Bananas, Carrots and Pineapples….

Cleaning out the fridge the other night (& tossing things even the dog wasn’t going to get, some were furry, euck) I discovered an inordinate amount of pineapple.  How did I end up with so much. We really only eat it when hubby is home for his pizza.  One lot was slightly fermented, again, euck!  I’m not usually so slack with these things… and then there were bananas.. Mr 7 saw them and that was that. “…can we make cake, can we can we can we..” with those pleading little big eyes. You should see them, huge!

So with those dastardly looking bananas Mr 7 and I took to the baking.  He made the banana cake pretty well all himself while I set about hunting out a recipe for pineapple muffins…Carrot and Pineapple muffins to be exact.

measuring carefully...

The cake is a little flat, more like a banana slice really, but my muffins turned out superb.  Despite loving a good carrot cake I was a little apprehensive on the combination here.  Not to worry – they are fab!!  Topped with a bit of butter and falling apart… yum.

fresh out of the oven...

I used my well used and well trusted muffin recipe, it takes as long to mix as it takes to melt your butter.  And 20 min in the oven.
The key to a good muffin is not to overdo it.  Combine ingredients til they are barely mixed and you’re ready to bake.  I can almost guarantee they will be soft and moist 🙂  Gotta be gentle with them. Accurate mesauring also helps.

a little butter and.. ~mmm, crumbs...mouth full~ ooh, sorry, did you want some?

Taken from the book “The family Circle recipe Encyclopedia” (complete illustrated guide to cooking).
My recipe is as follows:  this is the basic plain recipe (i’ve never used it) and I’ll add the extras for my two favs, the cheese & bacon (with chilli) and now the carrot & pineapple.

Ingredients & Method:
heat oven to 200C/400F/gas 6

1 3/4 cups SR flour (self-raising),
2 Tbspns castor sugar &
1 tspn baking powder.
Mix well.

75gr/2.5oz butter melted,
1 egg
3/4 cup/6 fl oz milk.
beat well and add to dry ingredients.

Combine both til just mixed and spoon into 12 muffin tins, filling to 2/3 full and bake til cooked, 20-25mins.

to make cheese and bacon.
cook 3 rashers finely chopped bacon til crisp
1 cup grated/shredded tasty cheese
reduce sugar to 1 Tbspn.
Add to dry ingredients and mix.
I like to add some chilli sauce to the liquids to give a bit of bite.

for Carrot & pineapple.
1/2 cup each shredded carrot and drained crushed/finely chopped pineapple
1/2 tspn ground ginger
add at the same time as other liquids.

Happy baking and enjoy 🙂
Jennifer