Tag Archives: banana

BRAZILIAN-STYLE BANANA CAKE

Posted in Brazilian cooking, Cake by

This is quite likely one of the easiest cakes to make, and I just know you will fall in love with it at first bite. One very unusual ingredient goes into the batter: bread crumbs instead of any type of flour. Don’t twist your nose, and please don’t run away! This is a deliciously moist, not too sweet cake, with intense banana flavor. I slightly modified the recipe my friend Alberto sent me. It is a winner!

BRAZILIAN-STYLE BANANA CAKE
(slightly modified from our friend Alberto’s recipe)

5 very ripe bananas
4 eggs
80g oil (grape seed or canola)
100g granulated sugar
100g brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups breadcrumbs (unseasoned, about
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

cinnamon + sugar to dust the top after baking

Spray a 9 x 13 pan with baking spray and cover with parchment paper coming up the sides. Reserve. Heat the oven to 350F.

Place in a blender all the ingredients up to cinnamon. Blend at full speed until the batter is smooth.

Place the bread crumbs, baking powder and salt in a large bowl, whisking to combine. Pour the blended mixture on top, and mix gently with a spatula. Pour the batter in the prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the sides look dry and golden. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar lightly on top while the cake is still hot.

Let it cool completely before cutting in slices.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Phil fell in love with this cake, and he is a serious banana cake critic! The version we had in Brazil baked by our friend had a more intense banana flavor, but then again, it is hard to beat the flavor of a Brazilian banana in the height of the Summer… The texture of the cake is very unique, and it stays moist and tender for days. I highly recommend you give this recipe a try…

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BANANA BREAD WITH ESPRESSO GLAZE

Posted in Desserts, Desserts, Sweets by

There is no shortage of banana bread recipes in the universe. So, why would I share one more? Because it’s a great version, the icing takes it to unprecedented levels of deliciousness. The idea of pairing banana bread with coffee is superb, if you’ve never considered it, trust me, it has potential to become a classic. Like chocolate and coffee. I spotted this recipe back in January on the blog How Sweet It Is, hosted by Jessica. I made it not too long after her post was published, but as usual it is taking me a while to share with you. Two details make it special, a delicate layer of sugar sprinkled on top before baking, and of course, the glaze in all its caffeinated glory.

BANANA BREAD WITH ESPRESSO GLAZE
(from How Sweet It Is)

for the bread:
1 + 2/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 large eggs
1 cup loosely packed brown sugar
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted and slightly cooled
4 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
coarse sugar, for sprinkling (I used turbinad0)

for the espresso glaze:
1 + 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 ounces freshly brewed espresso
1 teaspoon milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 9×5 inch loaf pan with nonstick spray.

In a small bowl, whisk well the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and brown sugar until smooth. Add the milk and coconut oil, mixing until combined. Stir in the mashed bananas and vanilla extract. Slowly stir in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Pour batter in the greased loaf pan. Top with coarse sugar.

Bake for 75 to 85 minutes, or until the center is set. If the streusel begins to brown, tent the bread with aluminum foil. Remove the bread and let it cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Turn the bread out on a plate or cutting board and let it cool completely before glazing.

Whisk together the ingredients until a smooth, drippy glaze forms. If the mixture is too thin, you can thicken it by adding a little more powdered sugar. If it seems too thick, add 1 teaspoon of milk at a time, whisking to combine. Pour it over the banana bread and let it set for at least 30 minutes before slicing it.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: The glaze… the glaze…  as Jessica wrote in her post, it’s all about the glaze. Or almost, because the banana bread itself is pretty delicious too, with the added sugary topping, which oddly enough does not make it overly sweet. But the glaze… am I repeating myself? The glaze, you must collect what puddles underneath the rack as you ice this beauty. Collect it, save it in a little bowl. No need to offer to guests, it won’t be fancy enough for that. Just keep it in the fridge, and when no one is looking, you go there with a tiny little spoon and scrape a little bit off. Then savor it, eyes closed. Seriously good stuff.

