Week Forty Seven

Lots of phone pictures this week, and a pretty mundane week it's been too. Plenty of time staring blankly at Word documents trying to get words on a page for the last few pieces of coursework. I can't wait to get into the Christmas spirit this week and get my decorations up, once that last piece is written! 

Monday - Healthy dinner of sesame cod with kale and mushrooms. 

Tuesday - Brownies with chocolate chips and dried cranberries. It's the same as the brownie recipe I've posted about before, just with the plain chocolate, cranberries and chocolate chips in. Next time I think I'll go for fresh cranberries, to make the brownies a bit juicier.

 Wednesday - I picked up some extra juicy oranges from the supermarket, and they've been my go to snack all week because they're so amazingly juicy! (This post is really juice heavy isn't it!?) 

 Thursday - I Capture the Castle is one of my favourite books, and when I couldn't sleep it was the obvious thing to turn to.

Friday - Brightening up the flat with big bunches of flowers.

Saturday - Coursework almost over, there was no excuse not to celebrate a friends birthday.

Sunday - The perfect way to end the week.

Nutella Swirl Banana Bread Muffins

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I shared a picture of my fossilised bananas with you? I'd said that banana bread was about to happen, but I decided to mix things up a bit, and went for banana bread muffins instead, with a little swirl of Nutella in the top. The idea was that I could freeze them individually, away from immediate temptation, and then whip them out when I fancied one.

In the name of honesty I have to tell you that this did not happen - they were demolished pretty quickly (although I did take some to work to share, so it wasn't tooo bad). I have since managed to make and freeze some brownies though (so proud!)

I braved the muffin tray without wrappers, primarily because I didn't have any muffin cases, and I was so happy with how they turned out with just a little bit of butter in each hole. Don't they look cute naked?

The recipe is really easy, and because they're so much smaller than a normal loaf of banana bread they cook much quicker. If you have the self control, it is also really easy to pop them in the freezer - no slicing means no drying out, so the defrosted result is much tastier. It's a win win. The recipee comes from the Hummingbird Bakery.

Nutella Swirl Banana Bread Muffins

200g Light Brown Sugar
70g Caster Sugar
2 Eggs
200g Ripe Bananas, Mashed
280g Plain Flour
1tsp Baking Powder
1tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
140g Melted Unsalted Butter

Nutella (how much is how much you fancy!)

1. Preheat the oven to 180oC and grease a twelve hole muffin pan
2. Beat the sugars and the eggs together until light and airy
3. Mix  in the mashed bananas
4. Sieve the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda together, then gently fold in to the wet ingredients
5. Finally add the melted butter.
6. Split the mixture evenly between the muffin pan, and then swirl the Nutella in to the top of the mix
7. Bake for 25 minutes until risen, and a knife comes out clean in the middle

Week Forty Five and Forty Six

Welllll it's two weeks for the price of one. It's so nearly the end of the year, I can't believe it! 

Monday - Remember when I showed you my mouldering bananas? They became nutella swirl banana bread muffins.

Tuesday - I finally got my notice board up on the wall (thanks Dad) so I finally finally got to put my Anthropologie Arctic Animal push-pins in! I got them for Christmas last year and I've been waiting to use them since then.

Wednesday - Have you tried these Cadbury Snow Bites? They're balls of chocolate with a crispy shell and then covered in icing sugar. I think they've been around for a couple of years now, and I love them. Having said that, the M&S version are much better in my opinion, but they are not easy access, so on Wednesday I went with what I could get,

 

Thursday - A last minute dash down to Newcastle for the weekend.

Friday - Starting the Christmas baking planning. I AM SO EXCITED please tell me you are too?

Saturday - Ben and I went to Corbridge with his Mum, a really lovely village filled with poke around shops and amazing food. I fell in love with these tea towels (and the whole place! I took so many photos, I might pop an entire post up).

Sunday - Zooming back to the train station to head back up to Edinburgh.

Monday - I really need some bigger pans that actually have lids. 

 Tuesday - Two of my friends from Aberdeen came to visit for a couple of days, and they brought me a beautiful Poinsettia for the flat.

Wednesday - A proverb I really liked on the side of the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood. 

 

Thursday - We finally finished our placement (and associated 13,000 word report) and we definitely earned this celebration.

Friday - I finally managed to get some bits and pieces hung up on my bedroom wall.

