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So I’m back in the much cooler climate of South East England for the foreseeable future and in the midst of setting up my Brighton seaside home. First weekend, blue skies, a visit from a good friend and time to christen my new kitchen (oh how I’ve missed having somewhere to cook).  Liz is a true domestic goddess, constantly baking and perfecting desserts, so Saturday afternoon with no encouragement necessary, I handed her a mixing bowl – needless to say this recipe comes courtesy of her.

I should also briefly explain that I’ve recently tried out several very different banana loaf recipes in an effort to find a worthwhile use for the surplus of over-ripe bananas I always seem to have.  The first was a little over spiced with not quite enough banana oomph, another asked for too much baking soda that left a dryness in my mouth. Then there was a recipe involving walnuts, which Mel commandeered from a Chicago coffee shop she used to work at in her early 20’s; delicious, but still not quite what I was looking for. This one truly wins hands-down – it is a little fiddlier than the rest, and I guess not quite so figure friendly, but who cares when it tastes this good, right?

Peanut butter chocolate chip banana muffins
Makes approximately 12 muffins

220g/ 2 cups sifted plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2-3 medium ripe mashed bananas (save one half to slice & top each muffin)
115g / 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
45g / 3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened, divided use
115g / 1/2 cup granulated sugar
110g / 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
120ml / 1/2 cup milk
60g / 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
1 1/2 tsp Demerara sugar (optional for glazing)

Preheat oven to 170 C/340 F. In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt then put to one side. In a second larger mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed (or a good hand whisk), beat together bananas, peanut butter, 2 tablespoons of the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until creamy, about 2 minutes; beat in eggs and vanilla extract until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in milk (texture is like a thin pancake batter at this point) and then slowly add flour mixture until just combined; stir in chocolate chips. Pour mix into your cases (here we used little individual silicone muffin cases), top with a slice of banana and place on baking tray; bake for 25-30 minutes. Towards the end of the baking time, melt remaining tablespoon of butter and mix in Demerara sugar. Remove pan from oven and brush sugar & butter glaze evenly over each muffin. Place back in the oven to bake for a final 5 minutes to give them a crunchy golden brown top. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before removing from cases.

If you’d rather make a banana loaf, follow the same guidelines, just grease and use a 9-inch loaf pan instead. Oven temperature will remain the same, but increase baking time to 1 hour and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before running a knife around outside edges, removing, and transferring to a wire rack to cool further before slicing. – Lorna

I confess I have been using this same sponge recipe with it’s rich chocolate butter icing for years now so it’s truly tried and tested. The original recipe came from the mother of one of my former boyfriends and although the boyfriend is gone this chocolate cake and I are meant for each other. I cannot recount a time I’ve made this cake without several immediate requests for the recipe from friends and colleagues, which I’ve always found a little strange given it’s closeness to every other basic sponge recipe out there, but honestly there’s just something about it’s lightness in taste and texture that never fails. Thanks Di.

Light chocolate sponge cake
(makes one large cake or approximately a dozen medium size cup cakes)

6ozs Self raising flour
6ozs Caster sugar
6ozs softened Butter
1 level teaspoon Cocoa powder (I personally love the green & blacks version)
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking powder
3 eggs (whisked together in mug or bowl)
2 tablespoons warm water

Make as you would a normal sponge (with or without blender). Just cream together the butter and sugar, and then add in the eggs a little at a time. Sift in the flour with the baking powder added, again bit-by-bit is best, and stir using a folding motion to keep it airy. Finally sift in the cocoa powder and warm water, mix well and scoop the mixture (which is always missing a finger full by this point) into your chosen baking dish – I’m all for the fabulous non-stick silicone molds now available in all shapes & sizes.

