Banana muffin recipe

I've never baked a banana flavoured cake before this. In fact, I haven't made muffins ever since I fell in love with the light and fluffy sponge cakes. However, things changed when I found out that my little one actually loves banana muffin from her carer! So, I decided to bake some banana muffins for her afternoon tea. I had baked a few batches of banana muffins now by constantly adjusting the ingredients to achieve a lighter version of banana muffins. 

Below is the recipe that I'm happy with. Please note that I've reduced the sugar significantly as it is meant for kids. Hence, please adjust the sugar amount to your liking. 

Recipe:

(make 10 muffins)

150g cake flour (cake flour makes the cake lighter)

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

2 large eggs

50g castor sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

60g canola oil 

80g buttermilk 

200g banana puree

30g rolled oats (Optional. A small amount of oats were added merely for making the muffins more nutritional)

1. Sift cake flour, baking powder and baking soda onto a mixing bowl. Mix in a pinch of salt and leave the flour mix aside. 

2. Beat eggs in another mixing bowl using medium speed for about 30 seconds. 

3. Add in sugar and beat for another 30 seconds on medium speed. 

4. Add in vanilla extract and canola oil and beat further for another 1 minute on the same speed. 

5. Add in half buttermilk and half flour mix. Mix evenly using a whisk. 

6. Mix in the remaining butter milk and flour mix until combine.  

7. Gently mix in banana puree and oats until everything is evenly combined. 

8. Pour the batter into the cupcake cases, about 1/2 full each. I find it easy to use an ice-cream scoop to evenly allocate the batter onto each cupcake case. 

9. Bake in the preheated oven at 175c for about 12-15mins on the lower rack.

10. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool on the wired rack.

Healthy tuna pasta recipe

After eating out over the weekend, I was looking for a simple and healthy home cooked meal for the whole family including my little one. Tuna pasta naturally came to my mind. After searching through my fridge, I actually found a few good ingredients to make it a one pot pasta meal. This is an easy yet nutritious recipe. Look! It's colourful too!

Recipe:

(4 servings)

1-2 onions - chopped and diced.

1 red capsicum - diced.

2 carrots - cut into the shape you like.

2 cans tuna - remove the water or oil.

2 bunches of baby broccoli - cut into shorter stems.

500g pasta

2 tablespoons olive oil

Parsley flakes

Salt

Pepper

1. Cook pasta and carrots in a pot of boiling water with some salt until soft.

2. While boiling the pasta, heat olive oil in a frying pan. Add in onions and red capsicum. Stir fry until the onions are a bit soft.

3. Add in tuna and mix well.

4. When the pasta and carrots are soft, add the baby broccoli to the boiling water (just to scald the veg). Drain the hot water.

5. Add the pasta, carrots and baby broccoli to the frying pan and stir well.

6. Sprinkle parsley flakes all over the pasta. Add salt and pepper to taste and mix well.

7. Dish out and serve.