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Is there anything more luscious than a slice of warm, buttered banana bread when you need some soul food to lift your spirits up? Well I certainly think its heaven. Its perfect for one of those fast approaching dark winter days in Melbourne. So get your girlfriends over for coffee and gossip over a plate of delicious, toasted banana bread!
Banana bread (1 medium loaf)
80g butter softened
110g (just over ½ cup) caster sugar
60g (about 1/3 cup) dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp Kahlua or Tia Maria (optional, otherwise replace with espresso coffee)
1 egg
275g ripe banana flesh, mashed well (about 4 small bananas) just over 1 cup of flesh
100g unsalted chopped walnuts or hazelnuts
250g (just under 2 cups) plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
Preheat the oven to180 degrees centigrade and grease and line a 20cm loaf tin.
Beat the butter with the sugars until very light and pale. Beat in the vanilla, Kahlua and the egg. Fold in the banana and nuts.
Sift the flour with the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and fold in too. Pour into the loaf tin and bake for about 40 to 55 minutes or until cooked through. Test with a skewer.
Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then serve sliced, at room temperature, with butter or for a real treat toast it and spread a generous dollop of butter to make it soft and delicious.
This is a traditional Sri Lankan recipe (commonly referred to as Love cake) that has been passed down for generations. I prefer to call it Cupid's cake. It's perfect for serving up when you really want to impress someone! First making its appearance during the Dutch occupation of the island in the 17th century, its a divine combination of European cake making traditions with the aromatic spices of the East.
Often made on special occasions such as Christmas it also works well as an indulgent tea cake or an after dinner treat.
½ lb. semolina ½ wineglass of rose-water
1lb. soft white sugar ½ wineglass of honey
1/4lb. butter
¼ teaspoon each of grated nutmeg, lemon rind and powdered cinnamon
100 cadjunuts, finely chopped
10 egg yolks
Put the egg yolks into a basin, add the sugar and beat them together. Have the semolina and butter mixed together and add them next. Beat again till well mixed, then add the cadjunuts, rose-water, honey, nutmeg, lemon rind and cinnamon and mix well together. Pour the mixture into a flat cake tin lined with baking paper. Preheat oven to 180ºC (350º F) and bake until the top is nicely browned and the cake is cooked through (you can test this by inserting a skewer, if it comes out coated with mixture, the cake is not yet done).
As this cake is quite sweet it doesn't need any icing.
Fat free, heart friendly, low GI etc, etc. Is there any food today that doesn't advertise something like this? I'm not denying that it's important to eat healthy but really diet paranoia is in serious overdrive nowadays. If you eat the right balance of food with plenty of wholesome fruits and veggies thrown in, you're probably on the right track anyway. Having said that everyone's human and deserves the occasional treat now and then. This site is all about 'comfort food'. The recipes are sourced from all over the world and each one is accompanied by a little story about how and when I used the recipe. After all good food and conversation go hand in hand don't they? I hope you enjoy cooking and eating these treats as much as I enjoyed cooking and sharing them with my friends and family.
The Trifle story
I first used this recipe for a 21st birthday party. On that occasion I opted for the alcoholic version given the spirit of the coming of age party. Needless to say it was quite a hit! Recently though, I had to make this dessert for a group of 30 something friends - one of whom was 36 weeks pregnant at the time. After giving some thought to what could be substituted for the liquor, I used orange blossom water (available from most delis and fine food shops). It went down well particularly with my heavily pregnant friend. She loved the thick lashings of cream and mascarpone. The crunch of the toasted almond topping perfectly complements the fluffy texture of the whipped cream.
CREAMY PEACH TRIFLE (SANS ALCOHOL)
Preparation time : 20 minutes
Serves 6-8
825g (1lb 13 oz) can sliced peaches
60ml (1/4 cup) orange blossom water
1 day-old sponge cake, cubed
250ml (1 cup) cream
220g (1cup) mascarpone
25g (1/4 cup) flaked almonds, toasted
Drain peaches reserving 125ml (1/2 cup) juice.
Combine orange blossom water and reserved juice. Place sponge cake cubes in a 2-litre (8 cup) dish and press down firmly. Drizzle with orange blossom water mixture.
Arrange peaches over cake. Using electric beaters, beat cream until soft peaks form. Add mascarpone and beat until just combined. Spread mixture over peaches. Refrigerate for 1 hour to allow flavours to develop. Sprinkle with almonds just before serving.
Note: If you prefer the alcoholic version, replace the orange blossom water with peach schnapps or Grand Marnier.
(image from Quick Short Recipe book, Bay books)
Image (oil painting by Preethi Hapuwatte published with artist's permission)
Exhibitions to see around town this week
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Let others know about any interesting art events in Melbourne on this website
The National Design Centre recently hosted the Melbourne Design Festival in and around the city. Prominent venues included Federation Square and along the Yarra River. The festival theme was 'when it rains it pours. According to the festival brochure, the theme captures the irony of surplus or scarcity, drought or flood
how do we create a meaningful balance from these opposing elements? Does this sounds a little confusing and obtuse? I certainly thought so. But then it was a festival about creativity and new design directions, so perhaps the abstract theme complimented this.
The iMade was the festivals major international touring exhibition. It showcased the rich and productive design culture of Italy. Besides having displayed various products it also gave viewers a glimpse of the concepts, manufacturing and technological processes behind their creation. Exhibits were sourced from the cities of Milan and Lombardy, the hub of Italys design and manufacturing industry
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