nutella and finished with a generous swirl of milk chocolate frosting and a square of kinder bueno. 

It's always nerve wrecking creating a new recipe as you're never sure if it will work or not so I was pleased that these cupcakes turned out beautifully.  I hope I'm not the only one who finds melting white chocolate a pain. It's much easier working with dark chocolate so I used a white chocolate mix which I found successful when making my maltesers cupcakes previously.  If you prefer a stronger white chocolate taste, I'd recommend melting white chocolate or using white chocolate chips. The cake itself was light and nutty. The cake really tasted like Kinder Bueno in cake form! 

I'm sending this to AlphaBakes hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes this month and by myself on alternate months. The letter as mentioned is K. 

 Kinder bueno chocolate bars, ground hazelnuts, white chocolate mix, nutella 

 make a small hole in the centre of the cupcake and fill with a teaspoon of nutella 

 cover it up

 and add frosting on top

 the finishing touch

 cross section 

 I found this lovely presentation box at Sainsbury's 

An original recipe by bakingaddict

Makes 18 cupcakes

For the cupcake
250g butter
200g caster sugar
100g ground hazelnuts
120g self raising flour
2 packs of instant white chocolate drink mix
2 eggs
60mls milk

Milk chocolate buttercream frosting
225g butter
200g icing sugar
175g milk chocolate, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Preheat the oven to 170C. 
• Line 2 muffin trays with cupcake wrappers.
• Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add in the eggs, one at time, mixing well with each addition. 
• Mix in the flour, white chocolate mix and ground hazelnuts. 
• Finally mix in the milk. 
• Spoon into cupcake cases and bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Allow to cool completely. 
• Make a small hole in the centre of each cupcake and fill with a teaspoon of nutella. Replace the hole with cake as shown.
• Make the icing by beating the butter and icing sugar until smooth. Add the milk chocolate and vanilla extract and continue beating until light and fluffy. This could take up to 5 minutes with an electric mixer. 
• Pipe a swirl of buttercream icing on top of each cupcake and decorate with a square of kinder bueno chocolate bar. 

Lemon Cake with homemade Lemon Curd

The lovely people at Dr Oetker sent me some wafer butterflies to review.  As the weather is warming up and we are finally moving from winter to spring I decided to make a lemon cake with a homemade lemon curd filling. Initially I thought about making cupcakes but as I wanted a celebration cake, I decided a big cake would look more impressive.  If you like lemons, you'll love this cake. It's light, fresh and very zesty. The lemon curd filling and lemon buttercream on top added even more zing to the cake. 

The wafer butterflies come in a pack of 9. There are 3 different colours - blue, pink and green.  The wafer is edible and the butterflies are quite sturdy. You can shape the wings and they hold their shape well. They definitely added a 'wow' factor to the cake. I would be happy to buy these for myself and use them to decorate cakes and cupcakes. It's simple yet effective and everyone was impressed with the cake and decorations. 

 lots of lovely lemon zest 

 homemade lemon curd filling 

 piped buttercream roses

 a touch of butterflies 

For the cake
225g golden caster sugar
225g self-raising flour, sifted
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
25g cornflour
225g unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 large eggs
grated zest and juice of 2 large juicy lemons (otherwise use 3 lemons)

Lemon Buttercream icing (make a double portion if you want to cover the whole cake)
110g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Grated zest of 1-2 unwaxed lemons (you need 2 teaspoons)
300g icing sugar, sifted

Lemon curd
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
115g sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
pinch of salt
85g butter

• Preheat the oven to 170c.
• Grease and line two 20cm cake tins.
• Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl until the mixture is smooth and pale.
• Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
• Add the eggs to the creamed mixture, one at a time, mixing for a few minutes after each addition, alternating the dry ingredients, and finally the grated zest and lemon juice. 
• Beat well after each addition, but again do not overbeat. 
• Divide the mixture evenly between the tins and bake in the oven for about 25 minutes until raised and golden brown. 
• Insert a skewer into the centre of one of those cakes - it should come out clean if it is cooked. 
• Remove from the oven and leave the cakes in their tins for about 10 minutes before turning out on to a wire rack to cool. 
• To make the lemon curd, place a fine mesh sieve over a medium bowl and set aside.
• In a medium pot, whisk together the lemon juice, sugar, egg yolks and pinch of salt.
• Place the pot over a medium-low heat and add the butter.
• Stir the mixture with a whisk. You may want to use a spatula to scrape down the edges. 
• Cook the curd until the butter is melted and the mixture is the thickness of warm hot fudge. 
• Remove from the heat and immediately pour into the fine mesh sieve over a medium bowl. 
• Press through the sieve leaving any cooked egg bits in the strainer. 
• Sandwich the cakes together with the lemon curd and pipe the buttercream on top. 
• Decorate with wafer butterflies. 

