For this.

I'm using Alison Gofton's recipe for banana cake at the moment and I gotta say it comes up REAL good.

Use this:

Quick tips: for good measure add in a tablespoon of plain yoghurt if you have it.

Also ... bananas are best mashed up and left overnight in the fridge. The pulp goes good and black!

Your kids will love you just a little bit more ... for about two minutes. And then they'll be back to complaining about how unfair life is cos they don't have a Playstation and you're the meanest dad in the world.

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09:45

Why do I bake? Is a question oft asked of me by Blokes Who Don't.

And I could answer it with many complicated words, or with a few simple words ... or better yet with a handy-dandy video of this one time at a PechaKucha night in Wellington.

And look - here it is, in which I answer that very question:

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19:20

Holy Cranzac.

It's been quiet on the blogging front lately because of the baking and fundraising and promoting and what-not.

And today, this: 

$4K for the RSA. 

A lot of people had to work hard for two weeks but handing over the cheque this morning with Reese from Thorndon New World made it worth every single minute. 

Cranzacs will be back next year. 

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10:45

They began by accident. Created because I was baking Anzac biscuits for the kids and happened to have some cranberries left over. In they went and the result was, in a word, unbelievably delicious (yes, that's two words, but let's not lose focus here).

A discussion in the office about the resulting 'Cranzac' biscuit developed quickly from 'we should sell these and raise money for the RSA' to calling Reese at Thorndon New World in Wellington to see if he'd get on board and support the project. And oh my stars, did he ever.

He loved the biscuit, he loved the idea and he even loved the sticker I designed with - in the absence of any need to share credit - my own face under my own name in the middle of it.

So we tinkered a little with baking times and quantities, given the humungous, industrial ovens that they cook with and in a day or two had come up with what was a bloody good biscuit - true to the recipe that I'd accidentally created a week earlier.

Then Reese and his team figured out nutritional information, worked out a price, created a code, and started on production. This was a shade over two weeks out from Anzac Day.

He called me on the eve of their first day of sale to say he'd made 600 packets of Cranzacs. At which point my dodgy heart nearly gave out. I suffered an immediate puckering of the sphincter and shortness of breath. Honestly? I'd thought we might sell a hundred. Maybe one-fifty. But 600 packets?

I imagined half of them going stale post Anzac Day or being heaved into a 'half price' bin.

As I write this we are just over a week in with just under a week to go until Anzac Day - our national day of remembrance. My Cranzacs have gone much better than anyone could have imagined. 1200 packets sold to date.

Read that number again. 1200. Thats 6000 biscuits. With five sales days to go. Already this has been so successful that we're talking about how far and wide to take it next year and I've applied to trademark the name and protect the recipe.

So. If you haven't already - go get some. You have five days left. Proceeds after expenses go to the Wellington RSA.

Kudos to Reese and his team, working round the clock to make the delicious, cranberry-packed treats.
Just quietly, I'm mega-stoked.

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13:25

I am asked every second day if I have any gluten free recipes on the website.

The answer is always the same. Nope. There are, I tell people, plenty of gluten free websites that you can Google, I'm just a bloke who likes to bake things for the family and me - and none of us are (yet) gluten free.

Then, yesterday, Zoe didn't ask the question. She just grabbed a recipe she liked the look of and used a gluten free flour mix to bake it. As it happened the recipe came out great!

See for yourself:

The GF element was a mix of rice, potato and tapioca flour and a bit of xantham gum, she tells me. So, you know what? There ARE gluten free recipes on the website. Any of them can be gluten free. If it's a great recipe, it's a great recipe. Just use gluten free ingredients.

Thanks Zoe - like your style.

Now. Are there any dairy free recipes? As it turns out - probably.

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07:33

You know that thing when someone asks for a recipe and you give them one and then they make it and take it to a party?

I had that over the weekend. Only the party was a big deal and the recipe really was mine and not just out of the Edmond's book and the person making it needed it to come out great because it had to impress people who know what they're doing. So ... pressure on.

