Eric Lanlard's Banana Fritters

My fridge is currently full of half opened jars and packets and little bowls of leftovers.  I really need to get better at using stuff up.  And saying that this challenge precludes me from doing so is a really lame excuse.  But sometimes, blue tinged buttercream isn't particularly useful.

With being thrifty and not wasting things in mind, I decided to tackle the issue of a ramekin full of chocolate ganache from last week's Hummingbird Bakery Cupcakes.  I probably should've turned it into truffles or just frozen it.  But it has been sat in the fridge and the cream it was made from goes out of date today so I have had to force myself to find a recipe to use it up.

Two of my five a day?

Said recipe is from an episode of Baking Mad with last week (although personally, I don't class this as baking).  Eric had me rapt the second he mentioned banana fritters.  This is something that my mum used to make for me as a child at Easter when she was making home-made fish and chips on Good Friday.  She always used a fresh yeast batter for this but thankfully Lanlard's recipe uses store cupboard ingredients.

Because I was only making this for myself, I had to reduce the recipe down (it serves six and I'm sure I could've managed the lot) and used just a sprinkle of the spices.  The flavours worked really well with the rum in the sauce.  I'm wondering what it would be like with malice instead of plain rum.  I feel more testing coming on!  

I did find I needed more milk in the batter, but this may just be because my flour was 'thirsty'  The test fritter was really stodgy.  Tasty, but stodgy.  So I added probably added another 2 tbsp of milk (I made half the quantity of batter).  

The dipping sauce used the same ratio of ingredients as I already used for my ganache so I just warmed what I had in the microwave until it was runny and then stirred in a teaspoon of rum.

Seriously, this is a really simple and decadent dessert and great for anyone who loves bananas.  And it's great for sharing.  The warm sauce was lovely with a couple of strawberries dipped in too - just for that healthy factor.

The recipe can be found over on the Channel 4 website, but I'll post it here because I know sometimes their recipes disappear after a show has ended.

Serves Six

• 200g self-raising flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• 30g golden caster sugar
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1 egg
• 300ml milk
• 1 litre vegetable oil, for deep-frying
• 6 bananas
• Golden icing sugar, to dust

For the chocolate dip

• 125g dark chocolate
• 125ml double cream
• 25g unsalted butter
• 2 tsp dark rum

Method

1. In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, spices, sugar and lemon zest. Make a well and add the egg and the milk a little at a time, mixing well until you get a smooth batter. Leave the batter to rest while you make the chocolate dip.
2. To make the chocolate dip, place the dark chocolate in a bowl and heat the double cream in a saucepan. Pour the hot cream over the dark chocolate and stir gently until the chocolate has melted. Add the butter and keep stirring until glossy, then add the rum and mix well.
3. Heat some vegetable oil for deep frying in a deep fat fryer or wok to 180°C. Cut the bananas in half lengthways and half again horizontally. Dip the banana pieces into the batter and coat well.
4. Gently place the battered banana pieces into the hot oil and fry until golden brown. Lift out and drain on kitchen paper, then dust with icing sugar and serve with the chocolate dip.

Pumpkin and Ginger Cupcakes

In the spirit of economy, I decided that rather than just trashing the innards of this year's pumpkin, I would actually make something out of them.  That makes me sound rather wasteful, doesn't it?  But this is only our second year of pumpkin-age, so it's hardly a crime to have disposed of one lot is it?

In my defence, last year, when the husband insisted we got all Hallowe'eny - I think his paternal instinct finally kicked in around this time - so I duly purchased a pumpkin, scooped out the innards, carved a scary face (not modelled on him, despite the rumours) and set about Googling for a pumpkin pie recipe.  Whilst surfing, I was distracted by the then six-month-old pumpkin and by the time I returned to the kitchen, the actual  pumpkin had been disposed of because 'it's making the kitchen smell, and quite frankly it looks like something one of the dogs hewed up'

Pumpkin and Ginger Cupcakes with Ginger Frosting

With the husband being immediately suspicious of anything that looks remotely new - food, clothes, having had half an inch cut off my hair (hard to tell when your hair is curly, but he always notices) - I figured the best way to try and get him to eat pumpkin was to disguise it under a layer of frosting.  So cupcakes it was.  I found the recipe (then lost it, then found it again) on the Baking Mad website.  And found LOADS of other things I want to bake too - but alas no time at the moment.

Although the mixture did indeed look even more like something that had come out of one or other of the dogs, it had a beautiful, spicy autumnal aroma and evoked thoughts of being gathered round a bonfire, sparkler in gloved hand and waiting for a hot drink and something yummy to eat.

With it being so thick and there being so much of the mixture, I carefully ensured to only fill the cups 2/3rds full but wasn't convinced they'd be particularly light or rise well as the pumpkin seemed to so heavy compared to the rest of the mix.  But I was pleasently surprised to find beautifully soft and moist cakes with a gorgeous, warming ginger flavour.  My grandmother would've adored these cakes.

Last year's pumpkin <3

As I'm not a fan of cream cheese frosting, I chose to make regular butter cream, flavoured with the syrup from the stem ginger.  Top idea.  Although next time, I'd probably finely dice some ginger to add to the frosting too.

So onto the taste test.  Abigail was so excited while I was icing the cakes, she clung to my legs and bounced up and down like a hyperactive frog so they're not very aesthetically pleasing.  She then carried her cupcake to her high chair, got strapped in and rather dubiously prodded the strange smelling frosting.  Twenty minutes later, frosting licked completely off the cake, the sponge finally disappeared in two bites to a chorus of 'all gone, more Mummy, more'.  Result.

Next the husband.  Eyes lit up like a Jack O'Lantern, one disappeared really quickly and a second was reached for until I said 'Did you like it?'  'Grunt. (with an affirmative tone)' 'It was pumpkin and ginger' 'Oh, I thought the chocolate tasted weird.'  '*Sigh*'

Ah well, he ate one.  He didn't directly complain.  Will be interested to see how long it takes the others to disappear.  But another highly recommended recipe!

You can find it here.

If you want to make my version of the frosting, mix 250g icing sugar and 80g of unsalted butter together using a free standing mixer or a hand mixer until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.  Add two tablespoons of syrup from a jar of stem ginger and mix on high speed for five minutes until you have a light and  fluffy frosting.  If you prefer your frosting thicker, add a little more icing sugar or if it's too thick, add a splash of milk.

I'm entering this into the September 2012 Alphabakes.