Banana Loaf and Apple Blossom

The winter lettuce has finished but I’ve started on the cabbage I’ve been growing over the last few months. Sure sign that Spring is well and truly underway. I cut off a large fresh and juicy head and steamed it with diced apple and leek. It was delicious with a spoonful of soured cream and salt and pepper.

Almost used the last of the kale too. Gathered some leaves, steamed them and served them with my cashew cakes. I find it’s easier to cut kale and snip out any stems with scissors than to chop it . Red Winter is the one we prefer.

Unfortunately I made five instead of four cashew cakes so, as you can see, the pan was overcrowded and I couldn’t keep the shape. Still tasted good though. I added some chopped leek for extra flavour.

With an awareness of climate change and threats to wildlife it has become more and more obvious that it’s important to garden organically. This dawned on me about twenty years ago and now I can’t imagine using any kind of chemicals in the garden. Once the system is established everything works more in harmony. Of course, there are still slugs and insect pests but there are many ways in an organic garden to keep control. Hedgehogs and birds eat slugs and snails, ladybirds eat aphids, growing under cover prevents pests like carrot fly and a little roughness around the edges benefits insects, butterflies and bees. It’s a joy to sit and watch the many forms of life whizzing about in the garden and to know it’s all a good thing.

The fruit tree blossom is buzzing with bees and other pollinators. My favourite, the apple blossom, is just beginning to bloom. So pretty.

It’s been exceptionally dry. Lovely in many ways because flowers look so perfect when they’re not damaged by rain and wind but a big job keeping everything watered. Some small pleasures though. The lupin leaves looked like they were studded with diamonds after they’d been sprinkled.

Most of the early show has finished and there will be a short gap before the summer perennials take over. But the shrubs are lovely. The rhododendrons are opening their flowers and the berberis is a picture.

There are still a few lovely flowers in the borders too.

I had hoped to grow cranberries in the garden but sadly the plants were accidentally removed when we were doing some work. But bought cranberries are very good and I love the dried ones sweetened with fruitjuice to use in baking. I often add them to cakes and one of our favourites is my banana and cranberry loaf.

I have tried many banana loaf recipes from books and magazines but whatever I did they always seemed rubbery and disappointing. So I invented my own recipe and I was very pleased with the result. Perhaps you’d like to try it. It’s very easy. I always make two and freeze one. Not economical to use the oven heat for only one cake but, of course, you can easily halve the recipe if necessary.

Banana and Cranberry Loaf
Makes 2

4 Ripe Bananas
4 large Eggs
150g Caster Sugar
400g Self-raising Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
30g Bran
200g Sunflower Oil
1 packet dried Cranberries (Whitworths or Ocean Spray)

Whiz bananas in a food processor or mash well until smooth.
Put all other ingredients except cranberries in a bowl, add bananas. Mix well. Stir in cranberries.
Put mixture into two loaf tins.I use liners to make it
easy to turn them out.
Bake at 180C/160C fan oven for 40 minutes.

Serve sliced and spread with butter.

This has been a difficult time for all of us but the sun is shining and the moon last night was wonderful. I caught a glimpse with my camera.

I hope you have been well and kept busy doing enjoyable things. I’ll be with you again in a few days. Feel free to comment. I love to hear from you.