Banana and dulce de leche pots: in the oven or in the Air Fryer

If you have been around here long enough you know that I love baking, and I love baking with fruit: it makes me happy to transform less than perfect apples, pears, peaches and plums into cakes, muffins, galettes. Sometimes I look forward to the weekend so I can make a new recipe with fruit, but then I end up eating them all before the Saturday begins. 😊

Bananas are such a favorite of mine, but living in a tropical country can be very tricky to keep them from becoming ripe too quickly: it has been really hot here since the beginning of the year and my baking list just gets larger and larger as I postpone making them to avoid turning the oven on (it is already hard enough to use the stove).

These pots are a wonderful way of using ripe bananas, especially when you don’t have enough of them to make a large cake: only one large banana is required for this recipe. I have made this recipes several times in the past months and it works very well both using a regular oven and the Air Fryer: the only slightly difference is that the tops of the pots get more browned when using the Air Fryer.

 

Banana and dulce de leche pots

own recipe

 

¼ cup (35g) all-purpose flour

1/3 cup (33g) cashew nut flour (replace with almond flour if you like)

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

1 large, very ripe banana (100g weighed with the peel)

1 large egg, room temp

3 tablespoons neutral vegetable oil

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 tablespoons dulce de leche

 

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) or the Air Fryer to 180° (350°F). Brush 4 heatproof 1-cup capacity ramekins with oil. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, cashew nut flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. In another medium bowl, whisk well together the banana, sugar, oil, egg and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients – do not overmix.

Pour 1 heaping tablespoon of batter into each ramekin, then top the center of the batter with 1 tablespoon of dulce de leche. Divide the remaining batter evenly onto the ramekins, topping the dulce de leche.

Oven: transfer the ramekins to a medium baking sheet, then bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Air Fryer: transfer the ramekins to the Air Fryer, carefully not to get burned, and bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown (do the same test with the skewer).

Serve warm, with ice cream, whipped cream or plan yogurt if you like.

 

Serves 4

Banana cake with cashew nuts

Last weekend, feeling better after a cold, I was in the mood for some baking: the days were cold, so turning the oven on was a very nice thing to do. I had a few bananas getting super brown on the counter and knew that they deserved to be used in something delicious, that is why I baked a banana cake with cashew nuts – I took the cake to the office on Monday, and it was a huge hit with my coworkers.

A week or so before I had bought some ingredients with a very nice baking session in mind, and after deciding to make a banana cake I grabbed the cashew nut flour and the salted, toasted cashew nuts to incorporate them into my recipe.

The cake turned out absolutely tender and moist, because of the addition of the nut flour and yogurt, and with that kind of deeply banana flavor that can only be achieved by using really ripe bananas.

I poured a quite simple glaze on the cooled cake and sprinkled it all with the chopped toasted cashew nuts – the cake turned out beautiful and the combo of flavors was spot on. The batter is prepared like a muffin batter, so no need to use a mixer or any other equipment.

When I saw the cake, I thought “well, that is a LOT of cake”, but when I saw my coworkers raving about it (and some of them getting seconds), I knew it was the right amount. 😊

 

Banana cake with cashew nuts

own recipe

 

Cake:

1 ½ cups (210g) all-purpose flour

¾ cup (75g) cashew nut flour (replace with almond flour if you like)

1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon table salt

4 medium very ripe bananas (400g/14oz unpeeled)

1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon (total of 78g) granulated sugar

2 tablespoons (26g) light brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup (85g) plain yogurt (no sugar added)

½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

¼ cup (60ml) neutral vegetable oil

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons Frangelico or Amaretto – optional; they enhance the nut flavor

 

Glaze:

1 cup (140g) icing sugar

2 ½ tablespoons milk

 

Finishing touches:

½ cup (70g) salted, toasted cashew nuts, chopped

 

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350°F. Line a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan with foil and brush the foil with oil.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, the cashew nut flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork until you get a rustic purée. Add the sugars, yogurt, butter, oil, eggs, vanilla and Frangelico/Amaretto (if using) and whisk well. Add the dry ingredients and whisk again to incorporate – do not overmix. Pour batter into prepared pan, smooth the top and bake for 30-35 minutes or until risen and golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool completely over a wire rack.

Glaze: sift the icing sugar into a small bowl and gradually add the milk, whisking until you get the desired consistency. Pour over the cooled cake and spread it evenly. Sprinkle with the toasted nuts.

 

Makes 24

Banana hazelnut yogurt cake

I hope you are not tired of the Epicurious yogurt cake, for I have made it again with different flavors, and the result was simply amazing! I love how versatile this cake recipe is, and how simple to put together it is – a bowl and whisk and you are good to go.

I wanted to make a banana cake, but different from the usual recipes, in which the banana is called for mashed. I thought of the delicious apple yogurt cake and decided to add the banana in diced form. To make the cake moister and more interesting, I replaced part of the all purpose flour for hazelnut flour and it was such a perfect combination of flavors! Please feel free to use other nut flours if you wish.