This was what I told her to make. The secret is the cranberries. And the spices. And the brown sugar.

Then when I didn't hear from her after the party I got nervous. I hadn't worked, I thought. She can't bear to tell me how bad it was, I thought. I have failed her, I thought.

So guess how good it felt when I got this text:

OMG! Divine! Blew everyone away!!

Best feeling ever. Because the thing about baking is this: it's for sharing. The food or the recipes or ideas, or whatever. What's the point of baking great cakes if you're the only one eating them?

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06:55

If ever proof was needed that I'm the world's laziest bugger then here it is (bookmark this in case proof ever is actually needed in, like, a court of law).

My lovely Mum gave me a journal a few years back with several of her and my grandma's baking recipes hand written into the pages. Since then I've printed and been gifted and stolen and torn from the newspaper hundreds more recipes, folded the pieces of paper and shoved them into the journal with the thought that I'd eventually get around to writing them or pasting them into the book.

It hasn't happened. I have a suspicion it never will. But I kind of like the rustic (read: half-arsed) way it all looks, and the fact that in having to unfold every single sheet to find the recipe I'm looking for, I also rediscover plenty that I'd like to try.

Have you got a journal with lots of pieces of paper shoved into it?

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17:27

This is potentially the start of something great.

And I can't say a word about it. Yet.

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13:50

I remember apple crumble as being the most delicious treat in the world when I was in my teens. It was something that every good restaurant had on their dessert menu. Fine places like Pizza Hut and Cobb'n'Co, for example.

And I probably haven't eaten it since I was 17.

For some reason, today I got The Hankering. Are you familiar with The Hankering? It's that 'I gotta have it, nothing else can happen till I do' feeling. It sometimes sits at the back of your mind for days until finally you have to do something about it.

I decided not to wait for days.

Much like myself, I discovered, the humble crumble has grown up. Now you put nuts and spice and other stuff in it. This recipe is one I made up this afternoon, based on a little research, what I had in the pantry and the fact that I like a little tang in the apples. I reckon you'll like it. I had seconds ... and thirds.

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19:12

It's a genius plan.

Except I'm not the genius, she is. My wife is a high school teacher and every now and then she tells her kids she'll bring in some baking, which is where I come in. The last time that promise was made we had some lemons left in the bowl and I made these lemon muffins as minis with a dollop of lemony icing on top.

Obviously I did quality checking before handing them over for the students. WOW! They pack a lemony punch.

My wife used them as a bribe; a 'work hard, get a muffin' sort of thing. The kids loved them, so she was happy and I earned points for being a good husband. Everyone wins.

See? Genius. Next time I figured I'd go with brownies. That way they'd be brownie points. Mmmm?

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10:07

It was my birthday yesterday. 

43.

Well, I never saw that coming. That's old. Really old. I remember when I was 11 working out that when I was 30 it would be the year 2000. I never actually thought it would really, seriously happen. Now 30 was 13 years ago. A distant memory.

So here I am; an elderly Bloke who Bakes. I decided to buy myself a little something. Make that a big something. This big something:

And with my new Manly Mixing Machine I made the most manly of all baked goods: vanilla cupcakes. The recipe is from the mega-famous folk at Magnolia Bakery in New York.

To really up the bloke factor I figured pink icing would be the go. I don't have to tell you, they were delicious.

Make them. You won't regret it. And here's a tip (because that's how I roll): Time and full fat milk are the keys to great cupcakes. And more icing than is decent.

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19:41

A while back my step-mum gave me a mixing bowl that had been my Grandma's. Penny (step-mum) told me she'd never used it because she was afraid she'd break it.

I use this bowl every day.

Every day.

I love it. It's exactly the right size, solid, good weight, microwave safe. It's everything a bowl should be. I just googled the make and reg. number on the bottom. Turns out the bowl is nearly 100 years old!  there's a similar one for sale online for $US120.

Not that I'll ever sell this - it was my Grandmother's mixing bowl - but by hokey! Nearly 100 years old!! You can buy new ones. If you get one, in a hundred years your great, great grandkids might blog about it. Or whatever they do in a hundred years.

