Today I am the old stereotype of a blogger.

It’s 9.30am and I am still in my pajamas.

Bad Claire! I was knocked down by an unkindly spring bug yesterday so that’s my excuse.

I’ve been hitting the vitamin C and every other remedy I know hard for 48 hours now so hopefully I’ll be good as new by tomorrow.

Somehow even when I am sick I can’t keep out of the kitchen.

Yesterday I still managed to make a big batch of Chris’s Italian roasted tomatoes and a thing of my favourite dip.

Unless I have an awful bug that takes my appetite (the worst thing a bug can do to me!), food always makes me feel better.

I’ve totally forgotten where I was going with this so clearly my brain is still a little sick.

I’ll ever-so-unsubtly change tact into banana and raspberry bread.

Seeing as I was honeymooning on Mother’s Day this year I left mum a little gift that would keep on giving.

There was one false start where I rang her the weekend before Mother’s Day and wished her a happy day (blame bride brain) but on the day she was very happy to open my voucher for a loaf of her choosing every month for a year.

Mum loves banana bread and any variation of it so I’ve been doing a lot of experimenting.

Honey in place of a bit of the sugar and adding oats and cinnamon seem to be an easy substitution in most recipes but this time I thought I’d get very adventurous and throw some raspberries in the mix.

I took this latest loaf to the beach to visit mum and dad a few weekends ago and it was thoroughly enjoyed.

I even had a stylist on this shoot (mum insisted!), hence the beach-themed pics.

You can use fresh berries but I think frozen are just as good.

I’ve found a brand called Nanna’s that sells 1kg bags for $8.99.

If you can find less-expensive raspberries I’d love to hear about it!

Put the butter, sugar and honey in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat them all together until they’re nice and smooth and creamy.

No there’s no mistake in the recipe.

This was just three eggs. In the one carton I had five double-yolkers. Five!

Add the eggs to the bowl one at a time and beat them through then stir in the vanilla.

Take the bowl off the stand and add the flour, oats and cinnamon.

Mash up the banana and raspberries and fold them through the batter.

Spread the batter into a greased and lined tin and then sprinkle it with the rest of the oats.

Bake the loaf at 160C fan-forced for 55 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Leave the baked loaf to cool in the tin for five minutes.

Transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.

The bowl featured in the background is a little memento from mum and dad’s recent trip to Fiji.

It’s a two tier (double chips!) chip bowl made of coconut shells.

The pretty fish platter was a handmade gift from one of mum’s lovely friends.

Although lovely on its own, like most loaf cakes/breads, this one was just perfect lightly toasted and spread with a little butter. Enjoy!

What about you? Do you like giving edible gifts?

Raspberry and honey oat banana bread

Yield: 10

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 55 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

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Ingredients

• 185g butter, softened
• 100g caster sugar
• 60g honey
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup mashed banana
• 100g raspberries
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 20g quick oats
• 225g self-raising flour
• 2 tbsp extra oats for topping

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160C fan-forced and grease and line a loaf tin.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, honey and sugar together.
3. Add the eggs one at a time and mix to combine.
4. Mix in the vanilla.
5. Mash the bananas and raspberries together.
6. Take the bowl off the stand and stir in the oats and flour then the banana and raspberries.
7. Scrape the batter out into the lined tin and smooth out the top.
8. Sprinkle with the extra oats.
9. Bake the loaf for 55 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
10. Leave it to sit in the tin for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.