I have been really busy lately and don’t feel like I’ve spent as much time with my kids as I’d normally like – so today, at her request, my little miss and I had a really lovely afternoon together. We watched Lady and the Tramp cuddled on the couch and then she asked to make a cake together for afternoon tea – how could I resist this face …..

We had a whole bunch (pun intended!) of bananas that needed using up, sooner rather than later, so we quickly made this cake. So  deliciously moist and sweet. My kids were in afternoon tea heaven!

• 1 1/4 cups plain spelt OR GF flour mix
• 1/4 cup almond OR seed meal
• 2tsp GF baking powder
• Pinch pink salt
• 2tsp mixed spice
• 90g Nuttelex/vegan butter, melted
• 30g Sunflower seed butter (or other nut butter that suits)
• 1/4 cup yoghurt of choice (I’ve used soy or coconut)
• 1/2 cup honey OR maple syrup
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 4 medium, overripe bananas
• 1 tbsp coconut sugar.

Into your blender/processor/nutribullet/thermo cooker place 2 of the the bananas, Nuttelex, seed butter, yoghurt, vinegar and honey/syrup. Blitz until smooth (Speed 7, 10 seconds)

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, meal, baking powder, salt and 1 tsp of the mixed spice..

Add the dry mix to the wet and mix to combine (Speed 4, 10 seconds, scrape down and repeat). Don’t over beat. I often just tip the wet mix into the bowl with the flour mix and combine by hand.

Line the bottom of a cake tin, then mix together the coconut sugar and 2nd tsp of mixed spice, the sprinkle evenly over the bottom of the tin.

Slice the remaining 2 bananas and spread them evenly around the tin on top of the spiced sugar mix.

Pour the cake mix over the top of the bananas and sugar, then place into a preheated moderate oven for about 30 minutes or until well risen, golden and an inserted skewer is just clean.

Allow to cool in tin for 10 minutes, then invert onto a plate, slice and serve.

Especially delicious served warm!

Enjoy 🙂

Such a speedy, light and tasty afternoon tea cake.

My kids absolutely demolished it!

• 225g stewed/tinned plums (drained from their juices)
• 50g Nuttelex/vegan butter/tasteless coconut oil, melted
• 160g milk of choice
• 1 medium overripe banana
• 4 tbsp maple syrup/coconut sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 cups spelt flour OR 1 1/2 cups GF flour mix plus 1/4 cup hazelnut/seed meal
• 2.5 tsp GF baking powder
• pinch Himilayan salt
• 1 tbsp coconut sugar

Into your blender/processor/nutribullet/thermo cooker place the plum, banana, Nuttelex, vanilla, milk and syrup. Blitz until smooth (Speed 7, 10 seconds)

In a separate bowl, whisk together the baking powder, salt, spices and flour (and almond/seed meal if using).

Add the dry mix to the wet and mix to combine (Speed 4, 10 seconds, scrape down and repeat). Don’t over beat. I often just tip the wet mix into the bowl with the flour mix and combine by hand.

Pour into a greased baking tin and sprinkle with coconut sugar.

Place into preheated moderate oven and bake for about 45 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

P.S. This one works really nicely if you replace the plums with equal weights of apricots or peaches and switch the ratio of ginger to cinnamon (so 1 tsp of ginger and 1/2 of cinnamon) – you can find it in an Apricot Muffin form here

Enjoy 🙂

Mmmm, warm tea cake! Such a perfect afternoon tea.

We enjoyed ours on a sunny winter’s day down by the lake with a picnic cuppa for Mother’s day …. highly recommended serving suggestion 😉

• 1 1/2 cups plain spelt flour OR 1 1/4 cups plain GF flour mix
• 1/2 cup almond OR seed meal
• 2.5 tsp GF baking powder
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 3 tbsp aquafaba (liquid drained from a can of chic peas) OR 1 whole egg
• 3/4 cup milk of choice (I use rice or oat)
• 60g Nuttelex or tasteless coconut oil, melted
• the juice and finely grated zest of 1 medium lemon
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• 1 tsp Nuttelex and 1 tsp vanilla sugar to top (optional)

In a small bowl mix together the wet ingredients, including the zest and whisk well to combine.

In a large bowl use a whisk to mix together the dry ingredients.

Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until combined, don’t over beat it.

For a Thermal cooker, place all dry ingredients into machine first and mix on speed 4 for 10 seconds. Mix together the wet ingredients in a separate bowl then add through the chute at the top whilst mixing on speed 4. One all of the liquid is added, scrape down the sides and mix for a further 8 seconds on speed 4.

Pour the mixture into a lined  21cm round cake time.

Press the blueberries gently into the top.

Place into a preheated moderate oven for 45-50 mins or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.

As soon as you remove the cake from the oven, spread the Nuttelex over the top and them sprinkle with the vanilla sugar.

Leave it in the tin to cool for 10 mins before transferring to a wire rack.

Serve warm or cold.

(as an aside, I don’t know how this does in the freezer because there was only 1 slice left and my 7 year old claimed it for his lunch-box!)

Enjoy 🙂

P.S. If you enjoy this flavour combination you should check out my Lemon and Blueberry tart

My mum loves her cuppa. If we’re out at a cafe she mostly she resists sweet treats (serious will power!) but she does have a soft spot for a date and oat biscuit, so these ones are for her for Mother’s day. Hope you enjoy them mum 🙂

• 1 cup wholemeal spelt or light rye flour or plain GF flour mix
• 3/4 tsp GF baking powder
• 1/2 cup vegan butter or coconut oil
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 2 tablespoons flaxseeds
• 4 tbsp aquafaba (the liquid drained from a can of chic peas) – or 1 whole egg plus 1 tbsp water
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 Himilayan salt
• 2 cups rolled oats (or rolled quinoa for the GF version)
• 6 medjool dates, pitted

Using a food processor cream together the butter and sugar (Speed 4, 10 seconds)

Add in the aquafaba, vanilla, ginger salt and flax then mix again to combine (Speed 4, 8 seconds)

Drop the pitted dates one at a time onto spinning blades through the chute at the top, then process until dates are finely chopped (speed 4 whilst adding dates, then up to speed 7 for about 10-15 seconds)

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, oats and baking powder then add half of this dry mix at a time to the processor and process to combine (Speed 4, 12 seconds, scrape down and repeat for next half).

Use about 3/4 of a tbsp of mix and roll into a tight ball (not quite as big as a golf ball), place onto a lined baking tray, then press down with the palm on your hand to a thick disc shape.

Bake in a preheated moderate oven for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.

The cookies will still be soft when you remove them. They will harden as they cool. Allow to cool on the tray for 10 minutes before transferring then to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Makes 18. They keep for about a week in an airtight container or you can freeze them.

Enjoy!