OUT AND ABOUT | LAYNES ESPRESSO SUNDAY BRUNCH #3

Laynes Espresso, current residents at the Belgrave Music Hall, host a Sunday brunch service every month. My previous experiences (see my posts here and here) have been a bit hit and miss. The food is always great but there were a few problems with service when it launched earlier this year. After missing a the last few I was invited last weekend to join my friend Sarah and her family for her birthday brunch.

The menu looked very impressive. All five dishes sounded delicious but I was particularly eyeing up the French Toast again (I have had it before and it is the stuff of dreams!). With the menu changing for each service to adapt to available seasonal produce it was nice to see asparagus included.

We were a group of four and we decided to order all five dishes so we could try a bit of everything. 

Service was much quicker than in previous visits. All of the dishes came within thirty minutes of ordering them. More staff were on to take orders and the system had been ironed out to be a smooth and quick service. 

First up we have the heavenly French Toast (£7.50)! This came served as two slices of thick brioche which was crisp on the outside but moist and delicate on the inside without being soggy. It was topped with caramelised banana, an almond brittle, espresso mascarpone and maple syrup.

I loved all the flavours and textures in this dish. The espresso mascarpone was quite over powering but it's bitter taste cut through the sweetness of the rest of the dish, giving it a nice contrast and balance.

The next dish was the 36 Hour Pork Belly BLT (£8) - this was almighty in size and proportions. A thick wedge of focaccia was filled with cos lettuce, plum vine tomatoes, avocado, bacon mayonnaise and a slab of pork belly.

This looked extremely impressive. I'm not a massive fan of pork... and particularly pork belly so this wasn't the dish for me but it was received well by others on the table. The pork was melt-in-the-mouth and very tender. Even for pork belly though this was mainly just fat with a very small ratio of meat in the portion we were served.

The Heritage Tomato (£8) dish was delicately presented. A slice of toasted sourdough was topped with sliced heritage tomatoes served with an avocado mousse, salted ricotta, poached egg and then topped with puffed rice (yes they are not caterpillars!).

I love heritage tomatoes for their diversity in appearance and in flavour. With a few different tomatoes in this dish, the flavours were predominantly smokey, with the tomatoes having a meaty texture. 

On to the Beetroot Cured Salmon (£8) we were served a plate of beautiful dark pink salmon, naturally dyed by the beetroot, with a pea, feta and sweetcorn fritter, poached egg, avocado puree and dill creme fraiche. 

And last but not least was the English Asparagus (£8.50) which came served on a piece of toasted sourdough, topped with four stalks of asparagus coated in black sesame seeds and miso, a round of goats cheese and a poached egg which had been deep fried and coated in panko breadcrumbs.

This dish was the savoury winner for me. The goats cheese was slightly melted from the heat of the asparagus and the egg and made it all nice and gooey. The asparagus was cooked al dente and had a good bite to it. Delicately seasoned with the sesame seeds and miso the asparagus flavours shone through.The egg was a masterpiece, I loved the concept and the idea and was fascinated by how it had been made. This dish was a real beauty. 

Overall we were very pleased with the food, service and impressed with the menu. I look forward to seeing what the next menu brings!

RECIPE | GLUTEN-FREE BANOFFEE GRANOLA MUFFINS

Last week I was sent some gluten-free products from Nature's Path and rather than doing a boring old review post I thought I would use their products in a new recipe!

Photos: Nature's Path

I crafted a gluten-free recipe to pay homage to their delicious Nice and Nobbly Pumpkin, Almond and Raisin Granola (my favourite out of the products received). Deliciously tasty on its own as a snack or drenched in milk it does not taste like some of the other gluten-free cereal options out there which leave you hating on the thought of breakfast.

I bring you... gluten free Banoffee Granola Muffins!

Lovely moist muffins with surprising textures of crunchy granola and gooey melted fudge (even better when still runny and molten out the oven!). A sweet treat without being too heavy or as naughty as a banoffee pie... and they are gluten-free too. Win win.

Ingredients (makes 12 muffins):

4 overly ripe bananas

4tbsp Rapeseed Oil

2 Eggs

1tsp Vanilla Essence

250g Gluten Free Self-Raising Flour

100g Soft Brown Sugar

1 1/2tsp Gluten Free Baking Powder

100g Fudge

150g Granola

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.

