Tea, cake, biscuits...and dahlias

I have been baking recently - above is my first attempt at a carrot cake.  Well, I say carrot, but it also has bananas and coconut in it. The recipe said walnuts, but as I don't like them, I substituted coconut instead.

It's a moist and dense cake, a little crumbly, but very delicious.  I was going to make some icing, but we felt it didn't need it.  I will definitely bake this again and maybe add in some ginger and cinnamon too...mmm!

 For the biscuits, I made shortbread and added chocolate chips.  I like shortbread on its own, but you can't go wrong by adding chocolate!  I also have some fudge pieces in the cupboard, so shortbread with fudge pieces may be next on the 'to be baked' list.

My lovely husband went to get us some milk at the weekend and came back with not just the milk, but these beautiful dahlias.  They were being sold in aid of the Salvation Army at a jumble sale-type event.  It was a lovely surprise and I am really enjoying the beautiful colours and amazing flower formations.  I have tried growing dahlias before, without much success, as the slugs and snails think I have planted them just for them.

 

 I couldn't resist some close ups because the petal formations are so amazing.

 Thanks, Chris, they are gorgeous!

This richly coloured velvety one is my favourite!

Apple and Banana Loaf

 I found this recipe on a blog that I follow - here - and as I just happened to have several manky, spotty bananas hanging about, (with the (sort of) warm weather, they go spotty very quickly), I decided to try the recipe and use up the bananas.  I told myself that a cake with bananas and an apple in it was almost healthy.  The problem is, I don't need any persuading to eat cake!

The recipe is very easy and quick to make.  In my conventional 'no bells and whistles' gas oven, it took longer to cook than the recipe said, but I kept checking the cake with a skewer and when the skewer came out clean, I knew it was done.  I managed to stop myself from eating it until it had cooled sufficiently to cut it without it crumbling.  It has quite a solid texture, but is very moist and not too sweet, which is a bonus.  Thank you to Gillian for posting the recipe.