Bake your cake (or cakes) on a middle oven shelf for 30 minutes at 160C/325F (Gas Mark 3)

Rich chocolate butter icing
(pardon the pun, but this really is the icing on the cake, it’s indulgent, but just not the same without it)

2ozs softened butter
4ozs icing sugar (sifted)
1 heaped teaspoon Cocoa powder
1-2 teaspoon warm water

As above really, cream butter with icing sugar and cocoa and when the mixing gets tough just add in a little hot water.

Spread on, in or (as in the above photo) pipe into to your cupcakes! – Lorna

2010 Holiday Cookie Swap | Recipe 1

It’s the season and all that, and this year Lorna and Mum are heading to join us for Christmas in New York! I am very excited about having them here for the holidays and although I know it’s going to be a really rough time for all of us as it’s our first Christmas without Dad (Dad would also have been celebrating his 60th birthday December 22nd), I’m happy we will be spending it together.

As both Mum and Lorna will be here I thought this year that I might host a cookie swap but, as usual, I left it a bit late and I’m not sure people will have the time. I was hoping to invite 6-8 people over with their favorite cookies and the recipe. We’d all come away with some tasty cookies but I was also hoping to bake all the recipes in turn once a month, photograph them and post the recipes here on GF&H. As I said, this year it’s a bit late to do the party so instead I’m going to make this first annual GF&H Cookie Swap a virtual one and you are all invited! Send your recipes to us at greenfigsandham@gmail.com and once a month we will pick one to feature. Please remember to include a your name so we can attribute the recipe to you (and any source names if, for example, it’s from a recipe from a cookbook) and a web address if you’d like us to link back to your site if you have one.

Right, so I’m going to start with a recipe for mini mice cookies that I found in a Martha Stewart magazine. I’ve made some changes to the recipe because, firstly Martha’s version calls for licorice tails and neither of my girls like that, and secondly because I don’t have the time (or frankly the patience) for melting and piping chocolate for the eyes and mouth. I’m aware that Martha only needs 4 hours of sleep a night so she has the time but I need at least 8 to be human so I’m looking for short cuts where ever I can. Happy Holidays! – Melani

Mini Mice Cookies
makes about 30 mice

Okay this makes white mice, but if you want to make the chocolate ones too make an additional batch of dough but but reduce the flour to two and a half cups and add half a cup of unsweetened cocoa powder and increase the sugar to 1 full cup.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temp.
3/4 sugar
1 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
3 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
3/4 tsp salt
(Cocoa Powder if making brown mice)
Fruit leather or Liquorice
Sliced Almonds

For the icing

1/2 cup icing sugar (confectioners sugar)
1 teaspoon Golden syrup or honey
1 1/2 teaspoons water
Brown food coloring gel

Mix together the sugar, syrup and water to get icing. You can just use an icing bottle or just use a toothpick to apply it. Now the icing will be white so great for the chocolate mice but to get the brown for the white mice I just added brown gel food coloring (gel coloring is better as it won’t make the icing any runnier). If you do have the time you can melt chocolate and pipe it on for the eyes and mouth.

Mix the butter in and sugar together really well until it’s pale and fluffy, beat in the vanilla extract and then the egg, on low add the flour and salt a bit at a time until it’s mixed. Divide the dough in two and form into sausage shapes about the fatness of the mice, wrap in cling film and then pop them in the fridge for about an hour just to firm up a bit, or keep them this way until you are ready for them; up to about 3 days. If you leave them longer than an hour or two, make sure they’ll have time to warm up a bit or it’ll be like trying to mold rock. This time I made half of each color dough and put the rest in the freezer to see if I can make them again in a few weeks – I’ll let you know.

Put the oven on 350. Form the mice (they should be about 1 1/2 inches long), then push in two almond for the ears and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment and cook for about 18 – 20 minutes, turning once half way. While they are in the oven cut strips of fruit leather to size. Transfer them to a wire rack and while they are still warm push the fruit leather strips or liquorice tails into them. Make sure you do this while they are warm as once the cool they’ll just crack if you try do it then. Once they are cool add eyes and mouthes and voilà!