2. In a mixing bowl, mash the bananas and then add the rapeseed oil, eggs and vanilla essence and combine until mixed.

3. Add the sugar to this mixture and follow with the flour, sugar and baking powder.

4. Chop the fudge into small chunks and add 3/4s of this to the mixture along with 3/4s of the granola.

5. Spoon the mixture into 12 muffin cases and scatter the remaining fudge and granola on top of the muffins.

6. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

RECIPE | CHOCOLATE, HAZELNUT AND BANANA MARBLE CAKE

After receiving some lovely goodies from Whynut in the post last week I just couldn't resist sampling them out in some baking this weekend. I decided to use their hazelnut paste in a marble cake to really test the strength of the flavour.

 What goes well with hazelnuts? Chocolate! What goes well with chocolate? Bananas!

Sorted... we have the Chocolate, Hazelnut and Banana Marble Cake.

Ingredients:

Plain Cake Batter:

225g Caster Sugar

225g Butter

4 Eggs

2tsp Vanilla Essence

225g Self-Raising Flour

1 1/2tsp Baking Powder

Banana Mix:

1 Banana

3tbsp Milk

Chocolate Hazelnut Mix:

50g Dark Chocolate

2tbsp Hazelnut Paste

2tbsp Cocoa Powder

4tbsp Milk

Topping:

100g Dark Chocolate
15g Butter

1tbsp Hazelnut Paste

3tbsp Chopped Hazelnuts

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 180C and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin (or two 1lb loaf tins).

2. Cream the butter and the sugar together until light and fluffy in colour, then add the eggs and vanilla essence and mix until combined.

3. Add the flour and baking powder to the wet ingredients and fold until it is fully mixed. Divide this mixture into two separate mixing bowls.

4. For the banana cake mix - mash the banana and add to one of the mixing bowls along with the milk and mix until you have a smooth cake batter.

5. For the chocolate hazelnut cake mix - add the hazelnut paste, cocoa powder and milk. Melt the dark chocolate and fold these ingredients into the mixture until smooth.

6. Spoon alternate dollops of each mixture into the loaf tin, then use a skewer or sharp knife to create a marble pattern by swirling it through the mixture.

7. Bake in the centre shelf of your oven for 40-50 minutes or until it springs when touched in the centre and leaves a clean skewer when poked into the cake.

8. Leave the cake to cool for 10 minutes in the tin and then remove. Melt the dark chocolate and the butter together with the hazelnut paste. Drizzle over the cake and sprinkle the chopped hazelnuts on top.

RECIPE | BANANA BREAD

I have been planning on making banana bread for let's say...the last 3 months? I always eat my banana's too quickly though and never manage to let them get to the brown, blackened mushy stage. Alas - coming home this Easter I was in luck! A surplus of banana's all speckled and freckled - so to my joy I decided to whip up two different variations in these cute little loaf tins I found in our cupboard.

Basic Banana Bread recipe is as follows...

Ingredients:

140g of Light Margarine (I used Flora Light)

100g of Caster Sugar

30g Honey

2 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla Essence

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

2 large or 3 small-medium sized over-ripe Bananas

* I made two different types of Banana Bread - I added these extras with the mashed banana:

(1) Dark Chocolate and Nutty Granola - 75g of chopped Dark Chocolate and 50g of Granola (with a little extra to sprinkle on top).

(2) Maple Syrup, Oats and Mixed Seeds - 2tbsps of Maple Syrup, 20g of Oats, 20g of Oatbran and 3 tbsps of Mixed Seeds.

Instructions:

1.  Preheat your oven to 180 and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin (or two 1lb loaf tins) with baking parchment.

2.  Cream together the butter, vanilla essence and the sugar in a mixing bowl (preferably with an electric whisk) until light and fluffy and the mixture has turned from a yellow to a cream colour.

3.  Beat in the eggs and then fold in the flour and baking powder - add any extras at this point.

4.  Place the mixture into the loaf tin(s) and bake in the centre shelf of the oven for 40-50 minutes.

RECIPE | PEANUT BUTTER AND BANANA MUFFINS

This is the recipe we used at Inkwell on Friday. This makes around 12 medium-large muffins.

My recipe is adapted from Rachel Allen's recipe which can be found HERE.

