GREAT IRISH BAKE FOR TEMPLE STREET - LO CAL BANANA BREAD

 It's Temple Street Bake time again!

Low calorie banana bread

I'm a sucker for banana bread. I'd love a soda bread type one (I think I will have to invent it) but, in the absence of that, I made a low calorie one today based on this recipe. How she got 24 pieces out of this is beyond me - maybe her guests were mice. My loaf yields about 10 slices.

Apple sauce is not a staple here in Ireland, so I made my own (ahem!) out of a peeled, finely diced apple. I cooked it on a medium heat with a little water until softened and then blended it, which didn't make it very sauce-like. But, in it went anyway.

This makes a moist, very sweet, low-sized loaf so the slices are more like bars. 106 kcals per bar. Yum!

Ingredients

2 mashed bananas

1 tablespoon unsweetened applesauce/or one apple made into poor applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 dash salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 large egg

2 tablespoons nonfat milk (I used soya milk)

3/4 cup spelt flour

Method

• Preheat oven to 180°/350°F and lightly grease a 2lb loaf tin
• Place all ingredients but flour & baking powder in a large bowl and mix
• Sieve in flour and baking powder to wet ingredients
• Pour into loaf tin
• Cook for about 35 minutes - or until golden brown.
• Allow to cool before slicing

TEABRACK & BANANA LOAF - Great Irish Bake 3

Poster, balloons and money jar - Great Irish Bake

It's the official Great Irish Bake Day - our money jar is in place, the balloons are up and I have baked two cakes so far. My husband plans to bake bread later. We will serve these to my writing group tomorrow and hopefully they'll leave a donation in the jar :)

Teabrack mix

Banana bread in progress

Teabrack and banana bread

If you want to make either of these loaves the teabrack recipe is here and the banana loaf is here.

RAISIN SODA BREAD - Great Irish Bake 2

Kneaded dough

This is our second Great Irish Bake for Temple Street baking session. Lately I've been craving my mother's soda bread with raisins but as she lives 90 miles away, I've had to resort to making it myself. In my novel out next year, Miss Emily, Emily Dickinson's maid, Ada, shows her how to make soda bread. Dickinson was a good baker in her own right. (Which may be where my craving stems from - I am editing the book at the moment.)

The Odlums Baking site calls soda bread with raisins in it 'Station Bread'. I haven't heard this before - is this something to do with the stations of the cross, I wonder? Where is Regina Sexton when you need her?! I shall go and consult her history of Irish food and see if it mentions Station Bread.

This bread has about 99 calories per serving. (Adding butter means extra kcals!)

Cutting the cross - to keep the devil out of the bread

Ingredients

450g plain flour
1 level tsp bread soda
2 level tsps cream of tartar
big pinch of salt
1 tblsp white sugar
25g margarine
half pint milk 
a handful of raisins

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 400°F/200°C/Gas 6
2. Sprinkle flour onto a round baking tray
3. Sieve flour, bread soda, cream of tartar and salt into a bowl. Add sugar after sieving and mix through
4. Rub in the margarine until it's like breadcrumbs
5. Add milk and mix to make a soft dough.
6. Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead a little
7. Turn over and shape into a round. Place the dough on a floured tin
8. Cut a deepish cross into the loaf
9. Bake for 45 minutes
10. Tap underneath, if there's a hollow sound, the loaf is done
11. Cool on a wire tray, covering with a tea towel to give a softer crust 
12. Slather with butter and eat. Yum!

The finished bread

BANANA & SEED BISCUITS - Great Irish Bake 1

Juno sieving

The Great Irish Bake for Temple Street is already underway here in Ballinasloe. Our jar is out, ready for collecting the money. We made Apple Crumble on Sunday (eaten too quick for pics!) and today it was Banana and Seed Biscuits. This recipe makes makes about 12 biscuits. 77 Kcals per biccie.

Banana and seed biscuits

INGREDIENTS
60g marg/butter
60g brown sugar
90g self-raising flour
50g mixed seeds (pumpkin and sesame)
1 small egg, beaten
1 small banana, mashed
half teaspoon mixed spice
1 tablespoon milk

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Line two baking trays.

