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It is true that there are at least 1001 recipes for Banana Bread. It is also true that some of them will claim to be the best ever recipe. Whilst I can’t say that I am remotely qualified to be the judge of the best banana bread, I can say that I am somewhat qualified to eat them. So I decided that with a surplus of bananas (in Australia April-June and August-October are the best times to eat them), I’d make four different kinds of Banana Bread. The first one was of course from Nigella, the second a standby good old banana bread recipe I found in a Woolworths Fresh magazine, the third from the Taste website by Janelle Bloom (yes, I know she microwaves everything but this recipe did not involve the microwave and I was persuaded by the coconut flavour in it) and the last one is a Chocolate Banana bread by Karen Martini from the Sunday Life magazine.

1. Nigella’s Banana bread

I was woken at 7am this morning by a sudden urge to bake. Actually no, it was the birds outside and their loud morning calls that woke me but not knowing what to do with myself, I decided to bake. It was at the urging and from the favorable reviews on Vogue’s food forum that I sought to make Nigella’s banana bread. I was also influenced by the bananas that were ripening aromatically in my kitchen that were the perfect size for this recipe. The addition of brandy or rum soaked sultanas and walnuts makes this a little fancier and showier than your normal Banana Bread. I call this the Marcia Brady of the Banana Breads.

I made this a little rougher textured that I would like in that I didn’t chop the walnuts too finely and unlike most baked goods, I found this really came into its own when it was cold, sliced and buttered. When it was straight out of the oven, it just didn’t appeal to me as much.

• 100g sultanas
• 75ml bourbon or dark rum (or apple or orange juice if you’re wanting it to be non alcoholic)
• 175g plain flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• half teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• half teaspoon salt
• 125g unsalted butter, melted
• 150g sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 4 small, very ripe bananas (about 300g weighed without skin), mashed
• 60g chopped walnuts
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 23 x 13 x 7cm loaf tin, buttered and floured or with a paper insert

1. Put the sultanas and rum or bourbon in a smallish saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, cover and leave for an hour if you can, or until the sultanas have absorbed most of the liquid, then drain.

2. Preheat the oven to 170ºC/gas mark 3 and get started on the rest. Put the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt in a medium-sized bowl and, using your hands or a wooden spoon, combine well. In a large bowl, mix the melted butter and sugar and beat until blended.

3. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the mashed bananas. Then, with your wooden spoon, stir in the walnuts, drained sultanas and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture, a third at a time, stirring well after each bit.

4. Scrape into the loaf tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 1 to 1 and a quarter hours. When it’s ready, an inserted toothpick or fine skewer should come out cleanish. Leave in the tin on a rack to cool, and eat thickly or thinly sliced, as you prefer.

Makes 8-10 slices

From How To Be A Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson

2. Woolworth’s Fresh Banana Bread

This is more your plain Jane, nothing fancy like walnuts or brandy soused sultanas. I see it more as the Jan Brady of Banana Bread. Nigella’s would undoubtedly be Marcia Marcia Marcia. That doesn’t mean Jan isn’t good but she just isn’t as flashy but it also means that she is less work. It’s soft and fine grained but less moist.

Prep: 10 minutes Cooking: 50 minutes Makes: 1 loaf (10-12 slices)

• 1 cup (150g) plain flour
• 1/2 cup (75g) self raising flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 125g butter, melted and cooled
• 2 eggs whisked
• 3-4 ripe bananas, mashed

1. Preheat oven to 180c. Grease and line the base and sides of an 11cms x 21cmsx6cm deep loaf pan.

2. Combine flours, sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl. Whisk butter and eggs together. Stir in banana. Spoon into prepared pan. Smooth the surface.

3. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set aside in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Serve spread with butter.

Recipe: Woolworths Fresh magazine

3. Janelle Bloom’s Banana and Coconut Bread

Yes I do know that she is on Ready Steady Cook purporting the merits of Microwaves at every turn but I am willing to overlook this because of the addition of coconut and coconut milk in this Banana bread. This cake is very delicate, moist and light, the lightest of the four and not overly sweet but just sweet enough. Interestingly, there’s no butter in the recipe with the moisture and fat content provided by the coconut milk (I used coconut cream) which produces a lovely moistness. I call this the Mrs Brady-the surprise fox among the hens.

Ingredients (serves 8 )

• 1 cup desiccated coconut
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 1/2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
• 1 cup mashed banana (see note)
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease and line a 6cm deep, 10.5cm x 20.5cm (base) loaf pan.

2. Combine coconut, sugar and flour in a large bowl. Using a fork, beat banana, coconut milk, egg and vanilla in a jug. Pour over flour mixture. Gently stir to combine. Spoon mixture into pan. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes or until a skewer inserted into centre comes out clean.

