Champignons et le Gâteau de la banane (white elephant)

H had collected these wild mushrooms, champignons. They change colour as they get older. I think they go a red colour, hence, they are called "sang" like blood.

They were fried with lots of garlic and parsley. Delicious. I was treated to the "lion's share." I didn't put up too much of a fight. Curiously, parsley is persil in french. Sounds and looks like laundry powder, nest-ce pas?

When I saw some bananas getting pretty ripe in the fruit bowl, I decided to make a typically NZ banana cake. From there I began to diverge. I used a french recipe so that I could guarantee the ingredients were what I wanted them to be. In other words, I wasn't sure what the word for baking powder was. Marthe was very generous in letting me use her kitchen and tools. You know what it's like; the kitchen can become quite dirty when making a cake. It used a lot of butter and sugar. I played french music, humming away with the french recipe propped up against a bottle. 

The red silicon loaf tin in the photo filled me with fear, as I didn't want to put it in the oven. I have only used the old fashioned tins in the past. I kept checking with Marthe, to see if it is OK to put it in the oven. She assured me that it was okay.

In the end I found a bigger more robust container in which to fill with the huge quantity of dough. 
I had mixed the butter and sugar by hand. The mixture was very lumpy. Eeek. I hope it works out.

Whew. All went well. I sprinkled it with icing sugar and artistically placed some raspberries on top. I think it would have been sugar overkill I had iced it with lemon icing.

Hervé had the honours of cutting it that night. In this photo his face is frowning as he mocks that it is difficult to cut.

This photo was manufactured to produce the idea of elegance and polite manners. The pinky is thus poised.

We all ate very small, polite slices. None of us wanted to be gluttonous. I then realised that I had a white elephant on my hands. 

How were we going to get through this monstrosity over the next few days???? ( It had to be eaten fresh!)

I was urged to take it to school the next day. It was eagerly greeted by both the staff and students alike. I'm glad I wrote the recipe out in french. One of the teachers wanted the recipe.