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!