MY MUM’S FAVOURITE RECIPE!

If you follow me on instagram, then you may have seen that my sister and I lost our mum a few weeks ago. It’s been a whirlwind of a few weeks, a few weeks where I’ve felt like I’ve been wondering around with my head in a bubble & where a wave of emotion can hit unpredictably at any given moment, triggered by the smallest of thoughts that then takes over like a great tsunami. From the beginning I knew that I needed to make sure to seek out times of calm within the things that I enjoy most, my creative outlet of my furniture has been so helpful, and th

Mums banana & date loaf

For as long as i can remember, my mum used to bake. She always made it her mission to bake every one of our birthday cakes, even doing a cake decorating course before I was born, so that she knew what she was doing. Every friend that has shared memories with us of mum have talked about being supplied with copious amounts of delicious food, lovingly prepared by my mum every time they’d come round. One thing that was a regular on her cooking list was her delicious banana and date loaf. As we all know, banana bread, for some reason, became the thing to bake throughout this last year in lockdown, but my mum was baking it in her own way long before any one even uttered the words covid who?

My mum never seemed to follow a specific recipe, she some how seemed to wing it every time and yet it always worked, every time coming out perfectly moist, sweet but not too sickly sweet, and just a yummy sweet treat that tasted of home. I baked this last weekend as i had some old bananas to use up and it seemed only right to recreate mums recipe. I shared this on my instagram story and i had quite a few messages asking for the recipe so i thought id share it for you all. It’s super easy and straightforward, understandably as my mum was a busy lady, like so many other super mums running around, caring for us, her children, my dad and working full time as a nurse as well, so convenience was key.

This Sunday in the UK it’s Mothers Day and so my family and I decided that to celebrate mum we should do something she always loved to do, and that’s have afternoon tea. So in preparation for that I’ve decided to bake, amongst some other yummy treats, some more banana & date loaf. If you’d like to try it yourself, here’s what you’ll need.

You will need :

• 2 or 3 REALLY ripe bananas. I mean, my bananas are basically black when i use them but they mash so easily and are super sweet by this point

• 150g self raising flour, seived

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 150g butter

• 150g sugar. Mum used demerara, which i prefer but you can also use caster

• 2 large eggs

• 100g chopped dates. Or less, depending on your preference.

• a dash of vanilla extract

What you will need to do :

• Firstly, turn your oven on to 180C/160C for a fan oven

• Grease & line your loaf tin. The one i use for this recipe is 10inches long.

• Begin your loaf by whisking your butter & sugar together. As its demerara sugar I find it won’t be a silky smooth mixture at this point as the grain of the sugar is larger.

• Once whisked well, add in your eggs one at a time, whisking a little between each egg added, and then add in your vanilla extract too.

• Whisk in your flour a little at a time & your baking powder at the same time.

• Once all the flour has been added, mash up your bananas and then fold them into the mix ensuring to mix them well so they spread nicely throughout the whole loaf.

• Lastly, add in your chopped dates and fold those in well too, allowing lots of air to get into the mix.

• Spoon your mixture into your prepared loaf tin & bake for approximately 45mins, however, test it every 10mins or so after about half an hour with a skewer. (The skewer should be inserted into the cake and come out clean with no cake mix on it when its done).

• Once fully baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool before slicing and enjoying!

Please let me know if you give this recipe a try, share and tag me over on Instagram.

In the meantime, happy baking, and a very happy mothers day to every mummy out there. May you be celebrated always.

Zara xxx