Much of a muchness

I had some friends round for supper on Saturday and took the opportunity to indulge them, and consequently myself. Well, it was the weekend and the diet can start again on Monday. After falling off the wagon and buying my favourite biscuits from Marks and Spencer – organic chocolate covered ginger and pear biscuits – so delicious, I compounded the damage by baking my favourite ‘No knead’ bread using the recipe I posted a while ago and then went to town on the desserts.

I took advantage of the delicious English strawberries in the shops and made Eton Mess, a mixture of crushed strawberries, lightly whipped cream and broken up meringue shells and I also served up Minted Pineapple, I think it’s a Jamie Oliver recipe – fresh mint leaves, chopped and then crushed in a pestle and mortar with a couple of spoonfuls of granulated sugar. This is then stirred into some fresh pineapple which has been chopped into small chunks. It doesn’t sound very inspiring but it is absolutely delicious, much nicer than the simplicity of the ingredients would suggest.

My ‘No knead’ bread recipe and these simple no cook desserts reminded me of a wonderful cake I used to bake which was a great favourite of my sons. It too, involves minimal effort to prepare – no beating, all the ingredients are just lightly mixed in a bowl, then baked. Foolproof – just my kind of recipe!

All-in-One Chocolate Banana Cake

• 190g plain flour
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 150g caster sugar
• 2 tbsp golden syrup
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 150ml vegetable oil
• 150ml milk
• 2 mashed bananas

Sift together, flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder. Add the sugar, syrup, eggs, oil, milk and bananas and mix well. Pour into a shallow 8 x 13 inch baking tin which has been greased and lined with greaseproof paper. Bake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees centigrade for about 35 minutes or until springy to touch. Allow to cool.

Chocolate frosting

• 50g butter, melted
• 2 tbsp milk
• 450g icing sugar
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• vanilla essence

Put melted butter and milk in a bowl and sift in the icing sugar and cocoa powder and mix until soft and fluffy. Add a few drops of vanilla essence and mix in again. Leave for 5 minutes until thick enough to spread. Swirl over the top of the cake, then cut the cake into 24 pieces.

Eat, enjoy and restart diet when all finished!