In balancing trying to have a chilled out weekend, and keeping the boys entertained we ended up with a cake being baked.
Random, but hey it worked. And it not only entertained the boys but provided us all with happy tummies as well.
And I didn't even know at the time that #nationalcakeweek was about to start - must have been something in the air.
I'd been reading one of my favourite magazines 'The Simple Things' and saw a recipe for Banana and Date cake that looked and sounded really yummy!
Miraculously, we also had (near enough) all the ingredients required in the cupboard :)
For the full recipe see here on p.9 - however, we swapped the salted butter for Vitalite spread - if eggs hadn't been needed then ours would have been a vegan cake; I used a mixture of ordinary granulated sugar and brown sugar in place of the golden caster sugar; and chopped dates as we didn't have any Medjool ones. Other than that we followed the recipe, using dark chocolate and even placed the sliced banana on top. Oh, mind you we also used a square tin and not a round one.
It was really easy to make, took just over an hour to cook in the oven and really was delicious.
The boys have named it 'supper cake' as it easily replaces their usual supper of half-a-banana and a fig biscuit before bed*. I other the other hand, have really enjoyed mid-morning cuppa & cake this week :)
Cost: Less than £3 and we've had approx. 20 servings.
Time: 20 mins preparation and 60-70 mins cooking time. Less than a few day to eat!
Equipment: Above ingredients, mixing bowl, kitchen scales, cake tin, oven
Boys Club Rating: Yummy. Delicious. Can we make some more is all I've heard! Yes, we'll be baking it again.
*For those interested, the boys eat half-a-banana and a fig roll before bed. Banana's are a great natural source of melatonin, the sleep hormone, and figs are a good source of tryptophan, a vitamin that induces good sleep. Not sure if its scientifically proven but we've done it for years and they always been good sleepers - so that's good enough for me.
The original recipe is from Palestine on a Plate by Joudie Kalla and in the October Issue of The Simple Things.
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