A few months ago, gripped by baking fever, I purchased Mary Berry's Baking Bible. I quickly decided to embark upon a mission to bake everything in the book, and turn myself from an occasional baker into a bit of an expert. My Grandad Ern was a Master Baker by trade; the man responsible for introducing Danish Pastries to England in fact, and I wish it had occurred to me to spend more time learning from him, rather than simply enjoying the fruits of his effortless labours. This project is almost a way of making amends for that; I'd like to follow in his footsteps (if not in my career, at least as a hobby) and continue the proud heritage of baking in my family.
I credit my friend Rachel with the idea to write a blog about my baking exploits, hoping that there will be more successes than failures as I attempt all 213 of the Queen of Baking's recipes.
So as not to bore the husband with a monotonous diet of sponges, followed by weeks of biscuits, I've decided to tackle the recipes by selecting the first bake from each chapter, followed by the second recipe and so on. I'm not going to pick and choose; I'm determined to face my baking demons and learn how to do everything baking-related, even if the consequences are disastrous!
Everything will be photographed, with comment about how I found baking it, and a husband rating (to be taken with a pinch of salt as he has a very selective cake-tooth).


Sunday 16 April 2017

90. Banana and Honey Teabread

Once again faced with some over-ripe bananas, but wanting to try a different recipe, I chose this for mine and Elizabeth's next baking collaboration. I later discovered that I had three banana loaves already in the freezer, but one can never have too much cake handy!
Very straightforward recipe and method, but I was surprised to see that nutmeg was an ingredient. Never had nutmeg with banana before, and not a huge fan of the flavour, but was quite intrigued to see how it would work. Quite a lot of honey (the thick pale stuff, not the runny variety) was used: 6 tablespoons in fact, so I expected it to have a really strong honey flavour, especially given the inclusion of honey as a topping. Elizabeth certainly enjoyed tasting the honey, and she's since developed a real passion for honey on toast! She really enjoyed bashing the sugar cubes with a rolling pin to make the topping too - this was definitely a child-friendly recipe.
I kept an eye on it while baking, but still managed to over-do it a little bit - bloomin' oven! I didn't worry though - previous 'browned' banana bread loaves have not been adversely affected by a bit of over-baking.
Baker's verdict: easy to make, substantial and tasty. The nutmeg flavour was a little odd, and the honey wasn't as dominant as expected, but the honey on the top worked really well. I think I'll stick to the other banana bread recipe, but use the honey glaze to make it a bit more special.
Husband rating: 5/10 - compared to the other banana bread loaf, it wasn't as good. The nutmeg flavour was too strong and it didn't really taste of banana and wasn't as moist. The other one is simple, tasty and just better in every way. Baked very well, but the recipe wasn't to my taste.
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