Perfectly Plausible Reasons for Consuming Caffeine!

Because it's not 5 o'clock yet?  While this may be a totally valid reason for some of us - Maisie! - apparently there are a number of health promoting benefits  in having a few cups of coffee per day.

So for those of us who love our coffee this is great news!  The bad news is that adding sugar and cream and a slice of cake can undo some of those benefits.  Ho hum, we can live with this!

One other reason for drinking our favourite beverage is the ritual we go through to make our coffee. The smell of freshly ground coffee beans, the sound of the coffee machine and the feel of our favourite coffee mug in our hands.  Personally I've always wondered if, right on 10.30 in the morning, it is really my body craving the caffeine or my mind craving the ritual.  After much thought I've decided it's the cake!

At Maisie & Clare we are dedicated ritual addicts! And totally loving our range of coffee mugs.  Our current favorite vessel of virtue is the extremely generous Ellen DeGeneres mugs - a whopping 400 mls!  At first we thought the matching plates were a little undersized but then we realized it was just the size of the slab of cake we were putting on it!

Speaking of which, another current favourite is banana cake - and our no fuss, no failure recipe.  Melt 125 grams of butter with 3/4 cup of sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla essence, take it off the heat, allow to cool a little then add two mashed bananas, two eggs and 1 & 1/2 cups of self raising flour, add 1/4 cup of milk and mix until combined.  Pour into a greased and lined ring tin ( a ring tin helps it cook more evenly with no soggy middle!) and cook at 170 degrees for 40 minutes.  Try to wait until it is cool before dusting generously with icing sugar but if you can't, warm banana cake is fine!

So simple, so stylish and so good!

Share the love with Ellen in support of all those who fall in love.