Banana, walnut and chocolate chip cake with maple syrup cream cheese frosting

This is honestly the best cake I've eaten in a while and that's saying a lot! It came about by chance as I couldn't decide what to bake but I knew I wanted to bake with bananas. I didnt want to bake another banana muffin so I thought a cake would be better. I had a discussion with one of my work colleagues who loves cake as much as I do and we 'created' this cake together by discussing what ingredients she wanted in the cake!! I said I wanted to use bananas and she wanted chocolate, walnuts, honey and maple syrup. I thought about it and decided that I could make it work so I gave it a go! The results were truly amazing. I incorporated everything she wanted in the cake and added a cream cheese frosting as well. The cake was really moist and full of banana flavour. You can taste the walnuts and the chocolate chips in there which also added a depth of texture to the cake. Unfortunately you can't really taste the honey but you can clearly taste the maple syrup cream cheese frosting. 

The following week, my colleague who helped me create the cake told me what happened when she took a slice home for her house mate. She described the cake to her housemate who did not look impressed particularly as she does not like bananas. However, she decided to have a taste and after a few bites said "if I'd known it was going to be so good, I'd have taken it to bed with me!!" That's honestly how I feel about this cake as well and I'm definitely going to have to bake it again. 

I'm sending it to a few blog challenges this month...  

Love Cake hosted by Ness from Jibber JabberUK. This month is the anniversary of the challenge and the theme is For The Love of Cake. This is not a typical Valentine bake but it came about through our love of cake and it's definitely one of my favourite cakes ever. 

No Waste Food Challenge hosted by Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary. This recipe uses up old bananas and ingredients from my cupboard. 

Cook Blog Share hosted by Lucy from Supergolden Bakes

Recipe of the Week hosted by Emily from A Mummy Too

 dry ingredients and wet ingredients 

 adding in chocolate chips and walnuts

 ready to go in the oven 

 I love how you can still see the chocolate chips and you can definitely taste them! 

 with the maple syrup cream cheese frosting 

 decorated with chopped, toasted walnuts 

An original recipe by bakingaddict

For the cake 
250g plain flour
100g brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
3 or 4 ripe bananas
250mls milk
80mls vegetable oil
2 eggs
100g chocolate chips
150g walnuts ( I left them whole for extra crunch but you can chop them up but not too finely!)
60ml honey

For the frosting
100g butter
100g light muscovado sugar
85mls maple syrup
220g cream cheese

To decorate
20-25g toasted walnuts, roughly chopped

• Preheat oven to 180C.
• Grease and line 2 x 18cm round baking tins.
• Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
• In a large bowl, roughly mash the bananas with a fork. 
• Add in the milk, vegetable oil, honey and milk and mix well.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix.
• Finally stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts.
• Divide the batter evenly into the cake tins and bake for approximately 35-40 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Place the remaining walnuts for the topping in the hot oven and roast for about 5-7 minutes making sure that they don't burn. 
• Allow the cakes to cool completely before decorating. 
• To make the frosting, beat the butter and sugar until smooth.
• Add in the cream cheese and maple syrup and continue beating until very smooth.
• Place a generous layer of frosting on top of the first layer of cake. Place the second layer on top and spread the remaining frosting on top of the cake.
• Sprinkle with the toasted, roughly chopped walnuts.

SRC: Caramel Apple Shortbread Bars

It's the 4th Monday of the month which can only mean one thing.... It's Secret Recipe Club Group D Reveal day! I love the Secret Recipe Club and look forward to reveal day every month. I had a break last month so it's really good to be back. Just in case you need a reminder about what it's all about - each blog is assigned another blog in secret and the idea is that you choose a recipe to make from your secret blog and reveal it on the same day. It's a great way to discover new blogs and exciting recipes. 

This month my assigned blog is Mom's Test Kitchen writted by Jaime. She describes herself as "a child of God {who requires ALOT of forgiveness}, wife to an automotive genius, momma to a Princess that changed my life, daughter to some pretty alright parents, sister to my best friend & aunt to three kiddos that have me wrapped around their fingers!" You can read more about her and how she got to cooking and blogging here.  She has a lot of great recipes on her blog each accompanied by a beautiful photo. 

I had trouble choosing a recipe as there were so many I wanted to make. I shortlisted a few recipes including No Bake Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie, Candied Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies, Blueberry Lemon Crumb Bars and Hot Cocoa Cookies. However, my eye was drawn to this Caramel Apple Shortbread Bars. There's a few steps involved in baking this but it's well worth it. It's absolutely delicious and a perfect autumnal bake. I loved the crispy bit at the edges even though it was a little burnt! I would probably add more apples next time as mine cooked down to not very much and my apples were really small. I love the buttery, crumbly shortbread and the caramel apple filling is divine. I might also add in some spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg as I do love spice in my baking!

 making the base 

 cooking the filling

 spread filling over the base

 add crumble mixture on top 

 burnt round the edges but delicious none the less

 you will notice that there are 2 pieces missing as we couldn't wait to try them! 

