Banana Sour Cream Cake

If you are looking for a moist and easy to make banana cake, look no further.  This is my favourite banana cake recipe which I've cut out from a magazine a long time ago.  I tweaked the recipe a little - by replacing orange juice with sour cream.  This cake stays moist for days because of the sour cream in it.  

Ingredients:

240g self-raising flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

170g butter, softened

120g caster sugar

1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs (180g without shells)

zest of 1 large orange

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup mashed bananas

20 g coarsely chopped walnuts

extra walnut halves for topping

• Grease a 20cm round cake tin, lining the base with baking paper and dusting the sides with a little flour.
• Preheat oven to 160 deg C.
• Sift together self-raising flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt.  Set aside.
• Cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  
• Add mashed bananas and orange zest.  Stir well.
• Fold in flour, alternating with sour cream, and ending with flour and chopped walnuts.
• Pour cake mixture into the cake tin, gently placing walnut halves on the top.
• Bake for about 55 minutes or until cake is done, when cake leaves sides of the tin.

Braised Duck With Ginger

Ingredients:

650g duck drumsticks (3) - cut into big chunks
75g ginger slices
20g chopped garlic
1 tbsp fermented soy beans
5g rock sugar (4 small cubes)
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
1/2 tbsp dark soy
3 tbsp light soy
1 tbsp oil
3/4 tbsp sesame oil
black pepper
1 tbsp corn flour + 1 tbsp water - for thickening

• Marinate duck pieces with 1 tbsp soy sauce and a dash of black pepper.
• Heat cooking oil and sesame oil in a saucepan and sauté ginger slices until fragrant, then add in chopped garlic.  Sauté until fragrant and put in fermented soy beans.  
• Put in marinated duck and fry until brown.  Add dark and light soy sauces, rock sugar and black pepper.  Pour in enough water to cover the duck. Stir well and cover.  
• Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer until duck is tender.  (It took 50 minutes cooked in my AMC pot).
• Thickened the sauce with corn flour mixture.  Stir well and add in coriander leaves.
• Serve hot with rice.

Scrambled Eggs with Mashed Tofu (鸡扒豆腐)

Ingredients:

3 eggs
2 block firm tofu
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 stalk spring onion, chopped
Salt & pepper, to taste
1 tsp Chinese cooking wine
Cooking oil
a dash of sesame oil

• Mashed tofu and placed in a sieve to drain excess water.
• Lightly beat eggs with a little salt, pepper and Chinese cooking wine.
• Heat a little oil in a wok, pour in the beaten eggs and scramble the eggs.  Dish out the eggs and set aside.
• Fry mashed tofu until dry.  Add a dash of sesame oil and spring onion.  Add in the scrambled eggs. And season to taste.  
• Dish out and serve hot.