Banana Loaf

I love baking with Bananas. The sweet aroma that sifts through the house when the dough is in the oven, is so heavenly! Sis-in-law got me a nice non-stick loaf pan from Singapore and I wanted to bake a loaf using that while she was home... what better recipe to choose than ones with bananas. I picked this recipe from joyofbaking.com. I replaced the APF with wheat flour and omitted the nuts.

Banana Bread Recipe Adapted from joyofbaking.com:

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups (230 grams) wheat flour

3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

3 ripe large bananas (approximately 1 pound or 454 grams), mashed well (about 1-1/2 cups)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Banana Bread Recipe: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Since I use a convection oven and a dark metallic non-stick pan, I reduced the temperature settings to 170 degrees C. Butter and flour (or spray with a non stick vegetable/flour spray) the bottom and sides of a 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan. I did not grease the pan. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon. Set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients (banana mixture) into the dry ingredients just until combined and the batter is thick and chunky. (The important thing is not to over mix the batter. You do not want it smooth. Over mixing the batter will yield tough, rubbery bread.) Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake until bread is golden brown and a  toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove the bread from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 1 - 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf.

Verdict:

You can't go wrong with this recipe. The loaf is lovely crumbly and sweet and the aroma of baked bananas is irresistible even at room temperature.

October Punch - Jam Tart

  

Jam tarts... Well this is the first time I am baking tarts... I am not too fond of jam, but I decided to go with it until I get the hang of baking the tart shell...

It turns out the recipe is deceptively simple. The required quantity of flour and butter + a few drops of water, does not make a smooth dough. Adding butter to the dough, will make it very crumbly
and you can't get a single tart in full shape. Adding water to it and kneading will make the tarts hard. So the idea is to make a crumbly mixture and line the tart tins with that mix,
It eventually binds well as we line the tart tins... I got it right in the second attempt. The first time around, I added half a teaspoon butter extra and not a single tart came out of the tin intact.

Tricky as it may seem, once you get the principle right, you can't go wrong with this recipe. My little girl loved the jam. She licked all the jam alone with her finger tips and left the shells.
So I made some chocolate ganache too as the tart filling for a change. Stay tuned to see how that turned out :)

Without any more ado, here is the recipe from Ria's blog:

Ingredients:

Flour-115g - that is about 0.9 cups ( I took 1 cup sifted flour )
Butter-60g [chilled ] ( that is about 1/2 cup + 1/2 teaspoon )
Baking powder-1/2tsp
Water-4-5 drops
Jam

Method:

    Mix flour and baking powder together.
    Add the butter and rub it with your fingertips till it resembles breadcrumbs.
    Add a few drops of water but avoid kneading the dough. Even if it is crumbly it will bind well as you line the tart tins.
    Line the tart tins and fill 2/3 of the tart with jam. ( I divide the dough into 12,
and spread in each tart tin separately by rotating the tin and spreading the dough at the same time)
    Bake at 180 degress for 15 mins or till done.
    De-mould when cooled. This helps get the tart shells intact without the edges crumbling. Additionally you do not want your skin scorched by molten jam.

Tarts are ready to be devoured :)

If you are an ardent jam fan, this one is for you.


Verdict: This one is a simple yet elegant snack. A sure winner.

 

Coffee Chocolate-chunk shortbread cookies

I wanted to bake with coffee for a really long time. I do not drink coffee, but I love the bitter taste nevertheless. Combine it with some dark chocolate, and nothing can beat that taste and aroma :).

So when I came across this recipe for Coffee-chocolate-chunk-shortbread cookies on Divya's blog, I was hooked. I baked these a while back, and it was on my drafts for really long.

I scaled the recipe by 1/2. I over baked them a bit too; but no one noticed, the coffee-chocolate flavour was so addictive :).

Recipe adapted from Divya's post:

Ingredients

Instant coffee powder - 1/2 tbsp
Hot water - 1/2 tbsp
Butter - 100 gms (1/2 cup or 1 stick)
Powdered sugar - 1/3 cup
Vanilla extract - 1/4 tsp
Salt - a pinch
All purpose flour - 1 cups
Chocolate - 1/4 cup chopped (into small chunks) (I used dark chocolate)

Method

Dissolve the instant coffee powder in the water and keep aside to cool.
Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat together the butter and powdered sugar till smooth, not light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). 
Beat in the vanilla and dissolved coffee.

Turn down the mixer to low speed and add the flour and salt, mix only till the flour is incorporated into the dough. Overworking the dough is not a good idea as it affects the texture of the shortbread.
Now fold in the chocolate chunks with a spatula or wooden spoon.

Using the spatula, transfer the dough (it will be a bit sticky) into a medium sized Ziploc bag. Leave the bag open, place on your work surface and slowly press out the dough with a rolling pin so it becomes a 6" by 8" rectangle about 1/4" thick.
Turn the bag to the other side as well, while rolling, and occasionally lift the bag from the dough to smooth out the creases. Take care to see no air pockets remain and gently press out any. Seal the Ziploc bag and refrigerate for at least two hours or upto 2 days.

I chilled the dough only for a couple of hours. That could be one reason for the texture difference.
The longer the dough is chilled the easier the dough is to handle, and the better the cookies hold their shape when baked. So please make sure the dough chills for about 24 hours.
When the dough has chilled enough, take it out. Place on a cutting surface and slit the Ziploc bag open. Take the chilled rectangle of dough out, and cut into 1 1/2" squares with a sharp knife after marking them out using a ruler.
Place the squares on a baking sheet lined with parchment (I just placed them on ungreased cookie sheets) and prick them well with a fork.

Bake at 180C for 12 to 14 minutes till they look golden. The baking time needs to be judged well, as the dough is already a pale brown, or one might end up with slightly burnt shortbread squares that no one wants to eat! So keep a watch on them once they've baked for 8 minutes.

Dust the shortbread squares with powdered sugar while they're hot, if you prefer.
Cool on a rack. 

Verdict: This was a great hit. Everyone loved the combination of flavours and the chewy   texture. I plan to repeat this recipe with the recommended chilling time baking time.