For the shortbread layer and crumble topping 

225g butter

112g caster sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

312g plain flour (divided into 280g & 31g)

For the caramel apple filling 

57g butter

1 tablespoon honey

50g dark brown sugar

1 can (14oz) condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 small apples (Large apples would be better) - peeled, cored and diced 

• Grease an 8inch x 8 inch pan and line with foil allowing for some overhang (for easy removal later). Spray liberally with non stick spray.
• Beat buttter, sugar and vanilla until pale and fluffy
• Add in 280g flour. 
• Transfer 1/2 of the dough to the prepared baking tray and press down firmly to form the base.
• Place in the fridge.
• Add 31g flour to the remaining dough and mix with your hands until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. This is for the crumble topping later.
• In a medium saucepan, combine butter, honey, sugar, condensed milk and vanilla and bring to a boil, whisking occasionallu.
• Add in the diced apples and whisk frequently until the mixture thickens and darkens in colour (approximately 10 minutes).
• Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. 
• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• Remove base from the fridge and pour the caramel apple filling on top.
• Sprinkle crumble topping and bake for approximately 1 hour.

An InLinkz Link-up

Cheddar, Cranberry and Honey Beer Bread

Recently I was invited to the BBC Good Food Show by Barber's Cheesemakers. I had the opportunity to meet with Charlie Barber where he told us about the history of Barber's cheese, how to judge a cheese award and anything you want to know about cheese but were too afraid to ask! 

The Barber family have been farming and making cheese at Maryland Farm in Ditcheat, Somerset since 1833. AJ & RG Barber is run by cousins Anthony, Chris, Charlie and Giles Barber, the sixth generation of the Barber family, and many other family members are still involved. Today the Barber farms comprise 2500 acres of prime Somerset dairy land and are home to some 2,000 dairy cows.

Charlie told us how they created their own specialist laboratory with their own microbiologist to grow their own natural starter cultures. These cultures are the friendly bacteria added to the milk to start the cheesemaking process and are the most important ingredient in creating the flavour and character of the finished cheese. Most cheesemakers nowadays use freeze dried starters and they are the only cheesemakers that currently make their own natural starters. They also supply the starters to artisan cheesemakers. They believe that it's the natural cultures that give their cheese a unique complexity of flavours and it's honourable that they are keeping this tradition alive.

We got to taste their signature cheddar cheese, cave aged cheddar, smoked cheese and goat's cheese. We were also introduced to his cousin who gave us a sample of Black Cow Vodka - vodka made from milk of their cows. It has a clean taste at the front and a subtle dairy taste at the end.

cheese awards 

 supergolden cheese awards table - one of their cheeses made it to this table! 

Before I tell you about my recipe, I'd also like to mention a honey beer that I tasted at the BBC Good Food Show. It's made by Hiver who source raw honey from independent British Beekeepers. I'm not a huge fan of beer but this is aboslutely delicious! Don't just take my word for it, try it for yourself and tell me what you think. At present, it's only available through Ocado.

Barber's gave me a block of their vintage cheddar to sample and to create a recipe with. I had a few ideas to start with and after tasting the honey beer, I decided to make a Cheddar and Honey Beer Bread. As it's approaching Christmas, I decided to throw in some cranberries for a festive touch. I based it on an old recipe that has been passed on from a friend who got it from another friend and so on. I've not used this recipe in many years and had to hunt for it! It's a very simple mix all in one recipe. No need for a yeasted dough, kneading or fancy equipment. I added in dried cranberries and chunks of cheddar cheese. 

This bread is best eaten fresh on the day it's baked. The crust was my favourite part and I could have eaten the whole crust in one go! You can definitely taste the beer in the bread but the honey notes were subtle. You can clearly taste the cheese as it has a rich and strong flavour which is not masked by the honey or bread. It also adds a lovely saltiness to the bread and the cranberries add a burst of sweetness and texture. You also get bits of crusty melted cheese on the outside. We couldn't finish the whole loaf between us in one sitting so I toasted a few slices 2 days later and it was still very good. In fact, I think I prefer the toasted version as you get lots of crispy bits. Make sure you turn your toaster on a low setting as you don't want to burn the cheese!  