Ingredients:

250g Plain Flour

75g Rolled Oats

1tbsp Baking Powder

30g of Mixed Seeds

2 Eggs

1tsp Vanilla Essence

75g Light Brown Sugar

2 Bananas (Ripe)

100g Crunchy Peanut Butter

50g Butter (Melted)

250ml Milk

Instructions:

1.  Preheat your oven to 190ºC and fill a muffin tray with 12 muffin cases (or alternatively you could use fairy cake cases and make 24 little muffins).

2.  Sieve the flour into a large mixing bowl and add the baking powder, rolled oats and mixed seeds.

3.  In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together until fluffy and mousse-like. Add the vanilla essence, 2 bananas (make sure they are mashed well), peanut butter, melted butter. Add the milk last.

4.  Fold the wet mixture into the dry mixture - be careful not to over-mix.

5.  Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases. You can sprinkle over some extra oats and seeds at this point (I forgot to do this!).

6. Place the muffins in middle shelf of the oven for 20-25 minutes (or until the top of the muffins spring back when you touch them).

7.  Leave to cool for 20 minutes and dust with icing sugar for a pretty finish!

We also made some smaller muffins in cupcake cases and topped with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting and Grated Chocolate.

LIFESTYLE | MORE BAKING AT INKWELL...

I had another afternoon of fun and baking at Inkwell last Friday, this time with my baking buddy David! We bake on the Friday afternoon so that there are cakes to sell in the Cafe the next day. Last week's cakes were a MAJOR success so I was asked back to bake this week!

To learn more about Inkwell visit my previous post HERE.

We made some nut and seed flapjacks...

Some peanut butter and banana muffins...

...and some smaller versions with cinnamon buttercream frosting.

(This was our first attempt at using a piping bag - please forgive us!).

Also in the kitchen was some delicious home made roasted red pepper soup...

...and some carrot and chickpea veggie burgers!

I love being able to experiment and get creative in the kitchen and it's great to know that we can do it for a good cause too. I'll be back again next week with some vegan cakes and a few more wonders.

Do you like my hat (and my flapjacks)?

LIFESTYLE | WEEKLY ROUND UP

It's had its up and its had its downs but I've come out the other side almost in one piece.

I've finally just about managed to get my head around my dissertation topic, meaning I am now able to crack on with more productive research and planning - Hurrah!

Also,The Great British Bake Off has now finished (I'm having James withdrawals already!)

...taking myself to that dreaded question of "What do I do with my life now?".

The answer is BAKE AND MAKE AMAZING FOOD (obviously).

So that is exactly what I've been doing...

I created the best oatmeal concoction to date the other morning. It was more of a mismatched masterpiece fuelled on "I'm going to be late for my lecture but I need FOOD RIGHT NOW" inspiration.

It comprised of mashed banana, cinnamon with a few swirls of marshmallow fluff and peanut butter.

H E A V E N    I N    M Y    M O U T H .

* Unfortunately I have no picture for you...

I think it pretty much hit my stomach before my eyes even got a good glance - let alone my camera.

I will do my best to get a picture next time.

But I won't leave you without some wonderfully bad photography.

So here are some pictures (not taken on my good camera - sorry!) of a batch of banana pancakes we made last night...complete with vanilla ice cream, sliced banana and homemade peanut butter chocolate sauce.

P . S .

I've also started writing for the lifestyle section of the university newspaper, the Leeds Student.

Last week they used my Courgette Brownies recipe in an article on which you can read HERE.

I'm currently working on a double-page spread (hell yeah!) centred around a breakfast theme, with a particular focus on those bad ass OATS that I love so much. Watch this space.

RECIPE | "SPECIAL" ICE CREAM

Okay... so technically this isn't a recipe post. But I just had to share this.

For a good few years now "Special" Ice Cream has been in existence.

Thanks to the help of a special friend and an array of miraculous toppings it never fails to be a wonderfully different creation every single time.

Last night we created perhaps the best yet.

My two litre tub of Asda Smartprice Vanilla Ice Cream (a bargain 89p) was JAZZED up and dressed to the nines with a concoction of peanut butter, marshmallow fluff, cinnamon, banana, apple crumble granola, pecans, meringues, cookies and some puffed wheat.