Banana skewers

I should have photographed these because they were fantastic, and you were so proud of them. Next time...

Makes enough for 3. You'll need

a couple of bananas, roughly cut into large slices
straws (or skewers - but straws are easier if you're only small)
100g (ish) of chocolate, preferably dark
a couple of tablespoons of dessicated coconut on a small plate

Break the chocolate into small pieces, and place in a small bowl. Stick in the microwave for short intervals (eg 15s) until the chocolate is melted - it helps if you keep stirring it in between the bursts.

Thread your banana piece on a straw/skewer. Drizzle over the melted chocolate, then roll the whole thing over the coconut so it sticks to the chocolate.

Stand each straw/skewer in a glass, and leave to harden. Eat as quickly as possible, so no one can pinch yours.

Strawberry smoothie

We have more strawberries on the allotment than we know what to do with, so we've started eating them for breakfast. You like this smoothie a lot, because it's pink...

Makes enough for 1 (adult). You'll need:

1 small banana banana (the riper the better)
a handful of ripe strawberries, hulled
a tablespoon of yoghurt
3 or 4 ice cubes

Stick everything in a blender. Whizz around until the ice has been crushed, and everything has turned a glorious pink. If you're making it for a little one, don't bother with the ice cubes - just dilute with a little cold water.

Millie's chocolate and banana pots

You made these all by yourself - you did all the chopping, and the wrapping of everything in foil.

Makes enough for three. You'll need:

3 glass ramekins
a couple of bananas
whatever leftover chocolate you can find (ours was the remnants of the Easter hoard)
a handful of cranberries/raisins
a splash of rum or orange juice

Stick the oven on at about 180 degrees C.

Peel the bananas, and chop into small(ish) rings. Place on the bottom of the ramekin dishes. Smash up all the chocolate you can find, and divvy up evenly between the pots. Sprinkle over whatever dried fruit you fancy (cranberries or raisins are good).

If the pot is for a grownup, they'll appreciate a splash of rum in the bottom. Children can stick to a slurp of orange juice.

Cover the pots with foil, sling them on an oven tray (makes it much easier to get them in and out of the oven), and put them in the oven while you eat the first part of your tea - they need about 15-20 minutes.

Take the foil off carefully, and then serve with a dollop of creme fraiche, or ice cream.

Fruity flapjack pots

This was rather slung together, to make a quick pudding for Gran and Grandpa (lover of puddings extraordinaire). You could use any sort of sour fruit - rhubarb, gooseberries, redcurrants - as long as you balance it with a little apple.

You'll need:

4 small oven-proof ramekin dishes (those glass ones that Gu puds come in are ideal)
a selection of fruit (ours included three or four stems of rhubarb from the allotment, a couple of gooseberries, half an apple that was leftover from your lunch and a banana)
2 heaped teaspoons of golden syrup (honey would also be nice)
25g butter (ish)
6 or 7 tablespoons rolled oats

Stick the oven on at about 180 degrees C.

Chop up the rhubarb, gooseberries and apple (peeled and cored), and chuck into a small pan. Add a little hot water, bring to the boil, and simmer for 10 minutes, until the fruit has broken down. Spread this mixture at the bottom of your ramekins. I didn't have a huge amount (there wasn't much rhubarb available), so I sliced up a banana as well, and divvied it up among the ramekins.

Melt the butter and golden syrup in a non-stick pan. Add the rolled oats, and stir - you want the oats to become completely covered in the butter/syrup mixture. If it's a bit dry, add a little more butter.

Spoon the oaty mixture onto the top of the fruit, and then stand the ramekins on a baking tray (it makes them easier to get in and out of the oven). Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the flapjack-y top has gone crispy, and the fruit is bubbling underneath.

We ate this with a little cream drizzled on the top (ice cream would also be good).

Coconut and banana ice cream

Guaranteed to bring a smile to the face of the most chicken pox-ridden small child.

You'll need:

a banana
2/3 of a tin of coconut cream/milk (here's the recipe that used the other third)
about 80g sugar

You'll also need the foresight to put the bowl for the ice cream maker in the freezer the day before...

Stick all the ingredients in a blender. Blitz until they're well mixed. Pour into your freezing cold bowl and churn for however long it takes (it's about an hour in our very aged ice cream maker - and inevitably it still needs a brief spell in the freezer after that).

You could also make this in container in the freezer - you'll need to remember to take it out occasionally and mix.

Banana bread

I adapted this one from a Nigella Lawson recipe - she's right, it does produce the most wonderful fug of banana-y smell that permeates the whole house.

You'll need:

some rather squishy bananas (I used three large ones), mashed
125g butter
150g brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
a teaspoon of vanilla extract
60g walnuts, chopped
100g sultanas or raisins
175g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarb of soda
a pinch of salt

First of all, stick the oven on to about 175 degrees C, and find a loaf tin (I used a silicon one, so I didn't have to faff about with greasing or greaseproof paper).

Melt your butter (either in the microwave or in a small pan), and then add the sugar to it. Beat the two together, then add in the eggs - beat until it's blended really well. Mix in the mashed bananas, and then the vanilla extract.

Add the sultanas and walnuts (you like taste testing these, so I darkly suspect we didn't have quite the right amount).

Stir in the flour, bicarb, baking powder and pinch of salt, and make sure it's all mixed together really well.

Decant into your loaf tin, then bake in the oven for an hour. Poke a skewer or long pointy thing into the cake - if it comes out clean, then the cake's finished.

Leave to cool in the tin, and then turn out. Try not to eat it all at once...

Banana ice cream

We made banana ice cream this afternoon. It was going to be strawberry, but when I walked down to the supermarket last night there were none to be seen.

The original recipe came from Nigel Slater's Real Food - but I had to adjust the quantities because our freecycle ice cream maker is tiny.

Don't forget, you have to stick the bowl in the freezer for a few hours, or overnight.

150ml cream (I used double cream, but whipping would probably be even better)
2 ripe-ish bananas
60g caster sugar
juice of 1/2 a lemon

Chop up the bananas, and stick in the blender, together with the lemon juice and sugar. Remember to put the lid on. Whizz round for a bit (your favourite part). Pour in the cream. Whizz round a bit more.

Decant into the bowl from the ice cream maker. Fiddle about for ages with the lid/paddle combination. Leave to churn for 45 minutes (or until the motor threatens to blow up). It'll probably be still quite soft - stick it in a tub in the freezer to finish it off.

We had chocolate/toffee sauce on top today - there were going to be hundreds and thousands but then I realised the best before date was October 2003...