3. Stand for 10 minutes in pan. Turn onto a wire rack to cool completely. Serve sliced or toasted with butter, jam or cream cheese.

Notes & tips

* Note: Two large or 3 medium-sized ripe bananas will give 1 cup of mashed banana.
* Tip: Banana coconut loaf will keep for 1 week stored in an airtight container.

Source Super Food Ideas - September 2005 , Page 21
Recipe by Janelle Bloom

4. Karen Martini’s Chocolate and Banana Bread

I left the most fiddly one until last. It’s not particularly fiddly when you compare it to a normal cake but it does require creaming and thus the aid of the heavy equipment whereas the other banana breads just needed a bit of luxuriated stirring. I am in two minds about Karen Martini’s recipes, the ones that I have tried have not been great, but the picture of this one was too tempting to not make. As it turns out, mine did not resemble the one in her picture in the slightest (notwithstanding the fact that I forgot to add the banana on top). Hers was a deep, dark chocolate colour on the outside with a glossy coating on top. Mine was more a very light brown and not glossy. Also when cutting it when warm, it wasn’t very dense, I would have liked a note to slice it when it’s cold. So I guess it’s the last Karen Martini recipe for me at least for a while. I like the little notes that Nigella gives and the fact that things turn out as they look in the pictures. As its the most trouble, and a little bit dense, it just has to be Cindy Brady.

• 250g plain flour
• 20g cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 120g butter softened
• 130g raw sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2-4 very large ripe bananas (about 500g, mashed plus 1 extra)
• 60g shredded coconut
• 80g dark chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to fan-forced 175c (195c conventional)

2. Soft combined flour, cocoa and baking powder into a bowl. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well in between. Add mashed banana and stir until combined. Fold in flour mixture, then add coconut and chocolate chips and stir until well combined.

3. Grease a loaf pan (22×12cms) and line the base with baking paper. Spoon mixture into pan. Slice extra banana and place on top of loaf (arrrgh I forgot the banana on top!). Bake for 65-70 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer.

Recipe from Sunday Life by Karen Martini

I can say that out of the 4, I most liked Janelle Bloom’s Coconut and Banana bread the best followed closely by Nigella’s Banana Bread. I wasn’t so taken by Karen Martini’s Chocolate banana bread as I prefer dessicated to shredded coconut as it’s more delicate. As for the plain Jane Jan Brady Woolworth’s loaf, that was my least favourite in comparison with the others.

However my husband was an entirely different matter altogether. He liked the Woolworths Fresh magazine one the most, followed by Nigella’s, then Karen Martini’s Chocolate Banana bread and then Janelle Bloom’s Coconut banana bread which he said stuck to the roof of his mouth too much for comfort!

Having said that I don’t think that I would chuck any of them out of my bed at night and I found them all, uniformly best served cold with a spread of butter.

The Domestic Goddess herself, Nigella Lawson graced our fair, sunny shores today to sign the books of the Sydney contingent of her Antipodean fans. I for one, managed to sleep well despite the occasion although there was just a little hint of trepidation along with excitement. What if she wasn’t as lovely as she is on television? Would I have to rename my blog to “I don’t want to be Nigella”? That’s the risk of meeting your “idols” I suppose.

I managed to convince my lovely husband to take a few hours off work and come with me to photograph her book signing and we lined up at about 11.45am for the 12:30pm start. There were already about 200 people lined up, some since at least 9am. The crowd is made up of 2/3 women and 1/3 men and the line snakes around the shops on the first floor. There were at least 5 security personnel as well as ABC staff on hand to see that everything ran smoothly. The security guards are apologetic about the long queue and the ABC staff apologetic as Nigella will only be signing her name due to the number of people and only 1 item per customer. Damn, there goes my little intro about my website when I ask her to sign to “Not Quite Nigella”

Once 12:30pm hit, the line moved smoothly. It was only another 10 minutes until we reached the front and we ushered to the corner of the store where the Domestic Goddess herself sat. In a candy pink cardigan and black dress (exactly like the one she wears on the Nigella Feasts DVD cover) she is as stunning as she is on television. Her skin is luminous and she has a broad sweet smile. I have three books but the ABC staff help open them up to the signing page so that she’ll sign them all.

Yes the above photo and three below photos were our little exchange! My arm on the left

I even get a bit of a conversation with her when she comments “Wow, you have so many things marked for cooking” about the earmarks on all of my books. While in the queue, I was a little embarrassed at my well worn, well marked books compared to everyone else’s pristine copies but she doesn’t seem to mind. I said to her that I had already made at least 1/4 of Express, hence the dodgy cover but Domestic Goddess was my favourite as I love baking and I would have brought all 6 but I didn’t think that it was practical. She smiles that fabulous and genuine smile again and says that is wonderful and that bringing all 6 would be rather too heavy indeed. She signs unhurriedly and cocks her head while doing so which is much like the way she is on television.

