Wednesday, September 22, 2010

White And Black Banana Loaf


21 September 2010 - White And Black Banana Loaf

Over-ripe bananas hanging in mum's kitchen....forcing me to bake using bananas as the main ingredient. I was sighing away because I did not have any new banana recipes in my to-bake list.

After browsing the net for awhile, I stumbled upon Ashlee's blog. As I am into 'marbling effects' lately, this recipe caught my eye.
And it looks easy enough for a midnight bake. Ashlee's first bake was not too successful as the batter was too runny, and in her second attempt, she tweaked the recipe by quite an amount and it turned out good.

I decided to try it out. However, I did not tweak the recipe by so much. I decided to omit the milk since I want to reduce the liquid in the batter. But I used more bananas because I feel that 1 to 1 1/2 bananas called by the recipe is too little.



I think overall, my Banana Loaf turned out great. The little brandy gave the fillings a hint of booze. The texture is moist. And it is not too sweet. And the marbling effect makes it such a lovely loaf.





But if I were to bake it again, I would put more bananas into it for a more banana texture. I dared not initially because I was afraid that mashed bananas will make the batter too watery since the liquid content in this recipe is a little on the high side.

Well, I guess I will try and see. So, 'til next time... (and it won't be long because my family finished the whole loaf in less than a day. So it must be good!)


Recipe: White And Black Banana Loaf (largely adapted from Ashlee's Veggie by Season blog)

1 1/3 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1 ½ ripe bananas, peeled (I used 3 medium-sized bananas)
Squirt of fresh lemon juice
Grated zest of ½ lemon
1 tbsp. dark rum (I used brandy)
2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 stick plus 2 tbsp. room temperature butter
2/3 c. packed light brown sugar
1/3 c. sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
½ c. whole milk (I omitted this)

Getting Ready:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter an 8 ½ x4 ½ x 2 ½ inch loaf pan on an insulated baking sheet.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.

In another small bowl, mash the bananas with lemon juice, zest, then stir in the rum.
Melt the chocolate and 2 tbsp. butter together in a microwave or saucepan over simmering water.

Working with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter at medium speed until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the sugars and beat for 2-3 more minutes, until light and smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in vanilla. The batter will look curdled, and it will continue to look curdled as you add ingredients. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add half the flour mixture, mixing only until it is just incorporated. With the mixer running, pour in the milk (I omitted this) and when it is blended add the remaining dry ingredients.

Scrape down the bowl and mix in the mashed bananas. The batter will look even lumpier.
Pour a little less than half the batter into the bowl with melted chocolate and stir to blend. Drop alternating spoonfuls of both batters into prepared pan (or follow any of the marbling techniques on page. 229). Then, using a knife, swirl the batters taking care not to overdo it.

Bake for 1 hour and 20 – 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. Check after 30 minutes, if the cake browns too much, cover loosely with a foil tent.

Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and let it cool for 15 minutes before removing it from the pan. Continue to cool on the rack.

2 comments:

Jessie C said...

OMG!! That look so good with a glass of milk... I can eat the whole loaf myself. Nice blog! :)

tanshuyin said...

hie jessy...thanks for dropping by. btw, how did u stumble upon my blog?

this loaf is good. moist and tasty. u shd try baking it too :)

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