Saturday - Sometimes there's no better way to spend Saturday than snuggled up with TV and fairy lights. It's one of the things I really love about this season - cosy nights in.

Sunday - Slippers getting seasonal.

Week Forty Four

Is it just me, or is it weird that forty doesn't have a u in it, but four does? On typing the title of this post, I suddenly feared I'd been spelling forty wrong for weeks, but it appears it's just one of the oddities of the English language. 

This week has primarily seen me slumped over my laptop trying desperately to keep on top of coursework. Looking for something faintly interesting to photograph each day has been a welcome distraction. What are you up to at the moment? Facing tough deadlines, or enjoying the last gasp of Autumn before Winter really sets in?

Monday - Moody skies as darkness descends over the rooftops of Edinburgh

 Tuesday - Pudding trying really hard to be healthy but failing a tiny bit, because Tuesday is hard sometimes isn't it?

Wednesday - Climbing up the Salisbury Crags in complete darkness to watch fireworks over the city was absolutely terrifying, but so worth it once we got up there.

Thursday - The tiny, adorable yawning face you can just about make out through the blur of my phone is Velu, a nearly 5 month old baby chimp.

Friday - Winter vegetables piled in the slow cooker, ready to be soup.

Saturday - Porridge with sultanas, cranberries and mixed spice, topped with a teaspoon of demerara sugar. The sugar caramelises on top of the hot porridge, and it's a perfect winter breakfast.

Sunday - Banana bread is about to happen. It would be rude not to really wouldn't it?

Sticky Toffee Apple Bonfire Cake

It wasn't my aim for this cake to match the leaves on the drive, but I think it's a beautiful comparison. When I was baking all I could think about was the taste of toffee apples and the smell in the air after Bonfire Night (I hope you're thinking about it now too).

It's deceptively simple, and because of the way the toffee is baked in the oven it won't break your teeth either. You just get that beautifully sweet, rich taste with chewier bits around the edges. You heat up some sugar and water then pour the glistening toffee over greaseproof paper in a round tin. It sets quickly - by the time you've made up the cake mix and sliced the apples it'll be cool enough to use.

You can arrange the apple slices however you like, I went for something traditional but I was thinking about it afterwards, and you could probably make some nice images and patterns. The cake mix is thick and honey coloured, and fills the cake tin right to the top.

While the cake is in the oven the toffee melts, turning the apples the colour of autumn leaves and caramelising the top of the cake. I can't stop looking at the shine of the toffee on the apple slice below!

Luckily, this can be whipped up in no time, so there's still time to get on the table for the 5th

Toffee
200g Caster Sugar
3 Tbsp Water
2 Large Apples

Cake
225g Salted Butter
150g Light Brown Sugar
75g Caster Sugar
1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
4 Eggs
225g Self Raising Flour
1/2 Tsp bicarbonate of soda
60ml Milk

1. Grease your baking tin and line with greaseproof paper. Preheat the oven to 180C or Gas Mark 4
2. For the toffee, put the caster sugar and the water in a pan and heat on high, making sure NOT to stir at any point.
3. When the sugar has melted and is golden remove from the heat and pour into your prepared tin.
4. Slice your apples and arrange them on top of the toffee.
5. For the cake mix the butter and sugars until pale and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract.
6. Sift the flour and the bicarb in, and then fold the mixture together.
7. Add the milk.
8. Place the cake tin on a baking tray to catch any melted topping, then bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.
9. Immediately flip out, watching out for any burning topping (I needed that advice and didn't get it. Sadface.) and leave to cool. Serve with extra thick cream for a little added indulgence.

Week Forty Three

Despite being in the middle of deadline season, this week I'm pleased with the array of images I've captured. Except for the noodles, it has to be said (phone photos aren't the best are they?). What have you been up to this week - are you working up against deadlines like I am?

Monday - A little seasonal treat. 

Tuesday - Surprise flowers from Ben cheering up the living room window ledge.

Wednesday - "fakeaway"

 Thursday - Pygmy hippos are so cute and tiny compared to normal hippos, I always have to stop and say Hi when I'm walking past.

Friday - a toffee apple inspired bake I'll be sharing with you later in the week.

Saturday - Beautiful tealight centrepieces at the wedding of one of my friends from school.

Sunday - Autumn colours are my favourite. Autumn is neck and neck with winter in my internal favourite season debate.