Compost muffins. A real struggle for me.

Insane week so far. Still undecided whether insane in a good way or bad way. 

For some reason, probably fatigue, my tolerance for retards (as in stupid people, not people with legitimate medical issues) and fat people (weight issues brought on by drinking regular coke and inhaling trans-fatty foods, as opposed to evil thyroids or pregnancy, although on occasion there is a cross-over...) has been nil.

In the waiting room this morning, a woman with three bellies, sweat oozing out between the folds, decides to sit next to/on top of me, despite there being about 15 vacant chairs.I was repulsed. And because the doctor was running 45 mins late (despite mine apparently being the first appointment of the day) I had to sit next to her for an extended period of time. 

Fortunately my attention was diverted by a message from Emily who was so kind to remind me that it was actually Brendan's birthday today and i'd better get my shit together and sort him out a baked birthday delight, as he'd feel neglected if I didn't (I bake things for all special occasions at work). The easiest thing i could think of was banana choc-chip muffins, but in my current sensitive state, I wasn't sure i'd be able to cope with the disgusting smell of the peels. Gross. They make me dry vom nearly every time. At work recently, the boys sellotaped a really black peel to the underside of my desk without my knowledge. I could well have institutionalized that day.

Anyhoo, I rushed home, armed with ripe bananas, put on my onion goggles (which for some reason i though would help me handle the situation,) blocked my nose and peeled and mashed at a pace you could not imagine. I then double-bagged the garbage bin, took it straight to the big bins and baked my acclaimed muffins, which were naturally a huge hit.

I think banana peels, amongst a whole heap of other things, will have to make an appearance in my new year resolutions next year. 

Happy birthday Ollie!

Super delicious Sour Cream and Banana Cake for Ollie's 3rd birthday. Delightful composition using mini M&Ms, Coles Bananas and Maltesers. Don's technique of throwing handfuls of the mini M&Ms at the cake and hoping they'd stick bothered me and the kitchen floor somewhat.

Angel-Cake turn Mushroom-Cake.

This is starting to be a regular occurrence for what once was my trusty Angel Cake. The only consistent factor in all of the collapses is the ambient room temperature. It seems all my friends birthdays lately have fallen on a 32 - 38 degree day and within one hour of turning the cake upside-down to cool, it takes a massive tumble. This most recent time, I thought i would be smart and let it cool overnight in my air-conditioned bedroom. Bau Baum. Despite being by my side, the bastard had a tantrum. I will try some cream of tartar next time (advice from a pro), but if Angel fails me again, I might just have to shelf the recipe for a bit and wait for this global warming business to chill out.

A pretty patty can be deceiving.

My fail-safe recipe failed! Fabulous new patties. So cute. Perfect for Jay's birthday but they somehow screwed with the heat distribution and resulted in chewy banana choc-chip muffins. I blasted them in the microwave for a few mins the next morning to try and soften them up, alas they remained wrong. The work crew thought they were fabulous. Being in advertising, they're pretty good fibbers.

Perfectly ripe. Not too many black bits so the gagging remained at bay.

The mooshing does make me dry-wretch a bit.

Much prefer melted butter to softened butter.

In go the choc-chips (milk better than dark)

Mix it all up. Don is better at this than me 
cos of his big triceps/biceps etc.

My new patties don't fit into the regular muffin tray. 

They need to go in the Texas tray.

My they are pretty.

What fabulous looking specimens!

RECIPE

• 2 cups (300g) plain flour

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1 cup (220g) caster sugar

• 3 bananas mashed

• 125g unsalted butter, melted

• 2 eggs lightly beaten

• 1 tsp of vanilla essence 

• 1 cup choc-chips

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and add the caster sugar. In a separate bowl combine the mashed bananas, butter, eggs, vanilla and choc-chips. Add the dry ingredients to wet mix and stir with wooden spoon until just combined. Put the patties into the muffin tray and fill them about 3/4. You'll probably need more than 12, maybe 16 or so. Get a bake tray and put a couple more patties in it and fill them up. Pop muffins in oven for half an hour. They should be golden on the top and if you stick a wooden skewer in them, it shouldn't have any raw mixture on it when you pull it out. Let cool a bit and eat. Keep in an airtight container or bag to keep fresh.