{TWD} Baby (Basic) Banana Cake

The official name of this week's recipe for the Tuesdays With Dorie baking group is "Lots-of-Ways Banana Cake" because Dorie Greenspan gives, well, lots of different ways to bake, fill, frost, and/or serve her recipe for banana cake. I've got to admit that despite all of the available options I baked a very plain version of this cake, and a tiny one at that, hence my name for it: Baby Basic Banana Cake.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- Kimberly of Only Creative Opportunities chose this week's recipe and you can find the recipe for the cake on her blog.

- I baked 1/8 recipe in a smallish loaf pan.

- At first I was a bit dubious about this cake; I had loved Dorie's Classic Banana Bundt Cake (that I posted here) so much that it was hard to imagine how this recipe could stack up to that one.

- Although I'd love to taste this cake baked with coconut milk and toasted coconut in it, my main taster - my husband - is anti-coconut, so I baked a coconut-free version.

- Since the quantities of ingredients were so small for 1/8 recipe I didn't use a mixer but just creamed and stirred with a big spoon by hand.

- For liquids I used a creamy thick plain yogurt, the optional rum, and a double quantity of vanilla extract.

- 1/8 recipe fits into a pan with an area of 15 or 16 square inches. I used a 3"x5" loaf pan, which I greased and floured, then lined with a parchment sling so that the cake would easily release from the pan.

- The little cake took around 27 minutes to bake.

- Rather than fill or frost the cake, I sprinkled it with powdered sugar and served it with vanilla ice cream. It would be great with whipped cream and toasted walnuts, too.


the verdict:

This cake turned out to be a wonderfully fluffy, soft yet moist, cake-ish version of the best banana bread you've tasted. We enjoyed it with vanilla ice cream; perfect for a hot summer evening. My husband rated this one an "11" on a scale of 1-to-10.

Here I'm going to sound like a broken record: I don't know why I ever doubted Dorie. She definitely knows her way around banana cakes. I loved this cake nearly as much as her banana bundt cake. In fact I'd need to taste them side by side to see which one I like better.

If you have any love in your heart for banana baked goods, this is a recipe to keep in your back pocket. Thanks, Kimberly for a great pick this week!

{TWD} Cocoa-Nana Loaf

This week's recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie baking group is Cocoa-Nana Bread, which is interesting for a couple of reasons: Dorie calls it a "bread," she places it in the "breakfast" section of her book, Baking: From My Home to Yours, and it contains a somewhat unlikely combination of ingredients: chocolate and banana. The chocolate-banana issue garnered nearly as much controversy in TWD's P&Q post this week as the chocolate-raisin one did last week!

While I wasn't sure I'd like the flavors of chocolate and banana together, I made the recipe almost exactly as written, hoping that I'd be wowed by the combination.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- The Cocoa-Nana Bread was chosen this week by Steph of Obsessed With Baking, and you can find the recipe on her post.

- I made 2/3 recipe in two loaf pans; one small, one medium. The recipe was pretty simple to scale to that proportion. The only semi-tricky part was the egg, but with a digital scale that registers in grams, it really isn't that bad. To get 1 1/3 egg, I used one really large egg and added a bit of egg whites from the fridge to get 67 grams total (I usually assume a large egg weighs 50 grams without the shell).

- The only change I made to the recipe is to substitute 2 T of oil for butter in the hopes that it would ensure a nice moist crumb.

- I used a heaping 1/2 cup of mashed banana to equal 1 1/3 whole bananas. This is based on some research that I did when we baked the Black and White Banana Marble Loaf a while back (while there does not seem to be a consensus on the internet, I conclude that 2 bananas is just over 3/4 cup). I really wish that Dorie's recipe would have given a clue, because the size of fruit is quite variable.

