Cooking with Donna

Today I made a couple of recipes from my favorite cookbook, Modern Classics Book 2 by Donna Hay. They were simple to make and turned out quite delicious. I think I used a little too much banana in the banana cake, so it's not as cakey as I had hoped. Although my roommate seems to be in love with it. On the other hand, the apple and cinnamon tea cake presents like a professional cake. It would be a perfect piece to take to a potluck, impressive yet easy to make. Mine, aren't quite as picture perfect as Donna's but what do you expect.

Banana Cake

• 4 oz butter, softened


• 1 cup caster sugar


• 1/4 cup brown sugar


• 3 eggs


• 2 cups plain flour


• 2 teaspoons baking powder


• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon


• 3/4 cup sour cream


• 1 cup roughly mashed banana

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
   
2. Place the butter, sugar and brown sugar in a bowl and beat until light and creamy.
   
3. Gradually add the eggs and beat well.
   
4. Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, sour cream, and banana. Stir to combine.
   
5. Spoon the mixture into a greased 10 in fluted ring tin.
   
6. Bake for 40 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer.

Apple and Cinnamon Tea Cake

• 6 oz butter, softened


• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon


• 2/3 cup caster sugar


• 3 eggs


• 1 1/2 cups plain flour


• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder


• 1/3 cup milk

topping

• 4 small green apples, peeled, halved and cored


• 1 teaspoon sugar


• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon


• 1/4 cup apricot jam, warmed

1. Preheat the oven to 325F.
   
2. Place the butter, cinnamon and sugar in a bowl and beat until light and creamy.
   
3. Gradually add the eggs and beat well.
   
4. Add the flour, baking powder and milk and stir until combined.
   
5. Spoon the mixture into a 9 in springform tin.
   
6. To make the topping, cut a row of deep slits in each apple half and arrange over the top of the cake mixture.
   
7. Combine the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the apples.
   
8. Bake for 50 minutes.
   
9. Remove from the oven and brush the cake with the warm jam. Then return the cake to the oven for 10 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer.