Spongy Saturday

I have officially reserved my Saturdays for rare cooking experiments to try and keep up somewhat close to the image of an ideal mum stored in my head ---

A forever young, sari clad curvilicious woman wearing a laced apron, who bakes awesome cakes on a lazy Sunday; who makes delicious raw mango pickles in summer holidays and most importantly ,who is always there to open the door with a sweet smile when her child returns from school, bursting with exciting stories to tell… (which is exactly what my mom has been!)

I know I will never be able to be her, but at least my son should know what the cliché of 'mother’s home cooked food mixed with love' means! Last week my son mentioned that his friend’s mom makes some ‘super cookies’, which in a way acted as the pushing factor towards my new found love for baking.

Hence along with my ‘Soupy Saturdays’, I had an (almost) ‘Spongy Saturday’ with home baked muffins (made to perfection ;) from extra ripe bananas(which everybody avoids eating) and some left over mixed fruit jam in the fridge (which people in the house stop believing in after about two weeks of its purchase!)
Here is my freestyle recipe ---

:: Nut-Brown Banana Muffins (eggless) ::

o Sieve about 4 small cups of white flour along with 1 teaspoon of baking powder and 2 tea spoons of soda bicarb into a clean bowl.

o Add some powdered cardamom and nutmeg to the dry mix.

o In a separate bowl, melt about 4-6 table spoons of butter and add about the same proportion of condensed milk (in place of three eggs).

o Add about 2 cups of sugar and some fresh milk to make the wet mixture.

o Mix in a teaspoon full of vanilla essence, already smashed extra ripe bananas and ALL of the left over mixed fruit jam!

o Combine the wet and dry mixtures with a blender until smooth ‘pourable’ consistency.

o Place grooved paper cups (available in awesome prints at any super market) into the muffin tray, so there is no need to grease it.

o Pour the cake batter into the muffin tray to fill a little more than half of each cup. I like to hide an almond or two in each muffin for that ‘secret element’!

o Bake for about 20 minutes in the oven (or till you start panicking as you see them rise beyond expectations!)

o Serve hot, when they are still spongy, otherwise they might be mistaken for paper weight ;)

Oh for a well spent Saturday afternoon!