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Chocolate Banana Bread

March 23, 2014 //
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Like most New Yorkers (heck, New Englanders, East Coasters, Mid-Atlanticers) I feel that spring can not get here fast enough. I want to start making and blogging about produce-based dishes with exotic ingredients like asparagus, ramps, and spring lettuces. I fear I may be in a dessert–breads–grains rut for lack of seasonal inspiration. Alas, this yummy gooey breakfast-or-is-it-dessert (does it matter?) banana bread.

I’m not want one to roll my eyes at excessive chocolate. In fact, I open them wide and grin a wide grin. My friend @superdaniela tipped me off to this double chocolate banana bread over at smitten kitchen and I decided to give it a whirl, substituting and creating variations on a theme as I so often do. (Maple syrup instead of sugar, for instance.)

Last year at this time I was blogging about spicy carrots and the year before a chickpea sauté with pickled shallots and there are actual photos in that post with blossoming trees! One day, I’m told, spring will come again.

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Chocolate Banana Bread
adapted from Smitten Kitchen

3 medium-to-large very ripe bananas
1/2 c Earth Balance or coconut oil, melted
1/2 c maple syrup
1 large egg
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c cocoa powder
1/2 c semisweet or dark chocolate chips or pieces
1/2 c chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a loaf pan (8 x 4 or 9 x 5 in.) and set aside.

Mash the bananas in the bottom of a large bowl. Add the melted butter, maple syrup, egg, and vanilla. Combine. In a separate medium bowl, sift the baking soda, salt, cinnamon, flours, and cocoa powder. Add to the banana mixture, stirring just until combined. Then stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts.

Pour into the prepared loaf pan and bake for approx. 55 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean (save for some melted chocolate chips!). Cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes then run a butter knife enough along the edges and flip upside down onto a cooling rack.

Store at room temperature wrapped in foil or wax paper.

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Categories Bread, Breakfast, Brooklyn, Chocolate, Coco, Desserts, Spring

Rhubarb Crumb Cake

May 26, 2013 //
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Rhubarb is one of my favorite fleeting vegetables of spring—in season in New York from roughly the end of May to mid- (or sometimes late-) June, it briefly crosses over with strawberry season, inspiring countless james, pies, and cobblers (my post last year for a strawberry-rhubarb pie). Well, it’s not quite strawberry season yet but the rhubarb was out yesterday in all its pink-red-and-green glory. What’s a girl to make?

It seemed each person I passed as I approached the farmer’s market was toting a bagful of just-picked rhubarb. (I should’ve asked what they were planning to make!) I was cruising Smitten Kitchen blog for ideas and came across a recipe for a rhubarb “snacking” cake: a layer of cake batter under a layer of rhubarb under a layer of crumb. Moist and not too sweet. And no strawberries required.

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Rhubarb Crumb Cake

I tweaked Deb’s recipe by reducing the sugar; substituting greek yogurt for sour cream; and reducing the flour in the crumb. And I had leftovers of the rhubarb mixture so I sautéed for five to ten minutes and plan to use it on top of plain yogurt or vanilla ice cream.
Note: I found the cake needed the full sixty minutes for the crumb on top to brown.

Cake
1 1/4 lb rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1/2″ pieces
1 c sugar, divided in 2
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
2 large eggs
1 1/3 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/3 c plain greek yogurt

Crumb
3/4 c all-purpose flour
1/4 c light brown sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
4 tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, just melted

To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Coat the bottom of a 9 x 13″ baking pan with butter. (Optional: you can line the pan with parchment paper.) Stir together the rhubarb, lemon juice, and 1/2 c sugar and set aside. Beat the butter, remaining sugar, and lemon zest with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and ginger together. Add half of this mixture to the batter, just until combined. Continue, adding half the yogurt, the second half of the flour mixture, and the remaining yogurt, mixing between each addition until just combined.

Spread the batter evenly over the prepared pan. Pour the rhubarb mixture over the batter in a single layer.

To make the crumb: Whisk the flour, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon together, then stir in the melted butter until crumb-size pieces form. Spread evenly over the rhubarb layer. Bake the cake for 50 to 60 minutes and the crumb is golden on top. Cool completely.

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Categories Brooklyn, Desserts, Farmer's Market, Spring

Pick-Me-Up, Italian Style

May 14, 2013 //
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I love tiramisu. Made of mostly mascarpone and eggs it’s light and satisfying and surprisingly easy to make. The strong coffee gives it its name, which means “pick-me-up” in Italian. I got a craving yesterday so I biked to the Park Slope Food Coop where Vermont Creamery mascarpone is only $3 for an 8-ounce container (you need two of those for this recipe).

I made tiramisu back in March for my birthday with the very simple, straightforward recipe from The Silver Spoon. (Ingredients: eggs, sugar, mascarpone, lady fingers, coffee, chocolate. That’s it.) I liked it but found the lady fingers weren’t spongy enough, it was a little too sweet, and it lacked the taste of a liqueur like rum or cognac. I rarely have liqueur in my kitchen so I used vanilla extract which isn’t quite the same but was an improvement. I’ve tweaked the recipe here and am pleased with the results.

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Tiramisu
Serves 8

2 egg whites
4 egg yolks
2/3 c powdered sugar
16 oz mascarpone cheese
7 oz lady fingers
1 c freshly brewed strong coffee, cooled
2 tbsp rum or cognac, optional*
2 oz unsweetened or semi-sweetened chocolate, grated
cocoa powder, for dusting
*If you don’t have any you can also add up to 1 tbsp good quality vanilla extract.

Brew the coffee and make sure it is room temperature or colder. Stir in the rum or cognac if you’re using. Set aside.

Whisk the egg whites in a grease-free bowl until they form stiff peaks. In a separate, large bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar until pale and fluffy.

Place the mascarpone in a separate bowl and whisk with a fork until it’s a little lighter and fluffier. Then fold the mascarpone into the egg-yolk-and-sugar mixture. Then gently fold in the egg whites.

In a small rectangular or square serving dish (8 x 8 inches is good, or thereabouts) place a layer of lady fingers and soak with half the coffee mixture. You can spoon or brush the coffee on. Spoon on a layer of the mascarpone mixture then sprinkle with the grated chocolate. Place another layer of lady fingers on top then soak with the remaining coffee. Add another layer of the mascarpone and finish by dusting with cocoa powder. Chill in the refrigerator for at least a few hours before serving.

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Categories Brooklyn, Co-op, Cookbooks, Desserts, Entertaining, Spring
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