Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Loaf

Call me a cliche - isolation baking banana bread

If you’re like me, you might have stocked up on “healthy” foods like bananas, only to look over them for more comforting treats.

I really hate waste, which means I can’t throw out over-ripe fruit. I have to repurpose it into something more delicious – enter, banana bread!

Some very smart person mentioned toasting banana bread and covering it with Nutella and I couldn’t believe I’d never thought of it before. In fact it was such a good idea I just had to make some and try it. And thinking of how well banana bread and Nutella would go together, I wanted to infuse some Nutella flavours into the loaf itself.

Lemon and Poppyseed Loaf

Happy Easter! If you're full of chocolate eggs and hankering for something else sweet but not egg shaped, then look no further! I love this recipe.

My mum is a really great cook, and her culinary accomplishments are made even better by their rarity. She doesn’t whip up a storm in the kitchen often, but when she does it is EPIC and I love it. Her shortbread is better than anything I’ve ever done, and I am openly jealous of this.

And this little knockout is a firm family favourite. Now, full disclosure, I am not using her exact recipe for the loaf, because I don’t know what it is (seeecret!), but I’m using her techniques and topping. This makes a very light yet moist cake that isn’t the most robust, so you need a decently thick slice.

Lemon and poppyseed makes the prettiest batter, and a damn tasty cake

This is so nice that I made it one evening and was planning to save a little aside for photographing the next day in daylight, but I took some to work and ATE THE REST BEFORE SUNRISE. It’s that good. So I had to make a second for daytime photographs. It's a tough life.