 Barber's Vintage reserve Cheddar

 Pour beer into the batter in one go 

 add dried cranberries and chunks of cheddar 

add melted butter before baking 

 fresh from the oven 

 serve warm with butter 

An original recipe by bakingaddict

470g plain flour

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

1 tablespoon honey (you can add another tablespoon if you want a sweeter bake) 

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 bottle Honey Beer, unopened and at room temperature

60g melted butter

60g dried cranberries (could add a bit more)

180g Barber's Vintage cheddar cheese, roughly cut into chunks

• Preheat the oven to 190C.
• In a large bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. 
• Add in the honey.
• Open the beer and all it all at once to the batter - it will foam up.
• Stir briskly until just combined - be careful not to overmix.
• Add in the dried cranberries and cheddar chunks and stir a few more times to incorpate it.
• Pour into a loaf tin and drizzle with the melted butter.
• Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
• Allow to rest in the pan for 5 minutes before serving.
• Best served warm with butter. 

Disclaimer: I was invited to the Cheese Awards by Barber's Cheese at BBC Good Food Show. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions are my own. This is not a sponsored post.

Chocolate dipped granola bars and a review

Do you like surprises? I'm generally a little wary about surprises particularly when it comes to food as I'm a bit of a picky eater. Degustabox sends you a monthly surprise box with 9 to 14 surprise products, most of which are new to the market. A monthly subscription including delivery costs £12.99 which is less than what you would pay if you were to buy the items individually. They also give you a chance to feedback directly to the brands about whether you like the products or not. 

I thought it sounded like a good idea so I was pleased to be offered a box to review. The box is simple and tasteful and the products were well packed so they all arrived in pristine condition. There's a cute sticker which says" Open me, eat me... enjoy me!" when you open the box which is a nice little touch.

The contents of the box vary from month to month. I received this box in October but have not had a chance to write a review until now. My box consisted of :

• 3 x Burt's Lentil Waves in 3 different flavours - sour cream & chive, Thai sweet chili and Lightly Salted. 
• 1 x Jordans Simply Granola. 
• 2 x Pick up! - Milk chocolate sandwiched between 2 crisp biscuits and white chocolate sandwiched between 2 cocoa biscuits.
• 2 x Crabbie's alcoholic fruits - Raspberry and Rhubarb and Black Cherry. 
• 2 x Little Miracles- organic tea and fruit juice with ginseng and acai.
• 2 x Carnation Cook with It!
• 1 x Elixabeth Shaw's dark chocolate Mint Thins
• 1 x La Vieja Fabrica marmalade 

It was a good mix of snacks, drinks and cooking ingredients. I used the Carnation Cook with it! to make a chicken and leek stroganoff which turned out beautifully. The drinks and snacks were handy for our lunch boxes. I also decided to bake something with some of the ingredients and found this recipe by Edd Kimber for Honey Nut Bars.  The only change I made was to use simply granola which is what I had instead of the Super Nutty Granola in his recipe. I also added some mixed dried fruit.  I actually baked this recipe twice as the first time the granola bars stuck to the paper as I didn't spray the paper after lining the tin and I just couldn't peel the paper off no matter what. I then found my silicone individual tray bake tin which was perfect apart from the giant sized granola bars that it produced! However, they were very tasty and the chocolate added extra indulgence. 

My verdict - This is quite a fun and interesting way to try out new products for a reasonable price. Everyting is readily 'usable'- nothing gets relegated to the back of the cupboard to be forgotten. It would make a good gift for a foodie friend or relative. As I've only had 1 box, I'm not sure if items get repeated in future deliveries but looking at their website it looks like they have new products each month. Some brands are repeated but the products are different. The products are all of a reasonable quality and there's some money off vouchers in the box for certain brands. There's also a handy leaflet reminding you what's in the box with the RRP for each product. 

 mix the dried fruit and granola

 melt butter, sugar and honey 

 First attempt with a square tin

 second attempt with my silicone tray 

 no problem getting them out of the tin bu they are huge!

 dipped in chocolate for extra decadence 

Recipe adapted from Edd Kimber's Honey Nut Bars

300g Jordans simply granola
50g mixed dried fruit
125g clear honey
50g butter
25g light brown sugar
200g dark chocolate

• Mix the granola and dried fruit in a bowl and set aside.
• Heat the butter, sugar and honey in a small saucepan until completely melted.
• Pour the honey mixture over the granola and stir well.
• Press into silicone tin or a lined baking tray after using lots of cake release spray.
• Bake for 25-30 minute or until lightly golden.
• Allow to cool completely then place in the fridge if you want to dip the bars in chocolate.
• Melt the chocolate and dip half the bars in chocolate and place on parchment paper to dry. 

Disclaimer: I was sent a Degustabox for review purposes. A positive review was not required. All opinions expressed are my own. This is not a sponsored post.