I judge a cafe by it’s iced coffee.

I mean, atmosphere, service, food quality is all important but the real test is the iced coffee… You make a good iced coffee Ill be coming back for more. What I mean by good is good strong coffee flavour (real coffee not syrup, yuk!), and a cold tempreture, I think that’s not too much to ask, yet so many cafes pour luke warm milk into a glass with some whipped cream and call it iced coffee - $4.50… I don’t think so.

Often at college I crave an iced coffee. There are some cafes kinda near by (like 5 minute drive) but I ride a motor bike and don’t have any cup holders… so I have managed to create the perfect iced coffee with what’s available to me at college, and here it is (works at home too):

Get a tall glass and add about 2 teaspoons of instant (you know blend 43 or something - not industrial roast).
Add half a teaspoon of sugar. Pour in a small amount of boiling water (like 1/10 of the glass size). Stir the coffee and sugar til disolved.
Add a couple of generous scoops of vanilla ice cream to the hot coffee mix. Let the ice cream cool down the coffee.
Add milk and give a light stir.
Hey Presto!! Ice coffee in an instant that’s not too bad.

It’ll most definately be better than half of the luke warm cups of crap that you get for $4.50 from some Sydney cafes.

Did some baking yesterday. Check out this banana bread, oooh yeah!

It smells and tastes as good as it looks!

This is the first banan bread I’ve eaten since a very bad experience at the Last Drop Cafe in Dulwich Hill during the great banana shortage of 2006… My faith has been restored in the good ‘ol banana bread. It’s particularly good toasted under the grill, with a generous spread of butter, and cup of coffee… mmmmmm.

Takes about 15 minutes of prep and 55 minutes to cook.

You need:

Cake Tin (about 20cm x 8cm x 5cm or something…)

Self Raising flour x 1 3/4 cups

Brown sugar x 3/4 cup

Walnuts x 1 cup (crush them up in the packet)

Butter x 125 grams - that’s about half a block of cooking butter (melted in the microwave for about 40 sec. on high)

Eggs x 2 or 3 (lightly beaten)

Salt x 1/4 teaspoon

Vanilla extract x 1 teaspoon

And 3 or 4 mashed bananas (preferably old brown bananas).

1. Preheat oven to 155 degrees celsius. Grease your cake tin with some butter.
2. Mix the flour, sugar, salt, and nuts together in a mixing bowl.
3. In a seperate mixing bowl mash the bananas, mix in the lightly beaten eggs, melted butter, and vanilla.
4. Fold* the banana mix into the dry ingredients (don’t over mix)
5. Put into the oven for about 55 minutes (or until golden brown).

*Fold - A simple but crucial technique used when combining a light and airy ingredient into a heavier ingredient or mixture in such a way as each ingredient maintains its original volume.  This technique must be done quickly but gently and stop ‘folding’ as soon as the ingredients are blended.  Start by placing one quarter of the lighter mixture on top of the heavier mixture.  With a rubber spatula cut down vertically through the two mixtures, sweep across the bottom, up the nearest side of the bowl, and over the top of the mixtures (go in clockwise direction).  Rotate the bowl a quarter turn counter-clockwise and repeat the down-across-up-over motion.

BTW - I ripped off that bit about the fold from another website… just in case you think I’m a serious cook.