Bananas and Lemons

Good morning! I have been baking this last week, however, I continue to forget to take photos of my work. I have made a cake this morning which I remembered to take pics of, it's a banana cake. But first, last week I made a cake for a lovely friend at work who had a birthday yesterday and has a penchant for lemon cakes. I found an interesting one on the Best Recipes site which can be found here. It's a great basic recipe that I was able to make in only 45 minutes, including cooking time! That's the best thing about it. As usual, I did change one thing, I just can't help myself! Instead of measuring out 2 tsp of lemon zest, I added the zest of a whole lemon and a whole orange. It turned out really moist with a lovely subtle citrus flavour and the crusty crunch of the sugary top was fab. Sorry, it went before I could take photos :)

Last Thursday was the day I had my interview for patisserie school. I was pretty nervous, but happy to see that I seemed to be the only one who took some examples of home-cooked treaties. I made the mixed-berry bundt cake posted earlier and I also made a shortbread, which I found on Rachel Ray's site and which only has 3 ingredients!! I couldn't believe how easy it was; I used to be one of those peeps who feared making something like that but no longer! Unfortunately the interviewer would not taste the cakes I made, but I hope they liked it anyway.

This afternoon my Dad is flying into Melbs after visiting my sister Joey on the Gold Coast so I thought it would be lovely if we had some cakey goodness to eat. I have a wonderful vegan cookbook called Veganomicon which has some lovely cake recipes in it. I love experimenting with different ingredients and making animal-friendly cakes that taste great too. It doesn't always have to be about eggs and butter and by trying different methods and foods, I think you're just increasing your mad skillz. Word. The original recipe is actually a Vanilla-Yoghurt Pound Cake, but I have turned into a Banana Cake and changed up a few things. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
3 tbs corn flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups soy yoghurt
1 1/2 cups Tofutti sour cream
1 large or 2 small ripe bananas, mashed
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup rice, soy, oat, almond milk.

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 160C fan-forced
   
2. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl
   
3. Make a well in the centre, add wet ingredients, mix until well combined
   
4. Grease a 22 cm round or loaf tin, pour mixture into tin, bake for about 45 mins, taking care to check regularly after the 30 mins mark. Cooking time may depend on your oven

The recipe can be substituted with regular yoghurt and sour cream, if that is easier or preferred.

Ok, so mine didn't rise so much, it may be because the banana causes the batter to be quite heavy; however, it's probably because I forgot to add the cornflour! Oops. I'm sure it will still taste noice!

That's it for now, I'm off to get tattooed by the lovely Kate at 166 Tattoos in Richmond. I'll post some pics once I'm done!!

Renee