Spiced Banana Bread

One of my favourite sweet treats to bake during the Autumn time is spiced banana bread. This is super easy to make as well as tasting delicious and is perfect for the season. Considering I class this as an Autumn essential I figured I would share how I make my banana bread.

First of all, I get all the ingredients.

(2 or 3 bananas, 1 egg, 100g caster sugar, 70g butter, 125g self-raising flour, 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda, mixed spice, ground ginger, cinnamon).

 Then I grease and line my baking tin. To do this I used oil and a brush to cover the inside of my tin, then I cut out some baking paper and pressed it into my tin. Butter will also work instead of oil.

Once I had prepared for my baking, I set the oven to 180 C. (fan oven)

Using my hands I then creamed together the sugar and the butter.

Once the butter and sugar are fully mixed, I then sieve in the flour, bicarbonate of soda and my spices. I then used an electric whisker to mix my ingredients, however, you can do this by hand using a wooden spoon. You decide how much spice you add. Personally, I like to add about 1 or 2 tsp mixed spice, 1 or 2 tsp of ginger and about 4 or 5 tsp of cinnamon. Then I beat the egg.

After this, I added in the beaten egg and the bananas. Then I mixed it using my electric mixer (a spoon is fine) until the mixture was smooth.

Then I poured the contents into my baking tin. Once all of the mixture was in my tin I placed it into the oven for approx an hour.

After an hour I took out my tin and let it cool.

Finally, I was left with my spiced banana bread.

I really love baking this for the Autumn and my family love to eat it. It's a great treat and very easy to bake.

Thank you for reading,

Xxx Holly xxX

Yankee candle love

Over the years I have heard wonderful things about the Yankee candles. So finally I took it upon myself to go and purchase some Yankee candles. Now I am the kind of person that likes to redecorate every season. I love celebrating the seasons and I feel that candles are a must have for any season! As I ordered my candles from online, I decided to keep it safe and purchase three samples. These consisted of November Rain, Blissful Autumn and Apple and Pine Needle. 

The first one I tested was November Rain. I know that it is only September but I just couldn't resist. I adore that smell just after it's rained so when I came across this candle I had no choice but to buy it. This smells amazing. Although I must admit, it doesn't smell of rain. However, despite this, it still smells lovely and really makes my room feel cosy. I definitely recommend this candle and I will be purchasing it again. 

My next candle sample was Blissful Autumn. As soon as my eyes fell upon this name I knew I had to try it. As I was looking for some Autumn scents this seemed just perfect, and I was correct. This scent smells so lovely I could just eat it. Full of sweet fruity and woodland scents this is perfect for the season. I think it is safe to say this scent is addictive and completely worth it. I will defiantly be purchasing this again and I strongly recommend you try it too.

 The final scent I purchased was the Apple and Pine Needle. Now although I was on a search for autumn scents, when I came across this I figured why not get stocked up for winter. This scent is full of wintery pine smells crossed with a sweet apple twist. I personally really like this smell but I could see how it wouldn't be to everybody's taste. To me, this just smells so seasonal and I can't wait to use it properly during the winter months. Although I do like this smell, I would recommend testing before you purchase.

On top of this, the other day I came across a sale for another Yankee candle scent, 'Spiced Orange'.  Considering it was on sale I just went ahead and purchased it. Although I haven't officially trialled it yet, I can tell you that the smell is pretty strong. However, once I have officially trialled it, I shall get back to you on my thoughts.

Thank you for reading,

xxX Holly Xxx