After a few more photos and a thankyou and goodbye, we’re ushered along to make room for more people getting their books signed. She has a lovely smile for everyone and looks at everyone in the eye which is exactly what everyone had hoped for. I think the title of just “Goddess” would be rather fitting.

ABC Shop

Level 1, Queen Victoria Building
455 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Listen to a podcast of Richard Fidler’s interview with Nigella here (click on headphones icon)

At this rate, my Peters of Kensington voucher, a Christmas present from A&D, is slowly dwindling down to nothing. I can’t help stock my already stocked and tiny cupboards with even more baking tins. These Madeleine tins are my latest purchase along with some Golden caster sugar (for what, I have no idea), green sprinkles and ceramic pie weights.

I adapted Nigella’s Rosebud Madeleine recipe to add ground pistachios. I’ll take any chance to include pistachios, especially in desserts as I love these gorgeously hued nuts and these little rosebuds I had were practically insisting that they pose in the photographs.

Although Nigella says that this recipe makes 48 mini madeleines (or 24 regular ones) I found this to be quite inaccurate. I only made 12 regular madeleines. This is the same problem I encountered with her Pistachio Macaron recipe. I don’t think it’s due to me under-whipping the eggs, they were suitably whipped to 3 times the original size. I also didn’t bother with the 1 hour’s refrigeration and subsequent standing for 30 minutes at room temperature. Other Madeleine recipes do not call for this and I figured why turn something simple into something arduous and fussy? In any case, these delightful little cakes are incredibly easy to make and would make gorgeous gifts or you could simply serve these with tea and make your guest feel most welcome.

Pistachio and Rose madeleines

• 1 large egg
• 40g caster sugar
• pinch of salt
• 25grams unsalted pistachios
• 2 tablespoons of pure icing sugar
• 50g unsalted butter, plus 1 tablespoon for greasing pan
• 45g plain flour, preferably Italian 00
• 1 tablespoon rosewater
• 24-bun mini-madeleine tin (I used a 12 tin regular madeleine tin and only just scraped by enough for 12 although the 12th madeleine was a little smaller than the rest).
• icing sugar for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 220ºC/gas mark 7 and butter and flour the madeleine pan. Melt all the butter over a low heat, then leave to cool. Grind pistachios with icing sugar until fine.

2. Beat the egg, caster sugar and salt in a bowl for about 5 minutes, preferably with an electric mixer of some sort, until it’s as thick as mayonnaise or about 3 times the original volume-it will be pale and a lemoney white. Then sprinkle in the flour; I hold a sieve above the egg and sugar mixture, put the flour in and shake it through.

3. Fold in the flour with a wooden spoon and then set aside a scant tablespoon of the cold, melted butter for greasing the tins and fold in the rest along with the rosewater. Mix well, but not too vigorously.

4. Spoon batter into tins, about 1 teaspoonful in each should do for mini madelines or 1 tablespoon in each for regular sized madelines. Don’t worry about covering the moulded indentations; in the heat of the oven the mixture will spread before it rises. Bake for 7 minutes, though check after 5. Turn out and let cool on a rack, then arrange on a plate and dust with icing sugar.

This recipe made 12 regular madeleines for me

Adapted from How To Be A Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson

OK please forgive me if I am rolling out all of the stereotypes by having a Guinness flavoured cupcake decorated with green shamrocks. But I am assured by airyfairy’s post that Guinness is indeed a national obsession within Ireland and well, stereotypes are mostly borne of typical behaviors. I used a Nigella recipe, her Chocolate Guinness cake but made in a cupcake form. I also halved it to make a dozen cupcakes so if you would like to make it a regular sized cake, double all of the proportions below and cook in a lined 23cms springform tin for between 40 minutes to an hour and let cool in tin.

What I wouldn’t have done for a shamrock cutter but I’m afraid that in the short time space I had I couldn’t find any as the stores are packed with Easter goodies and I didn’t have enough time to order one from overseas. So the slightly odd shamrocks that I made I’m afraid will have to do for the time being. I admit I didn’t make the cream cheese topping as I used a buttercream one that I had make an excess of a few days before. I chose these high pleated soufflé cups as I wanted them to resemble a tall glass of frothy Guinness.

