Banana pancakes

When you treat yourself to a bit of a lie in on a Friday, but have to be in university for 2pm, it is nigh-on impossible to squeeze in both breakfast and lunch. So there is only one solution- make brunch! Which in other words is me making up an excuse to have a really big breakfast- it really is my favourite meal. I could stretch the truth a little and say that the pancakes were an homage to my American friends in the spirit of Thanksgiving, but I don't really have any American friends, and the idea actually came from watching Jamie's Best Ever Christmas on 4od (no, it is never too early to start watching old Christmas cookery specials all over again), where he made pancakes for his adorable daughters, inevitably giving me pancake cravings (I really am horrific for getting food cravings from TV programmes). So I threw together these fluffy little beauties, topped them with some delicious creamy Greek yogurt and gooey hot bananas and caramel (which decided to turn rock hard as it cooled- anyone know how to stop this?), curled up with a cup of coffee and an episode of River Cottage a very important and canonical piece of literature, and very much enjoyed the start to my day.

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1 cup milk

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg

1  sliced banana

1 knob of butter

2 tbsp caster sugar

Greek yogurt

Method

Whisk together the flour, milk, egg and b. powder to make a batter. Fry blobs in a frying pan in a little oil or butter (I used Fry Light) for a couple of minutes on each side until golden and pancake-like. In a separate pan melt the butter and sugar together to make caramel and cook the banana for a little on each side until gooey. Serve the pancakes with the yogurt, bananas, and a drizzle of the caramel.

I'm aware that these instructions aren't very detailed or exciting, but they really are that simple to make (and just heaven to dive into). Treat yourself.

Ginger flapjack (Tea Time Treats)

This is my first time entering anything like this, but after seeing the theme for this months Tea Time Treats, hosted by Karen at Lavender and Lovage and Kate at What Kate Baked, I couldn't resist taking part, and made some ginger flapjack.

I've always loved flapjack (along with most people, I can imagine), it's such a childhood treat reminder, bringing back memories of Tupperware boxes, golden syrup tins and country walks in the frost with a flask of tea (or maybe that's just me); I've also always used the same fail safe recipe with just 4 ingredients, passed to me by my mum and guaranteed to produce sticky, yet crunchy, bars of sweet oaty goodness. However, a few weeks ago at Manchester Feast Market I tried a ginger flapjack from a bakery stall and have been wanting to try my own ever since- it was that good. So I messed a round a little with my fail-safe recipe in an attempt to make it a little gingery and a little more sticky and squidgy, and this was my result. Little squares perfect for tea time, with a hint of ginger that just tingles on your tongue. Unfortunately I didn't quite manage the level of squidginess I was going for- I seem to have inherited my Gran's knack of being unable to make flapjack that doesn't put your teeth to the test (I think 5 minutes less in the oven would have done it)- but they were still delicious, and perfect for an Autumn evening when only a comforting childhood favourite sweet treat will do.

Ingredients

6 oz/ 150g butter or marg

6oz/ 150g muscavado sugar

3 tbsp (ish) golden syrup

1 heaped tsp ground ginger

8oz/ 200g oats

Method

In a saucepan, gently heat the butter/marg, sugar and syrup until melted. 

Stir in the ginger and oats and press into a greased baking tray. 

Bake in a pre-heated oven at about 160°C for around 30 minutes or until golden. 

Cut into small squares (I got 24) and allow to cool in the tin (if you can wait that long).

Tiramisu Rex

Last night I came back to Cumbria for the first time since moving to Manchester, and it really was wonderful to be home. Not half because the dining room table was covered in a home made version of one of my favourite ‘fast’ foods (which has been described as the ‘middle class version of kfc’- a quote I love), Nandos, complete with a very welcoming bottle of wine, and waiting in the fridge- tiramisu. And not just any tiramisu, this is the best tiramisu I’ve ever eaten. It’s the best one my mum has ever eaten, and she’s done her homework. I can’t remember where the recipe came from originally (I have a vague recollection of copying it into my phone from a book in Marks and Spencer), but it’s a good ‘un. It now lives in possibly my favourite of my mum’s cookbooks, which is more like a scrapbook full of clippings and handwritten instructions written in a shorthand that only she can interpret (and of course her own hilarious touches, like labelling the tiramisu "tiramisu rex’- a private joke). Unlike a lot of recipes I see, this one isn’t bulked out with lashings of whipped cream, it’s just a pure, creamy, coffee-y, unadulterated mountain of mascarpone pleasure. So simple to make and oh so very good to eat. Trust me on this one.

Ingredients

4 egg yolks, 2 egg whites,

100g caster sugar

500g mascarpone cheese

1 tsp vanilla extract

175ml strong black coffee (get a triple espresso shot from a good coffee shop and top it up with water)
125ml liqueur (my mum uses Tia Maria)
24 sponge fingers

Method

• Lay the fingers in the bottom of a dish and cover with the coffee and liqueur.
• Whisk the egg yolks and sugar over hot water on the hob until pale and fluffy.
• When cool, mix in the mascarpone and vanilla and fold in the whisked egg whites.
• Layer the cheese mixture over the sponges and finish with a dusting of cocoa or grated chocolate.
• Dish out great bowl-fulls to your nearest and dearest and watch them devour it.

It’s even better the day after if you can manage to leave it alone for that long. And obviously don’t expect it to taste as amazing as my mum’s did last night. Perhaps it was the situation: spreading across the sofa after a month of non-stop studying, with a dish-full of tiramisu in one hand, a cold glass of pinot grigio in the other, and a border terrier on my knee. I was very happy to be home.