Cake cravings!!

I have been so bad this week. I've had such terrible sugar cravings that avoiding the chocolates left over from Christmas has been very difficult. In an attempt to avoid falling off the food wagon and giving myself a food hangover I've made a couple of my standby recipes, the ones designed to satisfy my cravings with minimal damage and only a small dose of guilt.
Banana bread was something I made regularly with my mum when I was a kid. It was  the best way to use up squishy bananas and the blacker the skins the sweeter the fruit, that way you can get away with leaving out the sugar. I put dried apricots in mine as well to give abit of sweetness. Not the nasty bright orange ones though, they're just unnatural, nasty things covered in sulphites guaranteed to give you a jippy stomach (Bleugh!).

 Brilliant Banana Bread

8 oz Rice Flour ( sometimes if I run out of rice flour I use doves farm gluten free self raising instead)

4oz vegetable margarine

2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder ( don't forget to add this, I forgot once and ended up with a spongy biscuit!)

5 or 6 dried apricots, chopped quite small (unsulphured, I buy crazy jack organic ones, expensive but worth it)

3 tablespoons of sweetened soya milk, you might need abit more depending on the consistency of the mixture, don't add to much though or it'll take ages to cook in the middle.

Set the oven to gas mark 4 or the electric equivalent, and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin.


1. Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl.

2. Add the margarine and mix together using chopping motions until you get rough breadcrumb sized pieces.

3. Next stir in the apricots followed by the two eggs.

4. Finally add the soya milk and stir really well to mix thoroughly. Pour into your loaf tin and bake for between 45 mins and an hour. Test the middle with a skewer or cocktail stick to check that the middle is cooked.

5. Turn out onto a rack to cool. This cake is perfect for freezing, that's if it lasts long enough!!

I spread margarine or fruit spread on mine, it is very moreish though so expect it to disappear very quickly!!

My other guilty pleasure this week has been Bakewell tart. Its one of those things that I didn't realise I missed until I couldn't have it anymore. I found a recipe for it in a book I borrowed from a friend of mine but it was quite bland to be honest so I fiddled with it. Now I can make it with only a little sugar by increasing the amount of almond essence that I put in the frangipan mixture and by spreading morello cherry fruit spread in the pastry case first. The original recipe didn't incorporate any raspberry or cherry filling and I'll be honest the chickpea flour pastry it featured tasted like frozen peas!!! I make it with gluten free flour and a touch of mixed spice, its much nicer. It can be hard adapting recipes sometimes, especially when you have quite a few intolerance's but its not impossible you just have to persevere through the disasters.

Well, i'm back on the wagon now, lets hope i can spend the next week avoiding "junk" and cracking on with some new foodie experiences.