- I baked each loaf just until the cake tester came out clean. I had lined the bottom of the pans with parchment, so the loaves released easily. Mine didn't seem to be as dense as those of some of my fellow bakers.

the verdict:

This loaf sliced well and had a nice, tight crumb. The chocolate chips I used were pretty big, so there were sizeable chunks of bittersweet chocolate in each small slice. Unfortunately, on first taste I found the bread a tiny bit dry, so I wish I'd used some more oil, or some yogurt, or more banana. My loaf had a mild chocolatey taste, and a slight, very subtle banana flavor. After an overnight rest in the fridge, the bread was fudgier and not as dry. I enjoyed the bread better cold than I had warm from the oven, but in the end I can't say that I was wowed by it. If I'm going to have chocolate it might as well be decadent, and if banana's on the menu, make it a plain old delicious banana bread!

{TWD} Classic Banana Bundt Cake

My father always thought it funny that there are fruits - like grapes, or bananas - which I like just fine but I never really eat. It made perfect sense to me: I like those fruits but I just like other things more. Despite my best explanations he was never convinced. "How can you say you like grapes if you don't eat them," he'd say. Or, "if you don't eat bananas then you must not like them."

I don't even bother buying grapes (although I eat them at my mom's when I go there for lunch every week), but every now and then I'll grab a bunch of bananas when I'm at the store. I might eat half a banana here or there, but I might just as easily not get around to it. And then one day I look at the counter and they are over-ripe. The entire bunch. I wait until the peel is good and brown all over, then I mash them, measure them, scoop the mash into a plastic bag, and pop it in the freezer. Labelled with the date and quantity.

Luckily I love - and will eat - banana in baked goods. My husband loves it even more. Whole wheat banana bread is a breakfast staple at our house, and can be whipped up any time, thanks to that ready supply of frozen mashed banana.

When the August Tuesdays With Dorie recipes were announced, I quickly baked up the Classic Banana Bundt Cake so my husband could enjoy it before he left town for 2 weeks.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- At Christmas time I'd gotten a deep 7-cup pudding mold that was still sitting in its wrapper, so I decided to use it for this recipe. I scaled the recipe to 2/3 which I hoped would fit with room to spare.

- Frozen banana will get darker over time in the freezer, but it does not affect the flavor. I heaped my measure of banana.

- I used flour blend that is half all-purpose and half whole wheat.

- My duck egg was a bit scant compared to what I should have used. I figured it would make for a more dense cake, which is just fine with me. I'll take dense over fluffy any day of the week.

- I used regular Greek yogurt.

- To cut the saturated fat just a bit, I used 3/4 the amount of butter the (scaled) recipe called for and filled in the difference with light flavored olive oil and a dollop of extra yogurt.

- I was a little worried about the cake sticking to the deep mold, so I slathered it with butter and then floured the pan.

- The cake took a long time to bake and rose well above the rim. It got good and brown, but I left it in the oven until it started pulling away from the edges of the pan. I didn't want it to stick to the pan.

- I always hold my breath when turning a cake out of the pan. I pried the edges gently and luckily the cake released cleanly! (In the picture above you can see some of the white floury residue on the outside of the cake.)

- Since the bulk of my cake was destined for the freezer, I decided to leave it unglazed. Plus, if a bundt cake is good, I think a topping can distract from the cake's flavor. Guess I'm just a bundt cake purist.

I think I folded a bit too gently - the ingredients aren't mixed very evenly!

the verdict:

When I sliced into the cake I could see that it baked up incredibly moist - and surprisingly dense considering how much it rose in the pan. We were fresh out of any suitable ice cream flavors, so we had our cake totally unadorned. That turned out to be no problem at all, since it left us enough room to go back for seconds on cake! Because this cake was absolutely, positively delicious! As I reported on Twitter: "I didn't know a banana cake could be amazing." My husband's reaction: "This is unconscious!" (That's a compliment) In fact, when we were eating this we happened to be discussing my recent TWD anniversary and the "Top 10" list that I was compiling. My husband gestured to the banana cake and said "This needs to be on it." It will definitely make the revised list!

My husband enjoyed the cake two nights for dessert and two mornings for breakfast. I popped the remaining half cake in the freezer.