In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth.

Add the beaten egg and mix

Add the mashed banana and mix

Sieve in the the flour and spice; stir into the creamed mixture.

Mix in milk and, finally, the seeds

Blob dessert-spoonfuls onto the prepared baking trays.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Allow to cool on baking tray for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack.

GREAT IRISH BAKE - DAY 3 - SPELT FRUIT CAKE

Happy Great Irish Bake Day!

My recipe tin

For the day itself, I decided to do my favourite of all my cake recipes. It is quick and simple and turns out perfectly every time for me. This is made with spelt flour which has less gluten than regular flour. I used a luxury fruit mix, but ordinary raisins or sultanas work just as well. I love to eat a warm, fresh slice of this, but it is also great cold with butter.

Juno with the Spelt Fruit Cake

As you can see, I sprinkled flaked almonds over the cake before putting it in the oven, but only because I have a pack open. They are completely optional.

The fruit studded inside of the cake

RECIPE

180ml tea
250g mixed fruit
100g brown sugar
1 beaten egg
25g melted marg
255g wholegrain spelt flour
1tsp bread soda
1 tsp mixed spice
a handful of flaked almonds (optional)

METHOD

- Soak the fruit, sugar and tea in a bowl - leave until cold
- Preheat the oven to 180C
- Line a 2lb loaf tin
- Add the melted marg to the fruit mix. Stir through.
- Add the beaten egg. Stir through.
- Sieve then fold in the flour, bread soda and spice
- Pour into the lined tin & sprinkle over almonds (if using)
- Bake for 55 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean
- Cool in the tin for 10 mins then turn onto a wire rack

GREAT IRISH BAKE - DAY 2 - BANANA BREAD

Great Irish Bake Banana Bread

We made banana bread for the Great Irish Bake - two loaves, one for my friend Karen to build her up after the birth of her lovely new baby, Harley. And one for us!

Great Irish Bake Donations Jar

The Great Irish Bake collection jar is filling up nicely for the children in Temple Street. And so to the cake - makes a good, sweet, banana-y loaf.

INGREDIENTS

2 over-ripe bananas
100g light brown sugar
125g wholegrain spelt flour
125g self-raising flour
50ml soya or cow's milk
50ml rapeseed oil
1 tsp baking powder
2 beaten eggs
a handful of flaked almonds

METHOD

o Preheat the oven to 160˚C
o Grease a loaf tin
o Break the peeled bananas into a bowl and whizz with the sugar (I used a hand blender)
o Add the eggs, oil and soya milk and whizz again
o Fold in the dry ingredients and pour into the loaf tin
o Scatter the flaked almonds on top
o Bake for 55 to 60 minutes. Test with a skewer.
o Gorgeous hot or cold, on its own or yogurt

THE GREAT IRISH BAKE for TEMPLE STREET - Day 1

I am taking part in The Great Irish Bake for Temple Street children's hospital for the first time. I got my starter pack of stuff, including spatula, stickers, balloons, recipes and napkins. The plan is to bake on several days and take donations from family, friends or anyone who stops by. For that we have our Great Irish Bake donations jar:

Donations jar

We did our first round of baking today. I made Apple and Oat Rounds, which are sugar free, soft cookies - very tasty (recipe adapted from this one on All Dishes). My mix made 20 small, soft rounds 80 calories per piece.

Juno playing with Great Irish Bake balloons

 Then I helped Juno to make chocolate buns (her favourite) after which she had fun with the cheery yellow balloons.

Apple & Oat Rounds

Apple and Oat Rounds

100g margarine or butter, softened

150g honey

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

90g wholegrain spelt flour

half teaspoon baking soda

1 tsp mixed spice

125g porridge oats

1 apple, cored and chopped very small

Method

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Grease baking trays.

In a bowl, cream together the butter, honey, egg and vanilla until smooth.

Combine the flour, baking soda and spice; stir into the creamed mixture.

Mix in oats and apple.

Blob teaspoonfuls onto the prepared baking trays.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Allow to cool on baking tray for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack.