Banana and Cranberry Loaf

        The fall season is here and the climate is getting colder, time to cozy up with a cup of hot tea. This flavorful quick bread is a good accompaniment for tea and coffee. This is a slightly modified recipe from the book, cakes and bakes. This book has more than fifty, easy and tasty recipes in it.

Flavorful and moist bread with cardamom tea!!!

 Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup              all purpose flour
1/2 tsp                  baking powder
1 pinch                 salt
1/4 tsp                  baking soda
2                           bananas (mashed)
1/3 cup                 candied orange and citrus peel
2 tbs                     chopped  nuts
1/4 cup                 dried cranberries
6 tbs                     orange juice
2/3 cup                 oil
2                           eggs (slightly beaten)
1 tsp                     butter (for greasing) 
3/4 cup                 powdered sugar
1 tbs                     grated orange rind 
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 *f. Grease a 9*5inch/ 2 lb loaf pan with the butter and line the base with parchment paper.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl. Stir in the sugar, bananas, chopped candied peel, nuts and cranberries .
3. In a separate bowl, blend together the orange juice, eggs and oil. Combine this with the banana mixture and mix it well. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and level the surface.
4. Bake it in the preheated oven for 1 hour or until a tooth pick inserted into the centre of the bread comes out clean. Keep the loaf on a wire rack and let it cool
5. Mix the powdered sugar with 1/4 cup of water and drizzle it over the loaf. Sprinkle orange rind over the top. Let the frosting set before serving the loaf in slices.
Tips for taste:
Quick breads tastes better the next day.

combined dry ingredients...

Greased and lined 9x5 inch loaf pan

golden loaf, ready for frosting....

frosting...

frosted bread, sprinkled with grated orange rind. 

slice it...

......and eat.

         
    

How to Separate Eggs / Separate eggs with a plastic bottle

   Separating egg whites for a recipe is fun, as long as we do it without breaking the egg yolks. A small amount of fat from the egg yolk, will ruin some recipes. Eggs separate more easily when cold.

1. Use an egg separator.

2. Separate it with a plastic bottle (easiest and less messy)
3. Separate egg with half shell.

STEP BY STEP METHOD

 Hold the egg firmly, tap the middle part of the egg, on the edge of a bowl or on the kitchen counter.   

Place both the thumbs near the crack and pull the shells apart.

1. Drain the egg through an egg separator. 

OR

2. Separate the eggs with an empty, plastic water bottle.

  This is a fun and easy way to separate eggs. Gently place the mouth of the water bottle on the yolk. 

Squeeze the bottle in the middle and release it slowly....

The egg yolk will get pulled inside the bottle.   

To get the egg yolk, out of the bottle: Tilt the bottle over a plate, and gently press the bottle.... 

 the yolk will pop out. We can separate more than 2 yolks with the same bottle.

                                                                      OR
 3. Separate egg with the shell: Crack an egg and gently pull apart the shell, allowing some of the egg white to fall inside a bowl. 

Keep the yolk in one half of the shell, tilt the shell slightly and pass the yolk, back and forth between the shells without breaking the yolk.

Some of the recipes with egg whites: Berry Compote with Goat Cheese Cream, Pear Souffles, Egg and Cheese Stuffed Bell pepper .