Recipes

I am always pleased to share my recipes and the first one I’d like to offer you is for the ever popular Hummingbird Loafkins.

This quantity of batter will make 20 – 24 little loafkins so you may like to halve it. But they freeze well without the topping so why not bake a large batch. They are guaranteed to disappear very quickly!

Ingredients:

375g self raising flour

375g caster sugar

One teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

One teaspoon salt

One teaspoon Fairtrade ground cinnamon

350ml rapeseed oil (you can use vegetable oil if not available)

3 large free range eggs, lightly beaten

One 220g tin crushed pineapple or one large tin pineapple chunks, drained and blitzed in a food processor

450g mashed Fairtrade bananas

One teaspoon Ndali vanilla extract

120g chopped Fairtrade walnuts (don’t chop too finely – it is nice to have a bit of bite to them)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees fan assisted. Place 24 mini loaf cases on a baking tray (if you do not have these the batter can be baked in cupcake cases. Alternatively you can make two large loaves (they will require around 45 minutes cooking time)

Sieve together the flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cinnamon (dry ingredients)

Whisk together the oil, eggs, pineapple, vanilla extract and bananas. (wet ingredients)

Add the dry to the wet ingredients, folding in carefully until completely combined. Stir in the chopped walnuts.

Using an ice cream scoop – I love this one from Pampered Chef – divide the mixture between the mini loaf cases.

Bake in the preheated oven for twenty minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre of a cake comes out clean.

Frosting:

Beat together 200g soft cream cheese, 110g softened unsalted butter and one teaspoon vanilla extract. Gradually beat in 450g – 500g icing sugar to form a stiff but spreadable frosting.

Using a palette knife spread over the cakes and top with chopped walnuts as in the photo.