✺ it's all relative

my daughters' papa has family roots in Germany:

we spent many times in Hamburg eating delicious cakes

made by his cousins wife ~ Gudrun:

she kindly sent me this recipe for my collection:

translated for me by her daughter Natascha ~

 she said 

"it is called topfkuchen and is the easiest

most famous German cake recipe I think"

while making it I realised that I inherited my food mixer

from my late mother-in-law Trudi:

so it is quite fitting to be using it to make this cake:

*and it is indeed a topmixer, don't you just love the fancy flan on the box?

topfkuchen

you will need ....

4 eggs

250g softened butter

250g flour

250g sugar

½ teaspoon baking powder

a pinch of salt

heat your oven to 160°c/ gas 4:

grease and line a cake tin ~ any shape:

I used a loaf tin but I think they are often baked in a savarin

or bundt tin: 

in a bowl sift your flour and baking powder:

then stir in the sugar and salt:

add the eggs and butter and mix together until light:

* as children there was always a scuffle to be the one to lick these!

now you can add one of these flavours as suggested by Gudrun ....

the zest and juice of a lemon

and/or

100g raisins

or 

50g chocolate chips

I added choc chip as directed Libbie:

bake for an hour, testing with a skewer to make sure

it's cooked in the middle:

cool in the tin for a short while then turn onto a rack:

schmeckt gut as they say in Germany:

^_^

here's hoping she will next share her fabulous cake with 

custard and whole apples!

☕ a little bird told me

sometimes a treat is in order:

no not a cake, but a book:

from the hummingbird bakery :

their cake making methods are quite different from

any I have used before:

so I decided to try it their way:

chocoNana muffins

you will need:

two over ripe bananas ~ mashed:

120g plain flour:

120g caster sugar:

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon:

80g softened butter:

2 eggs 

100ml milk:

*icing ingredients ....

250g sifted icing sugar:

100g softened butter:

50g cocoa powder:

about 50ml milk:

some grated chocolate 

heat your oven to 170°c/ gas 3:

line your muffin tin with cases:

in a large bowl add the flour, sugar, cinnamon and butter:

with a handheld electric mixer, whizz slowly until you

get rubble ~ like this ☟

s l o w l y  add the milk and continue mixing:

then add the eggs and combine well, scraping the

sides of your bowl with a spatula:

stir in the mashed banana by hand then

spoon the mixture into your cases:

they should be about two thirds full:

bake for 20 minutes until golden and springy to touch:

cool on a rack then ....

carefully mix the softened butter to your 

sifted icing sugar + cocoa powder:

if you haven't disappeared under a puff of sweetness ....

add the milk, little by little until the mixture is

stiff but not too stiff:

then beat it into a light fluff and pile onto

your muffins:

top with your grated chocolate:

*I used green and blacks espresso 

tasty results:

what do you think about this method of

muffin making?