The resultant taste is unusual, certainly the pleasure wasn’t in the actual eating as much as the aftertaste which I found pleasantly different and lingering and Nigella’s description of a “ferrous aftertaste” is quite spot on. I have tried Guinness once and for someone who doesn’t like beer at all, it’s one of the more palatable beers. And my husband was only too happy to volunteer to drink the remaining 315ml of the can. Aren’t husbands good that way?

Chocolate and Guinness Stout cupcakes for St Patrick’s Day

This cake is magnificent in its damp blackness. I can’t say that you can absolutely taste the stout in it, but there is certainly a resonant, ferrous tang which I happen to love. The best way of describing it is to say that it’s like gingerbread without the spices. There is enough sugar – a certain understatement here – to counter any potential bitterness of the Guinness, and although I’ve eaten versions of this made up like a chocolate layer cake, stuffed and slathered in a rich chocolate frosting, I think that can take away from its dark majesty. Besides, I wanted to make a cream cheese frosting to echo the pale head that sits on top of a glass of stout. It’s unconventional to add cream but it makes it frothier and lighter which I regard as aesthetically and gastronomically desirable. But it is perfectly acceptable to leave the cake un-iced: in fact, it tastes gorgeous plain.

FOR THE CUPCAKES (makes 12 regular sized cupcakes)

• 125ml Guinness
• 75ml sour cream
• 125grams unsalted butter
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 40g unsweetened cocoa
• 140grams all-purpose flour
• 200grams caster sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

FOR THE ICING

• 150g Philadelphia cream cheese
• 65ml heavy cream
• 75grams icing sugar
• Green coloured fondant and shamrock shaped cutter (I just printed an outline of a shamrock, placed it on top of the fondant and traced along it with a sharp, light knife)
• Green sugar crystals
• Silver cachous

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, and butter and line a cupcake tin with papers. Pour the Guinness into a large wide saucepan, add the butter – in spoons or slices – and heat until the butter’s melted, at which time you should whisk in the cocoa and sugar. Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla and then pour into the brown, buttery, beery pan and finally whisk in the flour and baking soda.

2. Pour the cake batter into a measuring jug-it will make this infinitely easier to pour into the cupcake cups and pour the thick chocolate-y batter into the liners about 3/4 of the way up, it will rise up a little but not too much. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes and remove to cool on a rack.

3. Lightly whip the cream cheese until smooth, sift over the confectioners’ sugar and then beat them both together. Or do this in a processor, putting the unsifted confectioners’ sugar in first and blitz to remove lumps before adding the cheese.

4. Add the cream and beat again until it makes a spreadable consistency. Ice the top of the black cupcakes so that it resembles the frothy top of the famous pint.

Recipe adapted from Feast by Nigella Lawson

This has got the be one of the easiest but most gratifying dishes from Nigella Express. With a sum cooking time of 3 minutes (ok you could add on 2-3 minutes for getting the mixture to a boil) it will make a seafood chef out of the most reluctant cook.

I don’t want to mislead though, there is some time necessary for preparing the mussels. Firstly I rinsed them several times in clean cold water and debearding them and removing the barnacles was something that I found oddly therapeutic. I didn’t “knock them off” as Nigella said with the back of a short sharp knife as the barnacles were more flat than raised, rather I scraped the shells with a short sharp knife which seemed to do the job.

As I used spanish onions, I started off by sauteeing them lightly in butter and oil along with the garlic and then added the curry powder before adding in the white wine and bringing that to a boil. After that I added the mussels and it was 3 minutes with a bit of pot shaking (also therapeutic, simply imagine you were throttling or shaking about an annoying colleague) and it was done. And if you’re more organised than me, have some gorgeously crunchy Sourdough at the ready to mop up the briney, fragrant soup.

I leave you with a photograph of a kookaburra on our balcony, taken by my husband. Perhaps it was lured by the sweet smell of the Mouclade!

Mouclade from Nigella Express

• 2kg mussels
• 4 baby leeks (or spring onions) finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled nad finely sliced
• 500ml white wine (or 250ml Noilly Pratt and 250ml water)
• 2 teaspoons Madras curry powder
• 125ml double cream

1. Soak the mussels in some clean, cold water and -if they haven’t been dealt with in the shop-sort through them, debearding and knocking off any barnacles with the back of a small knife

2. Take a large pan with a lid. Add the sliced baby leeks, sliced garlic, white wine and curry powder, bring to the boil.

3. Tip the mussels into a colander, discarding any that haven’t closed and tumble the rest into the pan, clamp on the lid and cook on a high heat for about 3 minutes. Shake the pan around as they are cooking.

4. When you lift the lid, the mussels should have fully opened. Discard any that haven’t. Add the double cream, and then turn into a bowl to serve, or take the pan straight to the table. Remember to put out a bowl for the shells.

Serves 4

Recipe by Nigella Lawson from Nigella Express