A sad fact of life is that most of us have been touched by cancer, we have either lost someone we love or we know someone who has. Desperately sad and obviously everyone wishes it didn’t happen, but the truth is it does every day. Our family has been more than touched by cancer, we have been devastated time and time again. One thing that helped so many our my relatives was the support they received from Macmillan.
So it’s time to dust off those coffee mugs and dig out your ‘showstopper’ recipe, as Macmillan Cancer Support’s flagship fundraiser World’s Biggest Coffee Morning, returns on Friday 25th September. This year Macmillan is hoping that more people than ever will take part and help to celebrate its 25th Anniversary by raising over £25million for people affected by cancer.
The idea remains as simple today as it was in 1991 when the first official World’s Biggest Coffee Morning took place: get together with friends, colleagues or neighbours to hold a coffee morning and raise money for Macmillan. After all, cake really does taste better together.
A local fundraising committee came up with the idea after it held a coffee morning and donated the proceeds to Macmillan. They suggested rolling out the idea nationally and the first official event saw 2,600 people across the UK host a coffee morning. Last year Macmillan estimates that over 5 million people were involved and a staggering total of £138million has been raised since 1991.
With 2.5 million people currently living with cancer, this year Macmillan needs more people than ever to get involved. Every cup of coffee bought, cake baked and laugh shared at a coffee morning helps Macmillan to continue to providing vital services and support to ensure no one faces cancer alone. For more information or to get your free Coffee Morning kit visit www.coffee.macmillan.org.uk or text SEPT to 70550
We got baking this week to give you an idea of something you could rustle up. We baked Kimberley Walsh’s Crunchy Topped Banana Cake.
For the cake
• 100g butter or margarine, softened
• 300g caster sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 175g plain flour
• 1/2tsp salt
• 1/2tsp grated nutmeg
• 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 75ml milk
• A few drops of vanilla extract
• 4 ripe bananas, mashed
For the topping
• 50g unrefined demerara sugar
• 50g cornflakes, crushed
• 1/2tsp ground cinnamon
• 25g butter or margarine
How to prepare
1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C/fan 160˚C/gas mark 4. Grease and baseline a 23cm square cake tin. I used a loaf tin and some cupcake holders as I don’t have a square tin.
2. Beat together the butter or margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Next, gradually beat in the eggs, then fold in the flour, salt and nutmeg.
3. Mix the bicarbonate of soda into the milk and vanilla essence and stir into the mixture with the bananas. Spoon into the prepared tin.
4. For the topping, mix together the sugar, cornflakes and cinnamon and rub in the butter or margarine.
5. Sprinkle over the cake and bake for 45 minutes until firm to the touch. Cut into squares and serve. Yum. (the cupcake will take less time than the loaf!)
So there’s one yummy idea for your coffee morning. Check out all the details on the Macmillan site and get involved. You could literally change lives.
Disclosure: I am sharing this as it is a cause close to my heart.