I wish my dad were around so I could share this cake with him and prove that indeed, I LOVE banana in baked goods, even if I still won't bother to eat a raw banana!

Thanks to Mary, The Food Librarian, for choosing this fabulous recipe (you can find the recipe on Mary's post, and see her beautiful cake, dusted with powdered sugar - wish I'd thought of that!) I hope another TWD baker chooses a bundt cake soon.

June m.o.m. - Banana Walnut Muffins

This month's Muffins Of the Month (m.o.m.) are especially "mom-ish": Not only did I make the muffins to give to my mom (as always), I baked them in my mom's kitchen, and am writing this post from my mom's computer. I've been doing some construction at my house and have very limited use of my kitchen right now. At the same time my modem/router connection went on the fritz and I also have limited use of my home's computer. So I'm glad that I've got my mommy around when I need an oven or a computer!

I went with a classic for June: Banana Walnut Muffins. Rather than use my usual banana bread recipe (which I love) or my mother's banana bread recipe (which is also yummy), I decided to try a recipe from Beth Hensperger's Muffins book for Williams Sonoma.


n.o.e.'s notes:

- When I preheated the oven, it was the first time the new oven in my mom's new unit had been turned on!

- I prefer oil-based muffins and quick breads. Easier, healthier, and often moister, imo.

- The recipe uses walnut oil. I had been storing some in my fridge and couldn't remember what recipe I'd purchased it for, so I was thrilled to try it in this recipe.

- I used black walnuts. If I'd had more time I would have toasted them first.

the verdict:

These were the best banana muffins I've ever tasted. Moist and strong banana flavor. Loved the walnut oil (and walnuts!) My mom said they were "super!" I will make this recipe again and again. What a find - and I can't wait to try more of Beth Hensperger's recipes!

{TWD} Lumpy, Bumpy Banana Cream Pie

my little pie, inside a vintage 9" pie pan

Or: The Pie Only a Grandma Could Love!

When I floated the idea of Banana Cream Pie to my book group and family members, I got a lot of reactions along the lines of "eew." Personally, I like cream pies and banana ones are fine in my book. I mean they have sugar and cream, right? Although I'm not super-wild about the pieces of banana in the custard (don't like them in banana/nilla wafer pudding either) I'll definitely eat a slice of banana cream pie if it's put in front of me.

But seeing as this assignment fell in Lent, I wouldn't be eating it, and with my family and my book group both voting "no," I was left with a dilemma of what to do with the pie. It's not the easiest thing to send to the office with my husband, either. Finally I decided to halve the recipe and give the pie away to my in-laws, who I was pretty sure would enjoy it.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- Back at Thanksgiving, I compared Dorie's crust to the Cook's Illustrated (vodka method) crust, and CI came out on top [you can find the taste test at the end of my Twofer Pie post] because of its ease of handling, and superior flakiness and crispness. But I had a partial batch of Dorie's pie crust in the freezer, and a 7" foil pie pan on the foil shelf in the basement (I keep an assortment for giving away food), so I was set to make a half recipe.

- Somewhere along the way I'd read that both egg whites and egg yolks can be frozen. Without bothering to see if there are any special requirements (it turns out there are), about a month ago I tossed a bunch of leftover egg yolks in the freezer.

- I found out the hard way that thawed yolks are very thick, so whisking was difficult. When I put it over heat the pastry cream never made it to the boiling point -it thickened very quickly. I was thinking that I'd added too much cornstarch (when I halved the recipe, I went by weight not volume.) But now that I've read the P&Q, I see that others had this exact same problem. Except that they had the good sense to thin the thick pastry cream with milk. duh.

- So the cream was very thick and borderline lumpy from the thick egg yolks and maybe too much cornstarch. It looked exactly like beige wallpaper paste.

- Dorie's crust doesn't hold an edge as well as one made with more shortening. Also, I used my new pie weight chain to blind bake the crust, and while the bottom stayed flat, the crust shrank a lot. Luckily it didn't matter with a cream pie.

the verdict:

This was one homely pie!