Disclaimer: I was sent a pack of wafer butterflies to review free of charge. I was not required to write a positive review, all opinions expressed are my own. 

Kiwi and Strawberry Muffins

I usually make my own lunch for work which includes a portion of fruit. My favourite combination at the moment is strawberries and kiwis but I do alternate with strawberries and blueberries. I obviously thought about how I could convert this into a bake and decided that muffins were the best way forward. I've tried baking with kiwis before and it didn't work very well. It has quite a soft texture and can sometimes be very slightly bitter. I remember the previous cake being too wet probably because I used yoghurt so I made sure to steer clear this time. I'm pleased to report that this experiment was a huge success.  The muffins were moist but not soggy and you could clearly taste the fruit.  The spelt flour made it feel healthier and gave it a nice texture. I was surprised when one of my colleagues asked if there was cinnamon in there - clearly she has a more refined palate than mine! 

I'm sending this to AlphaBakes a monthly blogging challenge that I co-host with Caroline who is our gracious host this month. The letter is 'K' for kiwi.  There's a lovely prize up for grabs this month so do get your entries in via email. 

I'm also sending it to Made with love Mondays hosted by Javelin Warrior. This recipe uses fresh ingredients so I think it fits the bill nicely. 

I'd also like to introduce you to a new blogger friend of mine. Her name is Emma and she blogs at Cakes for Dorothy. Today, one of my posts is being featured on her blog as a guest post - my cookie monster cupcakes. She has a lovely UK based blog where she shares her baking successes and failures and lessons learnt. She also has a Wednesday Wish segment featuring her baking wishlist. Please visit and show her some blogging support. 

 my usual lunch box fruits

 mix wet and dry ingredients 

 ready to go in the oven

 you can still see the fruit! 

An original recipe by bakingaddict

250g plain flour

125g spelt flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

200g brown sugar

50g honey

180g strawberries - washed, hulled and roughly chopped

4 kiwis - peeled and roughly chopped

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

juice from 1/2 orange 

• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• Mix the dry ingredients together and make a well in the centre of the bowl.
• Add the wet ingredients and mix well. 
• Scoop into baking cases and bake for 18-20 mins or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 

MOO business cards review and giveaway

I’m excited to have the print and design guys at MOO.com supply me a set of business cards but more importantly with a fab giveaway for THREE lucky readers! Before I tell you a bit more about my cards, let me tell you a little bit about MOO.

MOO arose from a desire to craft beautiful, first-rate print & design products and make it super easy for you to make your own unique business cards. MOO are proud to be business card printing specialists - either upload your own images to create truly creative cards, or you can select from a range of designer templates and customise with your own details.

I chose to use my own images although the templates on offer were very tempting. It's really easy to create your cards in their easy to follow step-by-step guide. You can also save your project to come back to later which was something I found useful as I had a hard time choosing! You can choose different templates, colours and fonts. 

The card themselves are of good quality and have a nice, smooth texture to them. I chose a few photos from my blog to use in the cards and I was impressed by the picture quality. Unfortunately, they don't look as good on the photo here due to the picture quality and poor lighting (my fault - sorry!) 

Good news for my international readers as this prize is available WORLDWIDE. All you have do is to complete the rafflecopter widget below. Closing date is 19th May 2013 at 12 midnight GMT.

Disclaimer: I was sent a set of business cards and offered a giveaway prize for my readers free of charge. There was no obligation to write a review but I chose to write a brief review and all opinions expressed are my own. The 1st,3rd and 4th pictures are my own. The 2nd picture was supplied by MOO

a Rafflecopter giveaway

AlphaBakes "A" Round up

It's time for the AlphaBakes "A" round up again. If you thought A was all about apples and almonds, think again! As usual you've all astounded me by your creative and delicious entries so thank you to everyone who participated. Sit back, relax and enjoy these mouth watering recipes! 

