BANANA BREAD DOUGH CINNAMON ROLLS (2 ingredients)

These rolls are not at all time consuming, have only 2 ingredients & no yeast. Banana bread flavoured, they are soft and fluffy and filled with cinnamon sugar.  Makes 7 rolls.

INGREDIENTS
DOUGH
1 cup (242 g) – 3-4 very ripe bananas, pureed
2 cups (257 g) SR flour
FILLING
6 Tab (85 g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
1/2 cup (82 g) packed light brown sugar
2 tsp (6 g) cinnamon

1.  Preheat oven to 160°C (FF). Grease an 8″ round baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.

2.  In a medium bowl, add in banana puree & flour. Use a spatula to scrape all the banana ends up in the bowl. & to mix the banana puree into the flour. Continue to stir until a dough forms. If needed, knead a few times to make a cohesive dough. Transfer to the fridge until chilled & firm enough to roll out, about 20 minutes.

3.  While the dough chills make the filling. In a small bowl, stir tog the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until evenly combined and a smooth paste forms. Set aside.

4.  Once dough has chilled, lightly sprinkle your work surface with flour. Add dough and roll out into an approximate 9×12 inch rectangle, about ½-cm thick. Using a spatula, spread cinnamon sugar across the dough in an even layer.

5.  Starting from the short end of the dough, roll it up tightly to form a log. Using a serrated bread  knife, first slice off the uneven ends. Then slice log into 7 same-sized rolls (use a ruler to make them all the same). Wipe your blade after each slice to keep the cuts clean.

6.  Transfer the cinnamon rolls to the prepared baking pan. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until rolls are puffy and a light golden brown around the edges. Let cool a little before eating. If desired, you can spread icing on top of the rolls before serving.

NOTES:
– You can use a solid 8 inch cake pan or a springform pan. If using a springform pan, I recommend putting it on a baking sheet because some of the filling may leak through during baking.

– Self-rising flour: There are 2 main kinds of self-rising flour sold in the US. One that is a lower protein flour (2 grams per 1/4 cup serving) and one that has a regular amount of protein or the same protein amount that is in all purpose flour (3 grams per 1/4 cup). Brands like King Arthur Flour and White Lily make the low protein flour. Brands like Gold Medal and Amazon Fresh contain a regular protein amount. The amount of protein affects how much liquid is absorbed. For this recipe, a regular protein self-rising flour was used. If you have a self-rising flour with low protein, I recommend you make the homemade self-rising flour below for this recipe because otherwise your dough will be too sticky. We did try making this with low protein self-rising flour and it did not work well.   Would nut flour be okay then!!?

– Homemade self-rising flour: Combine 2 cups of all purpose flour, 3 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt. Whisk to evenly combine.

– You do want to work quickly once the dough is out of the fridge so that it doesn’t get too soft. If you find your dough is too soft to cut, you can put it back into the fridge for a few minutes to firm up again.

Optional Icing:
1 cup (100 g) powdered sugar
2 tablespoons (30 ml) whole milk
1 tablespoon (14 g) melted butter and slightly cooled

Whisk together the powdered sugar, milk and butter until evenly combined. You can add more sugar to make the icing thicker or add more milk to make it thinner.

Estimated nutrition is for the rolls only and does not include icing. Some of the filling does run out of the rolls as they bake so the estimated nutrition is going to be a little higher than the actual amount since it assumes all of the filling is consumed.
NUTRITION
serving: 1roll, calories: 278kcal, carbohydrates: 45g, protein: 4g, fat: 10g, saturated fat: 6g, sodium: 404mg, fiber: 2g, sugar: 15g, net carbs: 43

Mary Berry’s ‘lovely’ coffee sponge cake

A lovely change to a classic Victoria sponge*, it’s the perfect treat to pair with a cup of tea and is incredibly easy to make in only 5 minutes.

Ingredients
To make the cake:
225 SR
225g caster sugar
225g baking spread (straight from the fridge) ie Lurkpak or Fairy (or butter etc)
4 large eggs
2 heaped tsps instant coffee granules – decaf made up
1 level tsp BP
To make the icing
225g icing sugar
75g butter (softened)
1 T coffee essence (carob, espresso, chicory)
Kitchen equipment:
Two round sandwich tins
Non-stick baking paper
Large mixing bowl

Preheat the oven to Fan 160C. Grease sandwich tins, line bases with baking paper.

Place instant coffee in a bowl: dissolve with 1T boiling water – mix until smooth.

Measure out baking spread, caster sugar, SR, eggs & BP into a large mixing bowl. Add coffee mixture and beat until you have a well-blended & smooth batter.

Divide batter evenly between the sandwich tins, bake in preheated oven for 25-30 mins until
well-risen. Leave cakes to cool in the tins a few mins then turn out onto a cooling wire rack, making sure to peel off the baking paper as you do so.

To make the icing, blend the butter, icing sugar & coffee essence tog in a mixing bowl until you have a smooth icing. Once cakes are completely cold, sandwich together with icing and place onto a serving plate.  Sprinkle a little icing sugar on the top before serving.

* The secret to making a sponge cake is making sure the butter temperature is perfect before baking. For the cake, the butter or baking spread needs to come cold straight from the fridge while the butter for the icing needs to have sat at room temperature before use.