I saved two little teaspoons of filling, which I studded with pieces of banana and a dab of the whipped cream. I tasted one and gave one to my daughter A.L.E. Her reaction:
"I like it better than I expected"

I agree.

The flavors went together very well. It's not particularly sweet, but quite creamy and silky, with a nice flavor from the brown sugar and spices.

My daughters brought the pie with them on a visit to their grandparents' house, where it made a huge hit. So the next time I have an urgent call for a banana cream pie, I know exactly which recipe I'll turn to!

Amy of Sing for Your Supper chose this week's TWD recipe, which you can find on her post, or on pages 342 and 343 of Dorie Greenspan's wonderful book Baking From My Home to Yours.. Check out the TWD blogroll to see how everyone else's pie turned out.

{TWD} The Black and White Banana Loaf + Bonus variation loaf

[update 8/7/08:I finally cut the rest of the bread, and love how the marbling turned out!]

I volunteered to bring the food for our book discussion group this Thursday. I figured this week's challenge, the Black and White Banana Loaf, would be perfect for our coffee-and-dessert gathering (well we have some cheese and fruit and such for those who come straight from work without dinner, but the desserts generally rule).

I've devised a fabulous and very healthy Whole-Wheat Blueberry Banana bread that I make regularly for breakfast. When my bananas get (over)ripe I mash and measure them, drop the mash into freezer bags and I'm ready for baking time. My freezer had several cups of bananas but I had no real idea how much to use for the 1.5 bananas Dorie calls for.

A bit of research (thank you Google) turned up differing estimates on how many bananas per cup - anywhere from 1/2 to 3/4 cup for 1.5 bananas, I guess because banana size can vary so much. So I planned to use 2/3 cup for a single loaf, but after reading the P&Q and finding that people were having trouble with runny batter, I actually used a smidge less.


Never one to leave well enough alone, I had the great idea to make an additional loaf for my husband, who is allergic to chocolate. Coffee/Banana came into my mind and would not leave. Even when I realized that my husband is out of town, so I could cook and enjoy a chocolate dessert without guilt. Call me a glutton for punishment, but I went ahead with the plan. Except I concluded that half a loaf for him would be ideal (limited freezer space). And a full Chocolate/Banana loaf for the group.

So, that's 1.5 x Dorie's recipe (except for the ingredients for the chocolate, which are not increased). Then mix the batter, divide into slightly unequal halves, then split the smaller half into two parts (2/3 chocolate and 1/3 coffee). A spreadsheet might have helped (a la Engineer Baker). IF I had any idea how to do a spreadsheet.

In the end I calculated the ingredients in my head and wrote them on a sticky note which I put on the cookbook page, covering the original ingredients so I wouldn't accidentally revert to their authority. I weighed the batter on my kitchen scale to get the halves, two-thirds, and one-thirds roughly correct. My scale is not that accurate and this little exercise drove me to order a new digital scale - click here for all your scale/weighing needs (thanks again, Google).

Aside from the math test aspect, the recipe came together beautifully. Gotta love the stand mixer. And the details Dorie provides: "The batter will look curdled and it will continue to look curdled as you add ingredients." Check. I followed the instructions religiously; nutmeg, rum, lemon juice, lemon zest, it all went in.


I've never marbled, so I studied all the alternative methods in Dorie's book before deciding on the spoonful technique. The chocolate batter was a lot thicker than the banana. The coffee batter was thin (I added a heaping teaspoon of instant coffee to half a tablespoon boiling water for the half loaf). I scooped with the spoon and then zigged and zagged with the knife. No way of knowing how it worked until it was cooked and cut.


My mom always made amazing cranberry bread and used long slim aluminum loaf pans. One year my dad surprised me on my birthday with two of these loaf pans that he'd picked up somewhere. I have a lot of loaf pans but these are my absolute favorites. The bread cooks evenly and the slices look pretty with straight up-and-down sides. I have some similar smaller pans that are great for 1/2 recipes.

