Student's Banana Cake

‘Afternoon tea’ is something terribly British and I love to keep up this tradition on a daily basis. Unfortunately, with the busy and hectic lifestyles we now lead this is not always easy. This recipe will take 20 minutes out of our day and let you indulge in a little ‘you’ time for a slice of cake and a cuppa.

Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas (over-ripe is best) Please make sure you crush these to mush before adding in!
170gr caster sugar
170gr self raising flour
170gr soft margarine
3 eggs
a few drops of vanilla essence
a table spoon of cinnamon (optional)

Preparation:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 160°C .
2. Add all the ingredients to a bowl but sieve the flour and add in gently, folding in with a wooden spoon.
3. Pour the mixture into a well greased cake tin or lined loaf tin (depending on how you want your cake to look).
4. Bake for one hour, checking every 15-20 minutes to make sure you don’t over-cook it!
5. Pull out of the oven; put a knife through the cake and check the knife comes out clear, if it does, the middle is cooked, if it looks gooey, place back into the oven but perhaps lower the heat slightly.
6. Let the cake cool for 20 minutes, cut, serve and enjoy!

Tip: If you fancy a more nutty texture, add some crushed walnuts to the recipe before pouring into your chosen tin of choice…about 60gr should do the trick!

Parisian Hot Dog

This Hot Dog is a long way from your ordinary American sausage and bun. It's the Parisian version and it's très chic. What do you think?

Ingredients:
2 hot dogs
2 red radishes
1 Paris mushroom
½ Granny Smith apple
1 lemon
1 shallot
1 tablespoon of chiseled parsley
1 tablespoon of mascarpone
1 tablespoon of mustard
1 tablespoon of honey
⅔ of baguette bread

Preparation:
1.) Preheat your oven to 200 °C.
2.) Wash and slice the radishes, cut the mushroom in thin slivers and the washed but unpeeled granny smith apple into thin sticks. Slightly sprinkle the apple sticks with lemon. Peel and chop up the shallot, chisel the parsley.
3.) In a small salad bowl, mix the mascarpone, mustard, shallot, parsley and honey. Halve the baguette lengthwise and heat for 5 minutes in the oven.
4.) Garnish the baguettes with sauce and the sausages (boilt in water), then top with mushroom slices, apple sticks and radishes.