First up is Caroline's mum, Jacqueline with a squidgy spiced apple cake. 

Next is Lauren from A Baked Thesis with her apple and ginger pie with walnut pastry. She made this as a treat after their annual Easter Egg Hunt and what a treat it is. Served warm with custard or ice cream or both. The pie has apples, sultanas and crystallised ginger. 

Next is Louisa from Chez Foti with an anchovy, parmesan, purple sprouting broccoli tart. The broccoli comes from her own garden which she finally harvested after a year. She made her own peppered pastry and filled it with purple sprouting broccoli, anchovies and an eggy, cheesy, creme fraiche layer. 

My co-host Caroline from Caroline Makes made a Martha Stewart apricot cheesecake. It's a baked cheesecake with apricot puree and a biscuit base. 

Kat from Life of a Cupcake Baker sent in this delicious looking apple crumble cake. I love apple crumble and making it into a cake form is even better! Look at that lovely crumble layer on top. 

Next is Olivia from Liv a Little Bakery with her almond cookies. She describes them as deliciously crisp on the outside and gooey on the inside. She also gives option of adding cherry for a bakewell cookie or white chocolate for a naughty treat. 

Time for a healthy treat from Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes with her Cinnamon Apple Crisps. They are only 50 calories per portion and quick and easy to make at home. She also made parsnip crisps previously which are also worth checking out. 

Caroline's mum, Jacqueline is back with an apple and blueberry cake.  It has cake mix on the bottom,sliced apple and blueberries pushed into mixture, and a crumble mix on top.

Keeping it in the family, Caroline's sister, Clare is next with an Almond and Amaretto Cake.  It has ground almonds in with the cake mix and crushed almonds on top, and an amaretto buttercream in the middle. She made up this recipe herself and it was a very light and fluffy cake.

Next is my own offering with these Afghan biscuits.  An Afghan biscuit is a traditional New Zealand biscuit which contains cornflakes and chocolate, topped with chocolate icing and half a walnut. The origin of the recipe and name is unknown but apparently it's a Kiwi classic. It tastes like a cross between a brownie and a cookie and proved to be very popular.

Jean from Baking in Franglais sent in these cute cardamon friands. Friands are little cakes made with whisked egg white, icing sugar and ground almonds. These are flavoured with cardamom and lemon which sound really refreshing. 

Caroline is back again with Mom's Apple Cake. It's not a recipe from her mum but one from the Outsider Tart Baked in America. She made this as a thank you to her neighbours for feeding her cat when she was away. It looks like a lovely sponge with lots of fruit baked in it. 

Eira from Cookbooks Galore was looking for a recipe to use up her jar of local honey and decided on an almond and honey cake. It has lemon zest for added zing and a lovely honey glaze. 

Next is Anneli from delicieux with her pick and pluck artichokes with anchovy & garlic mayonnaise. This a recipe from her mum with a little tweak of her own.  She made her own mayonnaise and added in some anchovies and a clove of garlic. It was quite strong but paired well with the artichoke leaves. She has a great step by step pictorial guide on how to prepare this dish on her blog.

Next is Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen with Chocolate Cupcakes with Avocado Frosting.  Wednesday is pudding night in her household so it was a good opportunity to try out the avocado frosting which has been filed on her to try list. The cake is vegan and has lots of interesting ingredients (to me anyway) such as hemp milk, coconut oil and agave. 

Claire from Under the Blue Gum Tree wows us with her pastry skills with these Apricot and Almond Scrolls.   They are made for her brother in law who challenged her to replicate Sainsbury's pastries for her blog. I have to say they look a lot better than the shop version and I'm sure they were tastier too. 

Another entry from me with an apple and toffee cake.  It's a really moist cake with a crispy edge from the melted fudge. It's yoghurt based cake which makes it healthier and a very easy mix all in one recipe. 

 Suelle from Mainly Baking sent in an Apricot, Marzipan and Cranberry cake. It's a quick and easy recipe packed full of dried fruits and marzipan. She also added a honey glaze and flaked almonds on top. 

