Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Bananarama

"Try to use very ripe bananas for a sweeter, richer cake." Yes Hummingbird Bakery, I know, I've read the countless recipes banging on about these rotten narnies, it just took a little bit of work to get around my whole silly "not consuming rotten food" thing. Sure, it's just fruit that is so old it couldn't legally be sold to consumers, pssht, what was I worried about again? Well anyway, after years of ignoring this sage advice, making mediocre banana bread, I said bugger it and left my bananas out to get their rot on. Sound gross? Maybe I could have worded it better, but its all for a good cause, I'm setting myself up to make a point: I'm astoundingly fussy and easily grossed out, but I am here today, telling you to leave your bananas on the bench for a week or so and you will be rewarded with the tastiest, softest banana bread in all the land. Even if you stuff it up as royally I did.
Smooshed up bananas, a whole lot lot less horrifying once out of their skins...
Sliced bananas with brown sugar sprinkled on top, making them all shiny and glazed...
A trick I learnt from my lovely friend Akiko's.....
LOVELY Mum......
Who made me a beautiful chocolate banana cake when I visited, just because. Just because she is that nice.
Okay, enough distractions, it's time for my failed banana bread, which I like to look at as an unconventional masterpiece. Complete with conventional masterpiece in background. It could, just possibly have all been okay, but as per usual, I was impatient, I tried to de-tin the bread before it was ready and yeah, as you can see the middle couldn't stand my excessive shaking and just... fell out. How sad. I didn't waste it though, even in pieces this banana bread is to die for, though without the dying, cause then, well, you wouldn't be able to eat more of it.
Oh wait, I'm sorry, I just realised that I almost finished without giving an excuse! Goodness me, that was close. My excuse in three words: Rental property oven. My excuse in lots of words: My cooking has definitely suffered since moving back into rentals, ovens bought for their price, not for their functionality, bleck. This oven is astoundingly dry and subsequently dried the heck out of everything it came in contact with, I even gave my poor bread a little foil tent, but it was not meant to be, I couldn't even cook frozen chips well in that thing! I dream of the day I get to spend a ridiculous amount of money on my very own oven... Till then I shall resort to cooking on the top shelf and using foil tents on very near everything.
Banana Loaf
Ingredients
  • 270g light brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 200g peeled bananas, mashed (plus a few slices to put on top to decorate)
  • 280g plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp bicarb soda
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
Method
  1. Preheat the oven to 170C
  2. Put the sugar and eggs in a mixer and beat until well incorporated. Beat in the mashed bananas.
  3. Add the flour, baking powder, bicarb and ginger to the sugar mixture. (Not very original or brilliant but I like to put all the dry ingredients in a bowl together and whisk them all up ready to go into the wet ingredients) Mix it thoroughly until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated into the egg mixture. Pour in the melted butter and beat until all the ingredients are well mixed.
  4. Pour the mixture into the prepared load tin and smooth over with a palette knife. Bake in the preheated oven for about an hour, or until firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool slightly (or in my case, slightly more still) in the tin before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.