I baked the loaves at a slightly lower temperature (especially since I suspect my oven runs a bit hot) so they would cook through and not brown too fast. Based on the early comments in the P&Q, I tented the pans after the first 30 minutes, but I actually wish I hadn't. I would have liked to have the loaves a bit browner on top, especially since I froze them (I think the moist tops will be sticky when they thaw).

Curiosity almost killed me! I couldn't wait to see the marbling. Finally the loaves cooled and I could cut them. The chocolate turned out great.

The coffee loaf didn't have as much contrast and the marbling was more 'mixed', I think because of the thinner batter.


The Verdict:
These were really lovely loaves. Veritable marvels of marbling! As far as flavor, nothing 'stood out' – despite the various flavorings, nutmeg, lemon, rum, banana – the cake didn’t taste overly-anything to me. It was just right. Great texture and nicely moist. And really pretty marbling.

The banana coffee loaf was also quite good - the flavors got along nicely.

Thanks to Ashlee of A Year In The Kitchen for choosing this week's recipe, which she'll post at her site, or you can find it on page 232 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours. (The book is amazing. Buy it now!) Check out the other versions of this recipe by visiting the 230+ other TWD bakers.

Bread 2.5 x .40 = Bread 1.0

Just in case you don't have, say, 8 or 9 very ripe bananas lying around, or you just want to make 1 loaf of Bread 2.5, you could always make 40% of the recipe!

This should work:

Bread 1.0

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/6 cup white flour or a mix of white flour and white whole wheat (King Arthur)
1/3 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
scant 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup mashed ripe banana
1/2 cup brown sugar
scant 1/4 cup oil
1 cup plain nonfat yogurt or buttermilk
1 egg plus 1 egg white (or no eggs)
1 cup ground nuts/oats (no more than half oats)
1 cup fresh or frozen wild blueberries

Wholesome Goodness

Today it was time to bake bread - well the easy, quick variety. Over time I've devised a good and healthy whole wheat banana blueberry bread that I try to keep on hand. Whenever I have ripe bananas, I mash them and then measure and freeze the puree for baking time.

I call this Bread 2.5, because that is how much of just about everything goes into this bread. And it makes 2.5 loaves. AND it’s 2.5 times better for you than other muffins and scones - this bread is very low in fat and sugar and is packed with nutrients.

It changes nearly every time I make it. Once I left out the eggs completely (by accident) and it was delicious – dense and moist. So if you have anyone in your family with egg allergies (Hi, Bob!) you can omit the eggs. OTOH, if you wish to boost the protein content, you can use all 4. Today I used 2 eggs' worth of Egg Beaters.

Bread 2.5

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups whole wheat flour
2 ½ cups white flour
1/3 cup white whole wheat flour (King Arthur)
¾ tsp baking soda
2 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 ½ cups mashed banana
1 ¼ cup brown sugar (I use half dark brown and half light brown)
½ cup oil
2 ½ cups plain nonfat yogurt or buttermilk
0 – 4 eggs (or equivalent in egg substitute)
2 ½ cups of ground nuts (toasted is nice) and whole oats mixed (I used 1 cup walnuts, 1 cup pecan meal, 1/2 cup oats), no more than half oats
2 ½ cups fresh or frozen wild blueberries

{update: I've added a few ingredients that make this bread even more wonderful: about 1 tsp lemon juice to the wet ingredients, and some cinnamon and nutmeg to the dry - just around a teaspoon or less of each}

Directions:

1. Mix dry ingredients in bowl (flours, soda, powder and salt)

2. Mix banana, sugar, oil, yogurt and eggs in a very large bowl


3. Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture in three stages, stirring to incorporate.

4. Stir in nut mixture

5. Stir in blueberries

6. Pour batter into 2 full size and one half size loaf pans.


7. Bake at 325 for 55 minutes or until done.



Slice and enjoy! It's really delicious toasted.