This was going to be a maple and pecan loaf but, alas, there were no pecans in the baking cupboard and I wasn’t really in the mood for going to the supermarket when baby B had only just settled down for his morning nap.  Never wake a sleeping baby 😉

So I adapted, I found some walnuts in the depths of the baking cupboard (and made a mental note that I really should have a good clear out in there!) and started creating.  I’m finding that with a 13 week old baby I’m baking things that can be mixed quickly, shoved in the oven and are fairly resilient, i.e. it doesn’t matter if I can’t get to the oven straight away because I’m feeding/ changing/ tidying/ washing etc.  This loaf cake is precisely one of those; an extra five minutes in the oven didn’t matter too much!

You will need:

350g plain flour, sifted

1tsp baking powder

175g butter

75g caster sugar

125g walnuts, roughly chopped

3 medium eggs, beaten

2 tbsp milk

125ml maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 170°C/ 325°F and line a 2lb loaf tin.  Cream together the butter and sugar and add the eggs gradually.  The mixture will curdle but don’t worry!   Add the flour, baking powder, milk and maple syrup and mix well.  It should create a nice batter now.  Add the walnuts and mix thoroughly.  Spoon into the loaf tin and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.