Banana Ginger Cake Recipe

Now this recipe is really yummy.

Cake:

6 oz sugar, (3 oz demerera, 3 oz caster)

2 oz butter, softened

3 medium bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
7 oz flour

1½ tsp baking powder

1 oz finely chopped glace ginger

2 tbps semi skimmed milk

Topping:

6 oz icing suger
2 oz butter

½ tsp ginger powder (or to taste)
Sprinkling of nutmeg

1. Preheat the oven to 180° C/350° F (Gas Mark 4)
2. Grease an 8" square cake tin
3. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, mix sugar and butter together. until blended.  Add mashed banana, vanilla and egg.  Mix well.
4. Add flour, baking powder, glace ginger, to mixture.  Mix well, and add milk as needed.
5. Transfer to the cake tin.
6. Bake for around 25-35 minutes at 180° C, until a skewer into the centre comes out clean.  Leave to cool, then turn out onto a cooling rack.
7. In a small bowl cream the butter, then mix in the icing sugar and ginger.  
8. Cover the cake with the topping, leaving it rough or peaked.  Sprinkle with the nutmeg powder.  Cut into around 9 squares before serving.

Whenever I make this cake, it is well received.  I have to say, I just love ginger, so this is one of my favourites too.

More Home Cooking and why.....

Over the last couple of years, since I have been more home based, I have put a lot more effort into cleaning up our family diet.  It has been a slow process in many ways, but out have gone the processed foods, containing dodgy chemicals and additives, and in have come organic produce and more raw foods.  The process is by no means complete, but much progress has been made.  

For example the Microwave has been discarded, initially, delegated to sterilysing dishclothes, but now removed completely. There are many articles on the internet casting doubt on the nutritional value of food after microwaving, so erring on the side of caution, this has gone!

High Fructose Corn Syrup, (HFCS) appears highly suspect.  There is of course much data available disproving the dangers, but I have now read enough to be sure that it is not something I want in our diet. Most factory produced cakes, biscuits and squashes contain HFCS, so I am buying less and home baking more.  Actually, the time usually runs out before I get round to baking so even better for us, eating less sugary foods altogether!


The Aspartame in most diet products means for me, dieting is back to eating sensibly rather than taking the easy 'low calorie' route. It seems clear that whenever a manufacturer removes sugar or fats to make a product 'low calorie' the chemicals that are added in their place are more harmful than the 'fattening' item that has been removed!  If it says 'Diet' on the packet, it gets left on the shop shelf!

I could go on...  I would love to be able to claim that we are all living a healthy vegan or raw diet, but that is not the case, but where I see enough credible evidence, I seek to remove the items from our diet. 


For me over the counter pharmaceutical drugs are out now too.  A glass of water, usually clears a headache.  Alcohol is for special occasions, and even then in small quantities if at all, rather than an everyday item.


Is it worth the effort?  It is for me. I have got rid of joint pain, brain fog, and many other horrid symptoms..... a few more to sort out still, but I am 100% that this is the way..... and now on with adding some recipes, even naughty ones... at least if I am making it I know what has gone into it.


I read somewhere, and cannot remember the exact quote, but if you read the ingredients on shop bought food, "If you cannot pronounce it, don't eat it!"  Sounds right to me!