Tuesday, August 5, 2008

My TWD Pick - Black and White Banana Loaf


This week was my week to choose the TWD recipe. I had the hardest time deciding what to choose! I wanted to please the group, as well as my husband, and myself!
I decided to make this cake because we haven’t made a loaf cake yet, and I have never made a marbled cake. When I first saw this cake, it reminded me of the marbled loaf cake at Starbucks, as well as the banana chocolate chip cake, one of my favorites!
I have remade a few of Dorie’s recipes to tweak it a bit, and that’s what I had to do this week! The first time I made it, the batter was too runny and the marbling didn’t stay intact (that’s the photo down below). Since it was my host week, I was determined to get it right, so I tried it again. The second time, I cut the nutmeg back for taste, used only 1 banana, ¼ c. milk, and added ¼ c. flour, used light butter, and omitted the granulated sugar and rum (because I could barely taste it in the first loaf). This time, the cake marbled beautifully and tasted even better!

I hope everyone enjoyed this cake as much as I did, though I wish it came out ‘right’ the first time, it was nice to be challenged a bit to get it right! I ate mine with some chocolate milk (JJ had vanilla) like Dorie recommended and it was a fantastic breakfast.

Black-and-White Banana Loaf

1 1/3 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1 ½ ripe bananas, peeled
Squirt of fresh lemon juice
Grated zest of ½ lemon
1 tbsp. dark rum
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

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 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.
The original loaf, not exactly marbled, and too wet!

55 comments:

Eleganza Strings/ The DeLadurantey Family said...

Thanks for picking this recipe! It was so nice to have some thing not to fuity:) We both love chocolate! Ours did not turn out the first time either, so don't feel to bad! Your second try looks really good!

Sarah said...

Oh! The swirl is wonderful. So artistic looking!

Judy said...

Your final loaf looks amazing - professional. The marbling is perfect! I hope to make this recipe in the future. I'm exhausted from this past weekend. I'll be sure to note your changes.

LyB said...

I was so happy with your pick! I'd wanted to try this loaf since I got the book, thanks so much! Your loaf looks great, perfect marbling. :)

Mary Ann said...

Wow- great job making it twice! It looks really good. Thanks for a wonderful pick!

Anne said...

It was a fun recipe to try, thanks for a great choice! Your loaf looks awesome and good for you for trying twice to get it just right. I used less nutmeg, too and I loved it! :)

Anonymous said...

Nice choice. WE enjoyed it a lot. And yours looks perfect.

Sihan said...

damm! someone shld tell dorie about the super-moistness inside the cakes if you follow the original recipes. I'll keep the alterations in mind though. Thanks for choosing this recipe anyway!

Amy said...

It was a fun recipe to try and marbling was a first for me. Yours looks so yummy.

Katrina said...

your second loaf looks fabulous! Mine didn't rise nearly as much!
Glad it worked out for you after some tweaking.

Anonymous said...

Great pick for this week! Your second loaf looks SO gorgeous. Great job!

Shelby said...

Great job Ashley...thanks! Oh, and you can't please all the people all the time, so don't feel bad! I say be adventurous and try!

Bumblebutton said...

Thanks for the fun recipe not all tricked out with fruit! Your second loaf is very photogenic! I think the recipe would need a lot of tweaking to become a winner, but I enjoyed making it!

Flourchild said...

Thank you Ashley. I enjoyed trying this bread..didn't like all the dishes..but oh well what can ya do!

Ellyn said...

Your loaf looks amazing! I liked that this was a different twist to the usual Banana Bread. I think I am going to try to incorporate some of Dorie's ideas in to my usual banana bread recipe (like the chocolate and rum!). Thanks again for this week's recipe!

Prudy said...

It looks wonderful. We loved ours too. i can't believe all the wonderful recipes on your blog. You're amazing!

Kelly said...

Yum. It looks delicious. Props to you for not being afraid to give it a second try. I think sometimes the mistakes teach you as much as the successes and give you permission to tinker. :-)

April said...

Thanks for picking this recipe, it's my favorite so far. So good!

Karleen said...

Great choice this week! It was my first TWD recipe, so it was a good way to start. I'm going to be making these a few more times really soon as well to get my marbling perfect too!

Amy of Sing For Your Supper said...

