Sunday afternoon loafing

 It's true I did spend most of Sunday afternoon loafing around on the couch, but you know that's not what I'm talking about. You'll have to forgive me, but I only have a limited time left in which to amuse myself with terrible puns in my blog titles. I am, of course, talking about the moment in which I dragged myself off the couch and into the kitchen to make an oat bran date loaf (p31).


I don't know why it took such an effort to motivate myself: it't really quite easy to make. You start by chopping up some dates, (which, after many years of doing this the hard way, I've recently realised is much quicker and easier with a pair of kitchen scissors) then add some golden syrup and cover both with boiling water.


That has to sit for 15 minutes before you combine it with the dry ingredients - flour, brown sugar, baking powder and soda, and of course, the oat bran. You're actually supposed to add the dry ingredients to the date mixture, but since I had not had the forethought to use a big enough bowl when soaking my dates, I poured the dates into the flour instead.


It wasn't long before I had my loaf in the oven and I could go back to my couch and my book. The cooking time is 45-50 minutes, but I checked mine after 40 and it was fine - perhaps even a bit overdone.


All the loaves I make seem to come out with a hard crust on top. This one was no exception, though the crust wasn't nearly as thick as on some I've made previously. Beneath that, the loaf was soft and moist, with that lovely datey-caramely flavour you get from combining dates with brown sugar and golden syrup.


I may be biased, since I'm just such a fan of dates, but I reckon this one's pretty good.