Next is Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog with a delicious pudding with a very long name but aptly describes the pudding. She made an apple and orange pudding with a ginger chocolate crunchy oat topping. I love this recipe as it can be easily adapted with lots of variations. 

Eira from Cookbooks Galore is back with some Almond Praline Creams.  The recipe comes from a book from a charity shop called 'The Encyclopedia of Baking'. It tasted like a cross between a cake and a biscuit and looks a little like whoopie pies. 

Next is Christian from Cooking Around the World with an Arabian-styled Chocolate, Fig and Pistachio Cake. The A is a bit of a leap but we've had a few tenuous recipes on AlphaBakes so it only seems fair to include this. Plus the cake looks absolutely heavenly filled with spelt flour, lime, chocolate, honey, rosewater, figs and pistachios. 

From Arabia to Australia, Johanna from the Green Gourmet Girraffe sends us an apple cider cake. The apple slices are cooked in cider and spices before being added to the cake. She also arranged the apple slices to look like a rose on top of the cake. This recipe provided a few challenges and she almost didn't blog about it but I'm so glad she did as it's one worth bookmarking to try. 

Elizabeth from The Law Student's Cookbook made some roasted artichokes which are in season currently. It's a really simple recipe and looks stunning. 

Anne from The Gingerbread Mum made some Sugar Free Anzac biscuits for us this month. ANZAC day was on the 25th April and you can read more about the origins of Anzac biscuits on her blog. She wanted to make a sugar free version and used honey and applesauce which worked well. 

Natalie from Hungryhinny uses a very unusual ingredient in her cake and hopes that the title does not put people off. It's an Aubergine Chocolate Cake which is wheat, gluten and dairy free. She has a few other vegetable cake recipes on her blog if you are interested and would be keen to hear about weird and wonderful recipes.

Next is Katharine from Leeks and Limoni with Honey, Almond and White Chocolate Cupcakes. She had some honey given to her by a friend in Anglesey which has a floral scent and delicate taste.  These cupcakes perfectly showcase the honey and almond flavour. 

Fiona from Let them Eat Cake sent us two delicious entries. First up is Apricot Frangipane tart which is a double A entry for Apricots and Almonds. She baked them for Easter weekend and I'm sure everyone enjoyed it. 

Her second entry is apple sauce brownies which is an attempt at making brownies healthier. The brownies were still fudgy and chewy and you can't really taste the apples. 

Next is Laura from Laura Loves Cakes with these really cute Apple and Almond Bear Claw Pastries.  The recipe is from the Hummingbird Bakery 'Home Sweet Home'. It's a yeasted pastry which needs to be proved and is filled with apples, sultana and cinnamon. I particularly like the bear claw effect. 

Continuing with the apple theme, we have Apple and Banana Muscovado Cakes from Caroline from Cake, Crumbs and Cooking. This is a lovely recipe that she made up based on ingredients she wanted to use. It was well received at work and looks great with the butterscotch bits on top. 

My mum made 2 entries for us this month. Firstly, almond cookies which are crumbly and buttery. Secondly, an apricot log which has chopped dried apricots, coloured marshmallows, toasted almonds, digestive biscuits, condensed milk mixed with some evaporated milk and rolled in desiccated coconut.  It's a quick and easy no bake recipe which is great for parties.

That's the end of the emailed entries but luckily I decided to check my twitter account and spotted 2 other entries. Michelle from Utterly Scrummy Food for Families made some Apricot Anzac Muffins to conquer the afternoon energy slump after a trip to the local park. They contain apricots and cinnamon and proved to be a huge success. 

Janice from Farmersgirl Kitchen delights us with an Apricot Tea Bread. She soaked the dried fruits in White Tea with Pomegranate for 2 hours (or overnight) and then baked them into this fruity, chewy moist tea bread. There wasn't a strong taste from the tea, just an overall fruity flavour. 

And that's the end of the Amazing and Awesome "A" AlphaBakes round up. Remember to head on over to Caroline's blog on 1st May to find out what letter we are using next month. 

And here's another one -

The lovely Dom from Belleau Kitchen had a tricky time trying to bake something simple with apples. After 3 failed attempts he came up with these double apple cinnamon scones which contain apple butter. Perseverance seems to be have paid off in the end as these look heavenly. 

Quick reminder to please, please email your entries to us at alphabakes@gmail.com. Thanks :)