Simple and good: banana cake

It's not always sewing round here.

Sometimes, there's baking. A good, simple banana cake, for example: ideal for feeding to (or indeed making with) children, and perfect alongside a cup of coffee, too.

This particular cake has no added frills. No chocolate chips, no nuts, no vanilla or cinnamon. it's just soft and gentle and full of banana. I don't know where the recipe originally came from; my much-loved, much-splashed, handwritten version was copied from my mum.

Banana cake

Pre-heat your oven to 150° C, and get out your Magimix.

Ingredients:

• 115 g butter or margarine, softened
• 140 g sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 - 4 ripe bananas (about 300 g or slightly more), mashed
• 200 g self-raising flour
• half teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon milk

Now, bananas. Of course, the beginning of many banana cakes is the need to use up overripe specimens that would otherwise go to waste. But in my house, the wasting away of bananas rarely coincides with the time and inclination to make cake. And we would waste many: my picky kids refuse to eat a banana, once a black spot has appeared. So what do we do? We freeze them.

They go entirely black, and they look fairly revolting once defrosted. But, what you scoop out of the skins is ideal for immediate baking, no mashing required.

With your bananas appropriately prepared, now mix your batter:

• Cream together the butter/margarine and sugar
• Add the egg
• Add the (mashed) bananas
• Add the flour, baking soda and milk

Line a loaf tin, pour in and level the batter, then cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and cool in the tin. Cut, and eat.

 Sometimes, the good things really are that simple.

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Birthday crowns for birthday boys

Almost three years ago, I made my first ever birthday crown. It was for L's third birthday. Crowns were not a birthday tradition in my family, but I had seen this tutorial and spotted them on Soulemama's children too, and then it turned out that G had had birthday crowns when he was little as well. No further excuses needed! I set to and enthusiastically sewed up my own version.

This month, I realised just how quickly these traditions become binding. There was pre-birthday crown excitement. I am now obliged :-)

Luckily, I am also happily obliging.

I can't believe he's four already - and such a MAN about it!

He wore his crown on a birthday trip to the playground, where we saw our little friend JJ and his mummy. JJ's birthday is five day's after T's.

Inevitably - of course - this happened:

Because you can't not share the love, can you?

Updated to add: I made previous versions in felt, as seen on L modelling her ice cream dress.

Should you wish to make your own, the tutorial I linked above is in Dutch but the pictures are clear and these are pretty straightforward anyway. I don't bother making a casing for the elastic and can knock one out in about half an hour. They make an excellent, last minute, scrap-busting gift!

P.S. Spot the sneak peek of another recently-finished make... can you guess what it is?

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Tiny vanilla buttons

 

Soft focus cookie, anyone? They really are delicious. And virtuously small. 

 

I actually made these a few weeks ago and then forgot all about the photos. In real time I am baking a lot of mince pies and having a go at peppermint bark (just because Soulemama makes it look so Christmassy). Some present making and sewing is going on too. School finishes tomorrow and, while I don't usually get all reflective and such, I'll admit that I'm ready for a change of pace. It won't be less busy for a few days (there's  last minute shopping, wrapping, cooking and, of course, sewing to do) but I will be deliberately enjoying it instead of rushing through the checklist. (Well I'll be trying, at least. Remind me of this when I'm trying to handknit a turkey at 5 am on Christmas Day).

Anyway, sometime soon I hope to show you some of those home-sewn gifts, take the time to read through those many, lovely blog-posts about other people's handmades, and get in gear for the new year. Because of course, plans are brewing...

Till soon, friends, and in the meantime: merry Christmas! Or happy holidays or however you like to put it - I'm not fussed :-)

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In the kitchen

Much-loved oven gloves and fast-devoured blackberry coconut squares.

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