banana and coffee loaf

I have three confessions to make:

1. I hate coffee.

2. This is the first time I've baked using a flavour I dislike.

3. I underbaked the cake. Waaaaaah!!! :(

This cake had so much potential, I'm gutted it didn't work out. It rose well, felt firm to touch and the skewer inserted into the centre came out clean so I thought the cake was full cooked, but clearly it wasn't. It's so sad witnessing a cake deflate.

I am definitely at fault though, not the recipe, as I had enough batter left over from the loaf to bake a jumbo muffin and it turned out beautifully. It was well risen, had a lovely soft crumb and even I, the coffee hater, thought it tasted pretty good. Did I think to photograph the muffin? Erm... no.

The sweetness from the banana and honey balanced the bitterness which I dislike in coffee. I didn't think the banana loaf was spoiled by the addition of coffee, whereas I do think a mocha is a ruined hot chocolate!

My Mum, who I made the cake for, loved the flavour. She's been subtly suggesting banana and coffee as a cake flavour combination for ages so was delighted that I finally made it, even though it was a bit of a flop. She especially loved the fudgy coffee icing. It's like the fudgy chocolate icing my Granny used to make, but the cocoa powder is replaced with coffee granules.

Mum and I discovered that the soggy cake could (sort of) be rescued by cooking slices of it in the microwave for a couple of minutes. The icing turns into a sticky sauce which seeps into the cake, making it more like a pudding. A sticky coffee pudding!

I'll definitely try this recipe again, but will pay more attention to the baking times. I was (finally!) watching the last film in the Twilight franchise whilst baking this cake, so I'm blaming my poor results on the dismal acting. On the upside, Michael Sheen is fantastic so it's worth watching for him alone. I almost wet myself laughing at his reaction to the half human half vampire child. Comedy gold: https://youtu.be/i7kT0qiv78s

Coffee and banana loaf

Recipe slightly adapted from Laura's mini bundt recipe at I'd Much Rather Bake Than... 

cake:

9 tbsp (135ml) sunflower oil
100g runny honey
75g light brown muscovado sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 tbsp (90ml) milk mixed with 3 heaped tsp coffee granules
3 large eggs
3 bananas, mashed
330g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder

coffee icing (this makes quite a lot so you could reduce quantities):
75g butter
3 heaped dessert spoonfuls of milk mixed with 3 heaped tsp coffee granules
350g icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan 160C/Gas 4 and grease and line a 900g/2lb loaf tin. Put the oil, honey, sugar, vanilla, milky coffee, eggs and banana in a large bowl. Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix for about a minute until everything is well combined. Pour the mixture in the tin until about 2/3 full. The mixture will be quite runny and there will be enough left over batter for a big muffin or a few cupcakes (just remember they will only take about 20-30 minutes to bake as they're smaller.)

Bake the loaf in the centre of the oven for at least an hour (don't take it out at 50-55 minutes like me!!) until well risen, firm to touch and a skewer inserted into the centre of the oven comes out clean. Don't watch Twilight whilst baking. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

For the icing, melt the butter with the coffee milk in the microwave (or in a pan on the hob.) Add the icing sugar and mix together until smooth, cool and thickened. Pour over the cake and leave to set.

strawberries and cream cake

Just a quick post today. I wasn't intending to blog this as I didn't take any photographs other than these two snaps with my phone, but I enjoyed this cake so much I felt compelled to share it regardless of photo quality.

My friends and I had a small Wimbledon final party last Sunday so naturally I baked a cake for us to enjoy. It's the same sponge recipe as the strawberry cupcakes I baked the previous week - basically a victoria sponge with a handful of chopped strawberries and teaspoon of vanilla bean paste - baked in two 18cm (7inch) round cake tins, sandwiched together with jam and cream and topped with strawberries and icing sugar.

It was light, fresh and delicately sweet. I really wish I had taken better photographs! One of my friends baked Pimms cupcakes so we were well supplied with cake for the afternoon. We needed it to console ourselves after Federer's defeat.

It could just be that I was too distracted by conversation and cake this year, but I felt like I had seen more exciting Wimbledon finals. Anybody agree?

strawberry cupcakes

It's Wimbledon season, the time of year when I swoon over Roger Federer and eat lots of strawberries. Sometimes swooning over Roger Federer whilst eating strawberries.

This year I have been swooning over Roger Federer (can you tell I like Roger Federer?) whilst eating strawberry cupcakes. Soft, fluffy, vanilla flecked cupcakes with juicy chunks of strawberries and topped with strawberry jam butter icing. These are seriously addictive. I could easily eat 3 in quick succession.

Jam mixed into butter icing is definitely my new favourite thing. I've tried raspberry and strawberry jams mixed into icing so I'm plotting which jam variation to try next. Any suggestions?

These strawberry printed cupcake cases have been sitting in my baking stash for at least two years, waiting for the right opportunity to be used. Aren't they cute? I've always felt that I couldn't just use them for any old cupcakes, they *had* to be strawberry flavoured. I'm surprised it has taken me this long to make strawberry cupcakes again (last baked here - god that was ages ago!)

