I’ve been a foodie for as long as I can remember but it’s not until the last year or so that I’ve really got into baking. It all started with making a birthday cake for my nephew’s 1st birthday that really got me in to the chemistry involved in baking. I really started to make cakes from then on, I had 2 strings to my bow, chocolate fudge cake and carrot cake and as you can see from the below, I’m a keen amateur but I’m told they taste delicious!!

One day I decided I wanted to start making my own bread, I didn’t own a bread maker, and didn’t like the hole you get from that, but I did have a very old baking tray. My first few attempts were inspired by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, and after an initial success, ended up looking like flat pancakes. Here is my first loaf which inspired me to keep going…

So it was with great pleasure that I was given a loaf tin for Xmas which meant my bread went from pancakes to this gorgeous tasting creation which is a loaf I can replicate time after time…

By my Nephew’s 2nd birthday I was getting much more confident and able to come up with something a bit more professional looking. Although I used lots of smoke and mirrors it was basically the same cake from year one, with some fancy decoration, oh and the top layer didn’t sink into the bottom like my first attempt, mainly due to a board and some dowels (who would have thought!!)

as you can see i think it went down well…

So now I think of myself as a competent home baker. As you know from earlier posts I’ve been able to make lots of bread, bagels, cakes and biscuits but I’ve avoided making diabetic friendly recipes…until now. I discovered a great recipe for banana bread through twitter which ticked lots of boxes; reduced sugar, lower fat, lots of fruit and overall delicious looking!! I checked my cupboards and had the ingredients, including some bananas that were on the turn, so set about creating…

I made the apple sauce I’ve used instead of sugar and let it cool to cut out as much sugar as I could and then set to work. In about 10 mins I had assembled everything, poured it into a tin and prepared for the oven…

The result was so delicious that I didn’t even manage to get a photo before the Dazzler got to it but I can confirm the result was moist, fruity and delicious.

The recipe is so easy and the results so gorgeous that I thought I’d better share with you, dear reader, so here it is. I adapted this from a recipe I found through @DowntonCooks, made some some tweaks thanks to Nigella and then added my own twists including converting to UK measures…

Ingredients
50g sultanas
50g dried cranberry
75 ml unsweetened orange juice
150g unsweetened apple sauce (or use 125g melted butter)
100g granulated sweetener (or 150g white sugar)
2 large eggs
300g mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
60 g walnuts (chopped
175g self raising flour (you can use wholemeal)
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarb of soda
½ tsp salt

Method
Before you start baking…
If using make up some apple sauce and allow to cool
Put cranberry and sultanas into a pan with Orange juice, bring to boil and then set aside to allow to infuse for 30 mins if you can (I left mine for 10 mins and it came out fine.

When you are ready to start mixing…
Heat oven to gas mark 3/170
Using an electric whisk blend sweetener/sugar and apple sauce/melted butter until smooth
Add in eggs, mashed banana, walnuts and the drained fruit and mix with a spatula
On your scales measure the flour, bicarb, baking powder and salt and mix together
Add the dry ingredients to the wet mix and combine with a spatula
Once all incorporated pour into a greased loaf tin lined with grease proof paper on the bottom
Cook in the middle of your oven for an hour or until a knife comes out clean when you stab it!! (Mine took just over)

Enjoy!!!!