When in need of a vacation, bake yourself banana bread.


These last days I feel I have been spreading myself far too thin, wanting to fit too much into the small window of available time I have in between school runs, house chores, motherhood and wifelyhood and taking care of myself - say whaaaat? I don't even know what that is anymore!! I end up scattering myself in between far too many things, and end up acomplishing none.


I shall blame this on having been down with a nasty cold just last week, that left me listless and unable of doing much more than revising my neverending fantasy novel. Even the task of editing photos for the blog was an impossibility of sorts, eyes watering down constantly, preventing me from seeing what I was in fact doing. I did binge watch a lot of PLL, though, and The 100, along with re-runs of Buffy, The Vampire Slayer (I mean, Angel, right???). But not much more was acomplished.


So I stepped into this week knowing I had a lot of catching up to do, starting with my exercise routine, which when you have a cold goes out of the window, obviously! I also had a lot of photos to edit, a lot of changes to make in my novel, chapters to be moved from one book to the other, dates and numbers to be checked, yaddayaddayadda, along with stuff I wanted to cook and shoot for this blog. I kind of found myself slightly exhausted by the end of each day.


I found myself begging for the Easter Holidays so I could at least not have to rush through the mornings, so I could take things leisurely as I woke up, but the truth is, if I were to really think about it, I get nothing done whenever my son has his school hols. Nothing! Between the time I get out of bed and the time I get the boy out of bed, you have no idea how much I squeeze into that window of time. Leaving me free to exercise as soon as I return from the morning school run, leaving me free to sit down at my desk by ten a.m. every morning to work on the blog or my novel. So why am I longing for the hols?


Frankly, because I need a break. I need a morning where I can hop my butt to Lisbon and go window shopping on my own, strolling casually down Baixa or Avenida da Liberdade, checking out the stores, the folks, the movement of the big city. I haven't been able to do that in far too long, and I really need it, so I can relax a bit. This is the kind of stuff I do not do with hubby and child, they will annoy the hell out of me, so I need one little break for myself, and that means Easter hols.


But seeing that the Easter hols are still a week and a half away, well, here's a sort of banana bread or banana cake, as you prefer to call it, to render these few days sweeter. I used the batter to make a round, medium sized cake and a few muffin-like smaller ones, as well as a pot that was to serve as dessert and had a combo of banana cake and sour cherry jam. It worked out fine, I do love banana bread, or cake, I love the nutty flavour it gets, and I love dropping in a bit of chocolate into the mix, it brings the whole thing onto another level!


So here's the recipe for the cupcakes and the bigger cake:
  • two ripe bananas, mashed
  • 1/3 cup melted unsalted butter
  • one cup light demerara sugar
  • one egg, beaten
  • one tsp vanilla extract
  • one tsp baking soda
  • one and a half cups flour
  • one pinch salt
  • Chocolate buttons
Pre heat your oven at 175º and line the baking moulds you want to use with butter and flour. On a bowl, add the mashed bananas to the melted butter. Blend in the baking soda and the salt. Then add the sugar, the egg, the vanilla and finally the flour. Mix thouroughly and pour the batter into the baking moulds of choice. On top of each mould press down lightly into the batter a medium sized dark chocolate button. Bake in the oven for about 45m to 50m. Once it's cooked, allow to cool slightly before unmoulding.


As for the little pot, you'll need:
  • half a banana bread cupcake
  • jam - I used sour cherry
  • liqueur - if using sour cherry, the Ginja de Óbidos, a raditional sour cherry portuguese liquer, will work wonders! If not, use a liqueur that matches the jam you're using.
  • one chocolate button
I'm giving you the quantities for one pot only, but obviously, you can go ahead and make a few more! So, start by cutting the cupcake into chunks, or if you have a rounded cutter the size of the pot you're using, it will work even better. Lightly douse one of the chunks into the liqueur and place it at the bottom of the pot. With a spoon, cover the cake with jam. Douse the other piece of cake in the liqueur and place it gently over the jam. Cover with the chocolate button and cool it in the fridge for at least half an hour. It's sweet and yummy and good, serve it as a dessert or a treat!



Comments

  1. There never seems to be enough time for all that goes on in our head. So true..!

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  2. Fiquei deliciada com este post, e esta receita está mesmo super gulosa :)
    Beijinhos e bom fim de semana ...
    Gulosoqb.blogspot.pt

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  3. só mesmo uma fatiorra deste teu bolo maravilhoso hoje para animar este dia de chuva e frio que nunca mais passa! estou fartinha do inverno!!! o teu bolo e as fotos estão maravilhosos! quanto a não ter mãos a medir, nem me digas nada! um dia conto-te!
    beijinhos e força aí!

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    Replies
    1. Fartinha do Inverno é a palavra de ordem, mesmo...

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  4. Minha nossa que aspecto e as fotografias também estão lindas!
    De vez enquanto todos nós precisamos de tempo para nós próprios e sabe bem. Já conseguiste esse momento para ti?

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    Replies
    1. epá, não!! Com duas gripes seguidas, acho que estou a anos luz de conseguir assim uma manhã ou uma tarde só para mim, a fazer o que me der na real gana!! ;) mas lá se há-de arranjar qualquer coisinha, mais cedo ou mais tarde, espero eu eheheheh. Obrigadaa!!!

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  5. Parecendo q não, estar doente quebra o ritmo a tudo, mm q esse tudo seja feito em casa!! O que eu quero ler esse romance!!! É em português? Agora lembrei-me, em que lingua estarás tu a escrever!!

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    Replies
    1. Lol, o romance de fantasia estou a escrever em português, mas as mistery novels escrevo em inglês - se bem que dessas só uma está terminada looool. I'm the biggest faaaaaiiiiil!!

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