Great pick, Ashlee!!! I was really pleased with this recipe! Glad you decided to give it another go - your final product looks fantastic!

-Amy
www.singforyoursupperblog.com

melly~ said...

You are so brave, "tweaking"!
Your cake looks lovely. Great choice, Ashlee!

Di said...

Great pick this week! I love the first photo. I'm glad you had fun tweaking the recipe--I'll have to keep your adjustments in mind if I make this again.

marae said...

Great job Ashlee...loved the pick this week, no fruit...YAY!!! I made some variations too. This was a YUM selection.

Marie Rayner said...

Your second loaf is beautiful Ashlee! Thanks so much for picking this lovely recipe! I had been eyeballing it for a while!

NKP said...

I love the overhead shot of your chocolatey loaf, so pretty and moist looking. Great pick.

Melissa said...

Glad I got to try one of my other top choices!

Anonymous said...

I have marbling envy.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for hosting this event, great recipe! I love the dark chocolate crust on yours!!

Mari said...

I'm glad to see that you had a second go and got it right. I'm definitely going to give it another try and I hope to have better results with your tips!

Nickki said...

They both look so good! Thank you for picking such a great recipe. I'm loving seeing all the different looking loaves this week :)

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed makign this recipe. It was very simple, smelled great whiel baking too. My batter was runny too, but the cookign time was dead on... Anyway, I agree, Dorie's recipes seem to need tweaking, and it's frustrating me to no end...

Carla said...

Mine wasn't perfect the first time around with the flavors either. I will make note of your changes and hopefully will enjoy this loaf the second time around. :)

Unknown said...

Great job!! Thanks for being our hostess this week!!

Anonymous said...

Good to know I wasn't the only one who had trouble the first time. Fun pick!

PheMom said...

Thanks for picking a great recipe this week! I really enjoyed it! Yours looks fantastic!

Kaitlin said...

Thanks for picking this recipe, Ashlee! So *that's* why my marbling turned out so badly! Good to know for next time..

I really appreciated how you mixed it up a bit for us all.

Engineer Baker said...

Thank goodness, a loaf cake! Many thanks for picking something without a hundred steps!

Anonymous said...

Good for you for giving it another shot. The second loaf is absolutely gorgeous. I was ready for a recipe like this. Great choice!

Anonymous said...

thanks for picking such a great recipe this week, i really enjoyed this one and it was one of my favorites so far. glad it worked out for you the second time, it looks really good. :)

Anonymous said...

Your banana loaf looks great! Thanks for a great pick this week!

Anonymous said...

I was curious as to what TWD was so I followed your tag..and wow, all those baked goods had my mouth watering!! I LOVE to bake but I do NOT have the willpower not to eat the whole thing, so I don't do it. Any tips for self-control where this is concerned?

Natalie said...

Great recipe pick, thank you! I'll have to play around with the spices/dropping the rum/etc a few times too.

Kelly said...

Great pick, just pulled mine from the oven...can't wait to try it. Better late than never!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for picking this one - even though mine didn't work out (my fault, not Dorie's), I was so happy it was the selection for my first week. Yours looks great!

Summertime said...

Thanks for picking this recipe. It's a nice break from the usual fruity desserts I've been baking lately. Your swirl is lovely!

Pamela said...

Thanks for a tasty pick! Although I really loved all of those fruit recipes, it was time for something a little different. I can't believe you made it twice! Excellent job, and again, an excellent choice.

Anonymous said...

It was a delicious cake. Thanks for choosing it!

Jules Someone said...

Ok, so it wasn't so marbled. But it tasted good! Nice pick!

Unknown said...

I JUST made this...yum! Thanks for picking this one!

Shari said...

Thanks for a great pick! We loved it!
Shari@Whisk: a food blog

Jaime said...

i enjoyed this recipe quite a bit! so much better than your standard banana bread - great pick! thanks!

steph- whisk/spoon said...

great pick--we loved it! and looks like you wound up getting that marbling spot-on!

Sunshinemom said...

Thanks for sharing the recipe! I will try it out during the weekend and get back:)

Recetas al instante said...

this is a great cake to enjoy with friends and family.
Excelent cooking blog
regards
olga.

Calypso said...

This was amazing. Thank you!

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