Tuesday 31 January 2012

A Nice Way to Spend a Cold Morning.

Burnt offerings? Not quite - they are malt loaves made with dark sugar so are very dark anyway.
They are slightly overcooked even though I checked on them after only 40mins when the recipe said to bake them for an hour. Luckily they haven't dried out and still taste good.
I just had to taste the malt extract and it took me back to early childhood when I was given a spoonful every morning - lovely stuff - I had forgotten it's glorious gloopy stickiness.
My next effort was more successful but I have made this recipe several times and on the first occasion had to reduce the cooking time drastically and cover the cake with foil to prevent overbrowning. I really should get my cooker thermostat checked - my cookery books are full of little scribbled notes about reduced cooking times.
This mornings cookery splurge was on account of two over-ripe bananas which gave rise to this banana bread and then one thing led to another.


I found an interesting little cookery book in a charity shop and came across a recipe for Yorkshire Curd Tart. I remember how delicious it was when we stopped for tea in a little tea shop in Yorkshire on holiday years ago. This one seemed to turn out well though here again I checked before the alloted time and found it was ready. It's delicious and incase any purists out there think it doesn't look quite right, blame it on the cottage cheese which was low fat. I'm not sure how authentic my recipe is and a proper curd tart would probably be made with real curd cheese.

I shall slice the loaves in a minute and pack them in boxes and freeze them - out of harm's way! I'm not sure that the curd tart will freeze successfully - what a shame!!





14 comments:

Robin Mac said...

Oh Heather, I can almost smell all the wonderful baking from here. I remember being given a teaspoon of molasses daily as a child and I loved it too. I've just caught up with your previous post, lovely flowers and I am glad you are feeling better at long last.

Ro Bruhn said...

I can almost smell them, they all look deliscious. I'm glad I'm not the only one having difficulties with cooking times. Now I have my new oven everything seems to be over cooked, I hope I get it sorted out soon.

The Bug said...

Oh I LOVE banana bread! I should go out & buy some bananas right now & let them molder a bit :)

You know, one of the dairys around here sells cheese curds. I never thought about making a tart with them - interesting!

Carol Q said...

ooh yummy Heather. they look delicious especially the curd tart which I haven't come across before.

Suztats said...

MMmmmm, I can imagine the aromas curling about your kitchen.........um, now I'm hungry!

The Weaver of Grass said...

That curd tart looks excellent Heather. They do vary very much and when they are good they are very very good.

Gina said...

You've been worse than me for a baking binge! Except I didn't freeze any of mine! Love the sound of the curd tart.

Val said...

Just catching up with your blogs Heather. Your pages are just magical, and fancy having all those delightful hellebores out so early - the best I can do at the moment is a few snowdrops! Lucky you. If I pop over for tea, will you get some malt loaf out of the freezer for me - especially the 'burnt' one - I just love the burnt bits!

sharon young said...

I absolutely love banana cake, and I do remember the teaspoons of malt extract every day, I hated it :-(
Curd tart sound so scrummy.

Thanks so much for dropping in on my blog, glad the pics brought back good memories.

Lyn said...

I live in Yorkshire but never had curd tart, looks delicious!
xxx

Maggi said...

This is making my mouth water. I had never heard of Yorkshire curd tart until I happened to see the 2 hairy bikers showing how to make one. It looks delicious.

Maureen said...

You've made my mouth water with the curd tart - I was born in yorkshire and there was always one on my Grandmother's tea table - home made of course!! I still buy one when we go up there.

Linda Vincent said...

Wish I was coming round for tea Heather....it all looks yummy (especially banana bread :-) )
Hope you're feeling better now.
XX

Raph G. Neckmann said...

Oooh, those look nextremely yummy! I do love banana bread particularly.

It's good to be back and visiting my human bloggy friends again. Thanks for your visit Heather!