Jamaican Gingerbread with 3x Ginger & Poached Pears

This Jamaican gingerbread is loaded with flavor!

Spicy ginger kick from the trio of fresh, ground and crystallized ginger.

Plus intense color and deep flavor from unsulphured blackstrap molasses. Best of all, it’s easy to make! Left for a few days it tastes even better but it’s so irresistible that you might have to make two and hide one away from yourself for later.

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Banana Bread Transformed: Whole-Grain Ackee Bread

What if I told you that your favourite banana bread recipe isn’t just a banana bread recipe?

  • You can make tweaks to the flours, from a 50/50 blend of white and wholewheat flours to 100% whole grain or experiment with less popularly used flours like spelt, teff, buckwheat etc
  • Play with spices and flavourings (think beyond vanilla): nutmeg and cinnamon are favorites, but what about cardamom or ginger or even a Chinese 5 spice powder if you’re adventurous!
  • Brown sugar is my go to for banana bread and you can choose either light or dark brown sugar for a richer molasses taste but there’s nothing to stop you from using coconut sugar or other alternative sweeteners
  • Do you go for butter or oil? What about browned butter, ghee, cold pressed coconut oil or even a splash of sesame oil, say whaaaat?!?!
  • Then there are all the add-ins you can throw in. From a range of chips – dark chocolate, white chocolate, caramel or butterscotch chips – to toffee bits, bits of heath bars, dried fruits, fresh berries, nuts, seeds…the possibilities are truly endless.
  • Last but not least you can even sprinkle stuff on top of your banana bread before baking it. Cinnamon sugar, pearl sugar, oats, sliced bananas, streusel, crumble, even more chips!

You could literally make a different banana bread each day for a few years with just one recipe!

But when I said your banana bread recipe isn’t just a banana bread recipe, I actually didn’t meant all the add-ins and tweaks I just mentioned, I meant changing the bananas themselves! I know, I know, why are we messing with a good thing? But variety is the spice of life! And what’s better than knowing that a tried and true recipe can easily transform into another one (or few)?

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Easy Ackee Muffins

Ready for the most tender muffins you’ve ever tried?

Ackees make these muffins extremely moist and the addition of pastry flour lightens up the mix . The base recipe is easy to prepare and you can include your own favourite add-ins; here I’ve done two variations: the first white chocolate and coconut and the second feature a dollop of ackee cream cheese filling. Continue reading “Easy Ackee Muffins”