I made these cupcakes to take on a summery picnic with my friends last week. The weather looked set to be glorious, so glorious that I ventured outside in bare legs(!) and sandals(!!) However by the time we arrived at our picnic destination the sky clouded over slightly and it became increasingly windy. It was strange weather: hot enough to promptly melt my friend's ice-cream and so windy that the melted ice-cream blew *everywhere* In hair, on arms, on tops, on trousers, on my legs! It was an eventful day out.

Strawberry cupcakes

cupcakes:

200g margarine/ softened butter

200g golden caster sugar

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

200g self raising flour

100g strawberries, chopped into relatively small chunks

icing:

250g icing sugar

125g softened butter

1-2tbsp strawberry jam (add to taste)

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4 and line two cupcake trays with cases. In a large bowl beat together the margarine and sugar for about 5 minutes until very light and fluffy. Add the eggs to the mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add a tablespoon of the flour with the last egg to prevent the mixture from splitting. Add the flour and mix everything together until fully combined. Stir in the strawberry chunks until evenly distributed.

Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, until 2/3 full. I got 18 cupcakes from this mixture. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until well risen, light golden and spring back when touched. Leave to cool in the tray for a couple of minutes before turning out to cool on a wire rack.

For the icing, beat together the icing sugar and butter for a few minutes until light and fluffy. Stir in the jam and mix for another few minutes. Spread the icing on top of the cupcakes with a palette knife. I'd recommend increasing the amounts (by about half perhaps?) if you'd prefer to pipe the icing on as this only gave a relatively thin covering per cupcake.

I made tights?!!

Yes, you read that right. I have sewn a pair of tights. Those awesome star print things on my legs. GO ME!!

Let's just ignore that these are seasonally inappropriate at the moment.

This is another item I have made in collaboration with Funkifabrics. I immediately knew I wanted to sew a skirt with the macaron fabric but was a bit unsure what to do with this turquoise star print I also requested. Leggings seemed simple and logical, but to be honest I don't wear leggings all that often as my feet get cold. I can't do that trendy leggings-and-bare-feet-in-pumps look. Then I stumbled across the Rosehip tights pattern...

Now if you told me earlier this year that I would be making a pair of tights I would have laughed in your face. It's a bit of a mental concept, but utterly brilliant. All those years of feeling dissatisfied with the lack of colour and pattern variety of high street tights, well, NOW I CAN MAKE MY OWN CRAZY TIGHTS!

Look at all those cool seam lines! I love how these were constructed. So damn clever!

This was also my first time purchasing and assembling a pdf download pattern and I have to say it was pretty straight forward so I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. Mari, the pattern creator, was also fantastic at responding to me when I was a bit of a dunce and asked for help regarding pattern adjustments. Great personal service!

My only minor negative remark about the pdf is that I noticed some of the pattern lines on the larger sizes didn't line up very well when I was sticking my sheets together, but then again my printer could be at fault as it enjoys gobbling paper in squint if I don't watch it like a hawk.

Let's get down to sewing details then:

• I cut a size S according to my hip measurement but a size M for the feet.

• My fabric had 50% grainline stretch so I added 2 inches of leg length (1 inch at each cut/lengthen line) to achieve my 33-34 inch in seam.

• I removed the elastic I originally inserted into the waistband as I struggled to pull the tights up over my hips and backside! This surprised me as I was well within the size S, (my hips are actually closer to 36" than 37") I really don't have much of an ass and I thought I had sufficient crossgrain stretch. To give myself a little bit more wiggle room I unpicked my main stitching line at the waistband back to the overlocked edge. Thank goodness I had a bit of seam allowance. Now I can pull my tights on without fear of bursting seams!

• I only used 1 metre of fabric. Yay!

I am delighted with the overall fit of these for a first tights making attempt. The length is spot on (no hoicking up required!) and I'm really pleased that the white background the fabric's design is printed on doesn't show through when stretched. The fabric's stretch recovery was great as it didn't appear to distort anywhere after prewashing which made cutting out pretty straight forward and it wasn't too "shifty" to sew either. Sewing in the gusset was a bit fiddly, as was the join at the top of the foot, but all perfectly do-able if you sew slowly and carefully.

I'm aware that £18 per metre may seem a bit steep, but if it's good quality fabric, which this is, I have no qualms about spending that to produce something fun and unique. Plus, I only needed one metre to produce these. For those not in the know, Funkifabrics is a British company specialising in stretch fabrics. They have an in-house design team and digitally print their fabrics on demand within the UK. I thought it was cool having the date and time of my order printed along the fabric's selvedge.

Yes, Funkifabrics are more geared towards sports/dancewear, after all they specialise in spandex/lycra rather than general apparel fabrics, but that doesn't mean a homesewer such as myself can't benefit from their vast array of fun, stretchy fabrics.

So...... who thinks I need to have octopus print legs next? :D

*Disclaimer: I was offered free fabric to create an item of clothing of my own choice in exchange for a review. I was not paid for this post and all opinions expressed are my own.*