Banana Chocolate Bread

I always use over riped bananas with freckles or black spots. Banana Cake or banana bread? Can't tell the difference. They all have the same ingredients except baking powder which is one ingredient for banana cake.

Chocolate Banana Bread
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup veg, oil
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup Mix-ins: pecan, walnuts nuts, chocolate chips of your choice(optional)

Method:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350F (150C)
2. Beat sugar, eggs,and oil at medium speed until combined. Beat in mashed bananas and vanilla at low speed
3. In another bowl, combine flour, cocoa. baking soda and salt and beat into banana mixture at low speed just until well combined. You can add nuts if you want. Mix batter.
4. Spoon batter into a loaf pan.
5. Bake 1 hour or insert a toothpick to test if cooked. Remove from oven immediately. Cool on rack.

Happy Eating.

Variations of Chiffon Cakes

This is to continue my series about chiffon cakes. My sis said why am I so obsessed with chiffon cakes. I usually advise my friends who asked me to teach them how to bake a cake. For first timers, bake simple cakes first, simple means you don't have to separate the egg yolks from white which is the toughest part when you're a neophyte baker. Underbeating egg whites will not produce a good meringue and this will make your sponge a flop, its either it will not rise or it will collapse.

Then when you became a master in chiffon making, baking will just be a lot easier, you will have more confidence and have the guts to try, experiment and do other complicated cakes. Chiffon cakes are a mark of American culinary achievement. These cakes with their characterestics airiness such as Angel, Sunshine, Chiffon which are always cooked in Tube Pans.

Half and Half Chiffon Cake

 Pink and White Marbled Chiffon Cake

Coffee Chiffon Cake

I will post the recipes later.

Angel Chiffon Cake

This is the second series of my topic about Chiffon Cakes.

Chiffon and Angel cakes are baked in tube pans. When I was in the US I had a hard time “pan shopping” for pans, so my sister ordered directly from the pan manufacturers such as Wilton. We waited for about two weeks before our orders arrived. Here in the Philippines the tube aluminum pan is easy to find.

I have 2 tube pans in my dozens of baking cookware. I seldom use this pan except for special occasions like birthdays & christmas holidays. It is easy to order special cakes in bakeries or cake shops but angel and chiffon cakes are no longer made in bakeshops, so making your own angel or chiffon cake is something special.
Tube pan and electric mixer are essential gadgets in making this kind of cakes. Don’t ever buy a non-stick pan as I did before or you’ll end up baking a fallen angel. The cake will collapse as it will not cling to the tube and sides of the pan. Do not grease the pan. I have posted a chiffon cake recipe in this blog.

What do you do with your egg whites??? Here’s the recipe for Angel Food Cake

Angel Food Cake Recipe

12 egg whites
1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 1/2 cups white sugar, divided
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 cup sifted cake flour
1/4 tsp salt

Oven Temp ~ 375° Ore-heat oven
Cake Baking Time ~ 30 - 40 Min. Pan Type ~ 10 x 3 3/4-inch - Angel Food cake pan

Directions:

In large bowl, using a mixer, beat egg whites with cream of tartar at high speed until foamy. Add 3/4 cup of the sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating constantly until sugar is dissolved and whites are glossy and stand in soft peaks. Beat in flavorings.Sift together flour, remaining sugar and salt. Sift about 1/2 cup of the flour mixture over whites and gently fold just until flour disappears.
Repeat, folding in remaining flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time. Pour into ungreased 10 x 3 3/4-inch Angel Food pan. Gently cut through batter with metal spatula.Bake in preheated oven until top springs back when lightly touched with finger. Remove from oven immediately and invert cake as soon as possible to maintain its volume and to keep it from shrinking. Cool completely, about 1 1/2 hours. With narrow spatula or knife, loosen cake from pan and gently shake onto serving plate.Top with fruit or frost, if desired.

Chocolate Angel Food Cake Recipe:

Omit almond extract and increase vanilla to 2 teaspoons. Reduce flour to 2/3 cup and sift in 1/3 cup Cocoa Powder. Prepare batter and bake as above.
Yield: 12 servings - 1 (10-inch) cake

Marble Pound Cake

Marble Pound Cake

 MARBLE POUND CAKE

I made a Marble Pound Cake today using a 10-inch tube pan instead of a loaf pan and it turned out well.

Here's the recipe

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup butter, at room temp.

1 cup white sugar

3 eggs

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 ounces chocolate bittersweet, melted & cooled

Procesure:

Preheat oven to 325 deg. Butter a 9 x 5 loaf pan. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Mix and beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, add vanilla and mix gently.

Transfer half of the mixture in another bowl and add the melted chocolate. Blend well.

Alternate large spoonful of dark and light batters in the pan. To marble: Run a knife through the batters. Bake for about 45-50 minutes. Remove cake from oven and let cool and rest for about 30 minutes. Run a knife both sides of the pan and turn the cake out to cool.