SUNDAY BAKING: QUICK VEGAN BANANA CHOCOLATE CAKE

I run one of those households that often (or well, always) ends up with a banana or two turned so ripe they're too yucky to eat. But they can happily go in a cake!

So today we decided to bake one with Dag; a quick banana based chocolate cake that is - for being a cake, -not too unhealhty. Kids can easily participate here as things like getting to mash banana is fun and easy to do, and with a big enough bowl not necessarily even that messy.

It's a cake easily altered, for example, I add some more spices to this during the colder season.

You will need:
3 ripe banans
around 50g of dried dates + a hint of water
1dl coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
1-1,5 dl cocoa
3 dl spelt flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 dl oil  - I use coconut oil
(+ a dash of cinnamon)

Now, to make the easy things hard, or at least a bit more confusing for you: I have made this with four small bananas and with just two bananas and both versions work as well. The more banans the less dates you need, so when I had four banana-nanas I used just five dates. Also adjut the amount of cocoa powder to your own taste; 1,5 dl of cocoa makes the  rather dark and strong so you can go with less if that suits you better. I have also made this without the soda and it turned out fine. I you don't care about it being vegan or not you will get a nice cake by using butter instead of oil too (and you can of course toss in an egg for more fluffyness but then again that is already another cake). For more spices try some ginger and clover and perhaps a little cardamom.

First,  pre-heat the oven to 200c. Chop the dates and put them in a pan with a hint of water so it covers the dates, and heat up. Let it boil for a little while so you get a sticky paste. Add a little water if needed so the dates don't burn.

Mash the bananas with a fork or a masher. Add the sugar and cocoa, then the date-mass, then flour and finally the oil (in a runny state). Put in a greased cake mold (or fold it with baking paper).

I don't think the batter on this one is very good raw (which is a good thing, because that means more cake later) but Dag was eager to lick the bowl.

Bake for 35-50 minutes in 200C, depending on your oven and the size of your mold. Try it with a stick and take out to cool.

You can eat this warm, as it is or with ice cream. I prefer it after a day or two in the fridge.
Pimp it up with salted peanuts (no that's not crazy!), jam or with a bunch of cherries and some chocolate coconut cream  frosting!

FOUR THINGS RIGHT NOW: THURSDAY EVENING

There's a 1930's postcard of me and Dag.
My mom sent me this.

 I harvested some of the spinach and mangold from my growing boxes. I put them in the freezer but a handfull got to join some pasta earlier tonight.

I've sewed and embellished a lot ot blingy skin-tight stuff.

(People have a custom here in the countryside to just walk trough the (front) door wihtout knocking when they come over, which can be a bit funny if you happen to be trying out the tiny showgirls pants you just sew in front of the mirror. Which is next to the front door.)

Been making lots of shimmering thingies as well.
(To see these in action head over to our Paris-themed club Pariisiklubi at Mascot this Saturday!)

GARDEN LIFE vol.1

(flower photo alert)

As summer comes we spend pretty much all free time at the farm and we let the back door stay open to extend living out to the garden. Everyday life elsewhere, perhaps but here only for those short sweet summer months.

I stocked up on flowers and pots at the start of the season as usual.


Hello hanging strawberries-to-be!

 So beautiful, aren't they?


And things that I have planted, as well as others generations before me have, pop up one by one. So many colours, so many prety flowers.

 I had Eddi build me these growing boxes. I planted herbs, salads and other greens in them.

And the cats tried their best to sabotage it all, by hopping in and out of the boxes and making a mess.
Let's just say the order I put the seeds in are no more.


Cauliflowers waitinig to be planted outside. I hade some sunflowers coming up too. But they fried in the mini greenhouse when it got real sunny outsisde. Ooops.

 I also have a set of tomatoes and chilis sitting on a bench by a sunny wall.

 It's a goddamn water circus every day (not to forget all my indoor plants) and I dread going away as I know no one else will remember to water them. But I like having a lot of plants around there and every now and then get to enjoy a home grown tomato too.


We had Dag's three year birthday outside party in the garden as well.

This was a few weeks ago now already, when it was still cold(er), but we were lucky enough to manage the party right on the only day it was warm and sunny during those weeks.

The pram park. I actually don't have so many friends with kids so this was an unusual sight. People have been busy the past year!

Dag's favourite colour is red. Preferably everything he wears has to be red.

Evenings are for barbecue, and as usual the guys are at it with their burgers and sauces.


And come night time, my solar lit fairy lights go on.

But it is still so light they are merely there just for the fun of it. But come August with it's warm (hopefully) and dark evenings they get to shine to their full potential. I might hang up a few more still...

THE POCKETED DRESS

(*if to pocket was a verb, that is. In my world there surely would be use for such a verb, as I am all about pocketing.)

This dress did indeed get so much better for me by revamping the sleeves into pockets!
It will be worn a lot this summer.