Today I made chocolate chip cookies in the bowl.

How about that? It was microwave safe about 80 years before microwaves.

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19:28

The thing about having a hobby is, it means I'm easy to give to.

On my birthday and for Christmas people give me spatulas and wooden spoons and once my Mum gave me an electric mixer. Most. Awesome. Gift. Ever.

The rest of the year people feel compelled to give other stuff. They give me grief, they give me a hard time, they give me stick. All in jest. Cheeky buggers.

So I got this via facebook, twitter, email and text a couple of days back from a group of very giving friends. Made me laugh.

Seriosuly. He's going to make that pastry tough as anything. A REAL man would do the pressups with one hand and roll with the other. Gently.

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10:27

Not many, but some.

I can NOT explain why, but on the suckiest days the thing I like to do is bake. Maybe it’s because it gives me something to focus on. Maybe it’s because at the end of the baking part I get to eat. Maybe it’s because it’s just quiet, methodical, cathartic.

Hang on. I just said I can’t explain it.

So yesterday, after a tired, kids shouting, too much to do, frustrating, 'my team lost last night', rainy, windy day stuck inside the shack I decided to bake a batch of these things. Afghonuts. The perfect combination of Afghan and coconut. Then I ate a couple of them.

Chocolate hit!

The satisfaction of a job well done. The fact that my son was into them too kinda helped the day get better. I've set some aside for a couple of mates who like chocolate as well. That way my day gets better and so does theirs.

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09:36

Here's the thing about being a bloke: we need to impress. We need to impress women with our intelligence, wit and charm. We need to impress other blokes with our strength and sporting knowledge and all round manliness.

I, unfortunately, am lazy. So as I set out to impress there is always the question at the back of my mind: can I be impressive without putting in too much effort?

As a bloke who bakes that translates to: can I make something that looks amazing, tastes great, will wow the judges (guests), but that I can throw together between picking up the kids, helping with homework and bathing babies?

Gentlemen and ladies, I have found the answer and it is - yes. Yes I can. And so can you. Italians will want to shove a horse head into my bed for saying so (don't follow that link if you're an animal lover or queasy) but I've found a cheats way to do tiramisu.

All you need is some chocolate chip biscuits, some cream and a cup of coffee. Oh, and if you have some chocolate to shave or grate over the top that wouldn't hurt.

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15:54

Big newsflash: I'm essentially a lazy man. Maybe that should just read, a typical man. I'll always create work for myself by trying to find the easiest way out.

As usual a coupla days back I had a hankering for something to eat and there was nothing in the cupboards. And as usual I couldn't be bothered finding my car keys, opening the garage, driving all the way to the dairy and buying biscuits. So I baked.

And it took waaaaay longer than it would have to just go buy something. But in the end it was so much better too.

A quick fish through the pantry and fridge gave me some pastry that I needed to use, apples that I'd bought to many of and a little left over cream. A clafoutis would have been quick and easy. Maybe a tarte tatin with the apples, but the pastry was short, not puff. Soooo - no. Plain old apple pie?

Then I decided - why not do ALL of them ... as a single dish? Why not indeed.

So it was that the world's first three in one pie as born. All caramelized, tangy-apple, buttery, fluffy goodness in a pastry shell.

Best right out of the oven served with whipped cream. The recipe is here. Do it. Your heart won't thank you, but your taste buds surely will.

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15:07

I like to bake, right? But the baking still has to be eaten. The problem? Finding something that EVERYBODY in the family is gonna want. I've tried almost everything. Stuff I like, my kids don't want to know about.

Actually, the baked goodies they like all have icing and then they only eat the top half and leave the rest for me, slimed with saliva.

Until now!

Yep. We found one. Blueberry muffins. Okay, okay, it's taken me four years to figure out that the most popular baked item in any cafe was the one for us. But who cares if I'm slow. I got there in the end.

Neil gave me the recipe. It's even in my flippin' book. Should have thunk of it ages ago.

Try 'em. The whole family will like them.

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15:51