As usual, I took this batch to the department, and even a person who is not at all fond of coffee stopped to make enthusiastic compliments about the bread. Or cake. I am always confused, banana bread looks a lot more like cake in loaf form than bread. But, I won’t disturb the apple cart. Or banana cart. Or any cart, for that matter.

Make this bread, make this glaze, and go thank Jessica for it! 

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CHOCOLATE TOFFEE BANANA BREAD

Posted in Breakfast & Brunch, Desserts by

I’ve been on a banana bread kick lately, trying some recipes that appeal to me because they have some unexpected twist, some intriguing component. Like this one that pairs a regular, well-behaved banana bread formula with toffee and chocolate. Banana, toffee, and chocolate. A trilogy not to be messed with. I found the recipe during a session of Pinterest surfing, saved it to my cooking board  and now that it’s been tried and thoroughly enjoyed, I share it with you!  Am I nice or am I nice? You decide.

BananaToffeeBread

CHOCOLATE TOFFEE BANANA BREAD
(recipe from The Weary Chef)

3 ripe bananas
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1½ cup all-purpose flour
1½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup butterscotch chips

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray  a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, mash bananas. Stir in eggs, oil, and brown sugar until smooth.

Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt, and stir just until dry ingredients are incorporated. Stir in toffee and chocolate chips until mixed in evenly.

Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake 45-55 minutes, checking at 45 minutes. Bread is done when edges are brown and toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry.

Carefully remove loaf from pan to cool on a wire rack before cutting.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

BananaBread Served

Comments:  I think that nothing perfumes the kitchen more intensely than a banana bread baking in the oven. They say that to increase the chances of selling a home, one should bake cinnamon rolls or an apple pie right before showing it, but I suspect that banana bread would work even better. The smell is intoxicatingly delicious…

The original recipe from Andi’s site called for chocolate covered toffee bars chopped in pieces, but I went with a 50:50 mixture of butterscotch and chocolate chunks from Trader Joe’s.  The butterscotch chips were barely noticeable in the crumb of the banana bread, but their flavor… definitely there.  This was a very moist and tender banana loaf, well-received by our colleagues from the department.   I am sure it will please all the banana bread lovers out there, so give it a try, even if your house is not in the market…

😉

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BLUEBERRY-BANANA BREAD

Posted in Breakfast & Brunch, Desserts, Sweets by

Back when my site was a young baby, I blogged about one of the greatest classics in American cooking, the banana bread. I had no idea that a few months down the line, that recipe would be part of a fun quest to find the world’s best banana bread, and what’s even more amazing, it tied for first place! To me, that matter was solved. No need to even bother trying another recipe. Then, on a quiet Saturday morning, while checking FoodTV episodes taped during the previous week, I saw Giada cheerfully making a blueberry banana loaf. Blueberries and bananas, baked together until the blueberries get all soft and intensely sweet… I decided that my blog can handle a second take on a classic, especially one with a purple twist! 😉

readyBLUEBERRY-BANANA BREAD
(from Giada de Laurentiis)
.
Butter, for greasing the loaf pan
1 + 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting the loaf pan
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 ripe bananas, mashed (about 3/4 cup of mashed banana)
1 cup (about 4 ounces) fresh blueberries
.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9- by 5- by 3-inch loaf pan. Set aside. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. In a large bowl, beat the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla until blended. Stir in the bananas and blueberries. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until blended.
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Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool for 15 minutes. Remove the loaf from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack, about 2 hours.
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ENJOY!
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to print the recipe, click here
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slicerow2.
Comments:  I decided to make this loaf around 9pm on a Monday night.  It was a dark and stormy night… ooops, no, that’s the beginning of a bad novel…   It was actually a nice and warm summer night, but one in which I had to be in the lab at midnight to get some bacteria growing for an experiment early next day.   I wanted to make sure I would  not fall asleep in the middle of a Law and Order episode, and baking definitely gets my adrenaline going.  Side benefit?  Taking banana bread to the department, to make the life of the early birds a little sweeter…    😉
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closeup2
This banana bread (or cake, or loaf, whatever you want to call it) is a breeze to make! I followed Giada’s advice and did not even use the electric mixer, was left with only a whisk plus two bowls to clean.  Awesome!

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