The cake turned out flavorsome, moist and tender - the baked banana pieces were lovely in the cake. The recipe immediately became a favorite and now it is tied with the apple cake as the most delicious version of the Epicurious yogurt cake I have made so far. :)

 

Banana hazelnut yogurt cake

adapted from the Epicurious recipe, once again

 

180g all-purpose flour

45g hazelnut flour (finely ground hazelnuts)

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon table salt

180g granulated sugar

¾ cup (180g) plain yogurt – I used sheep’s milk yogurt

½ cup (120ml) vegetable oil – I used canola

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 tablespoon Frangelico

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 medium ripe bananas (120g each, weighed before peeling), peeled and diced in about ½-in pieces

 

Preheat oven to 180C/350°F. Lightly brush a 6-cup capacity loaf pan with oil, line it with baking paper and then brush the paper as well.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, hazelnut flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, yogurt, oil, eggs, vanilla and Frangelico until smooth. Fold in reserved dry ingredients – if batter is too lumpy, whisk for a few seconds – do not overmix or the cake will become tough. Stir in the bananas.

Pour the batter into prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a skewer or toothpick inserted into center of the cake comes out clean.

Let cake cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Carefully and using the paper as a guide, remove cake from pan and transfer to the rack to cool completely.

The cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Serves 8

Anthill banana cake and something new in our house

These are insane times we are living in – and in Brazil, for more reasons than the pandemic only – and many things are changed. However, I’ll tell you about something small, but important to me: my husband has discovered the joy of having a slice of cake in the middle of the afternoon. He was never fond of sweets and never tried my baked goods or desserts, but nowadays he asks me to bake a cake, or cookies, so he can take a break between lunch and dinner and enjoy something sweet with his espresso.

It might seem silly, but for me it was a very nice surprise, in these crazy days. 

Therefore, I have been baking once a week, a cake or sometimes cookies, and he looks at me with those Puss in Boots’ eyes asking if he can have something delicious with his coffee. :) My heart is filled with joy.

One of the cakes I baked recently was the one I bring you today, a banana cake with chocolate sprinkles as the Brazilian anthill cake. I had to adapt the recipe to yield a small cake since I had only 1 ripe banana at home. The cake turned out moist, tender and perfumed the entire apartment while it was in the oven. 

Anthill banana cake

adapted from this recipe

 

1 large very ripe banana (150g/5oz weighed before peeling)

2 eggs, room temperature

65g light brown sugar

100ml vegetable oil – I used canola

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

185g all purpose flour

1 ¾ teaspoons baking poder

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

3 tablespoons chocolate sprinkles

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly brush with vegetable oil a small loaf pan - 22x10cm, 4 ½ cups capacity – line it with baking paper and brush the paper as well.

In a medium bowl, mash the banana with a fork. Add the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla and whisk well. Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and fold with a spatula – do not overmix or the cake will turn out tough. Stir in the chocolate sprinkles. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for about 40 minutes or until golden and risen and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 20 minutes, then carefully unmold using the paper as guide. Transfer to the rack and cool completely.

Serves 6-7 slices

Banana muffins with cashew nut streusel

Usually making baked goods with bananas is not easy at my house because my husband and I like the fruit so much we end up eating all the bananas before they get ripe enough for baking. However, when the weather is too hot (as it is currently) they get ripe overnight – these muffins are a great way to use them up.

I developed this recipe a long time ago, when I was still working on the book project. Lately I have been making it without the streusel (because of my lactose intolerance) and the muffins taste great anyway. However, if you can, make the muffins with the streusel because it makes them extra special.

Banana muffins with cashew nut streusel
own recipe

Streusel:
½ cup (70g) all purpose flour
½ cup (88g) light brown sugar, packed
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of table salt
5 tablespoons (70g) unsalted butter, cold and diced
2/3 cup unsalted cashew nuts, finely chopped

Muffins:
2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
¼ teaspoon table salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 small very ripe bananas
¾ cup (150g) demerara sugar – used for color and caramel flavor; can be replaced with granulated sugar
½ cup (120ml) canola oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Line a 12-hole muffin with paper cases.

Streusel: in a small bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add the butter and rub the ingredients together with your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Using a fork, stir in the cashew nuts. Refrigerate while you make the muffin batter.

Muffins: in a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside. In a medium bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Stir in the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla. Pour over the dry ingredients and stir with a fork just until incorporated – do not overmix or your muffins will be tough. Divide the batter evenly among the paper cases and sprinkle the top with the streusel, pressing lightly with your fingers to make it stick to the batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden and risen and a skewer inserted on the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 5 minutes, then carefully unmold and transfer to the rack. Serve lukewarm or at room temperature.

Makes 12

Banana and blueberry crumble

I do not mean to sound like a broken record (again), but things have been a bit slow on this blog and that usually happens when things are everything but slow on this side of the screen. Too much work, all sorts of other things going on… And on top of that I have had almost no energy to cook or bake, let alone photograph and type posts.

Many times in the past I read my favorite food bloggers write about burnout syndrome and I think that maybe the time has come for me, too: I don’t know for sure and my mind sometimes is a blur, to be honest. I have just come back from a wonderful trip to NYC in which I had fabulous food in all sorts of ways, and I thought this would give me inspiration to go back to the kitchen, but honestly, that has not kicked in yet.

Anyway, on a sweeter note: I have baked this crumble several times in the past year and a half and it has become one of my favorites, so here is the recipe.

Banana and blueberry crumble
own recipe

¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (125g) all purpose flour
¼ cup (50g) demerara sugar
¼ teaspoon baking poder
pinch of salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
¼ cup (22g) rolled oats
¼ cup (25g) flaked almonds
4 bananas, about 140g/5oz each
1 cup (120g) blueberries, fresh or frozen (unthawed)

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Set aside four 1-cup (240m) heatproof ramekins – if you prefer, bake the crumble in one 1-liter heatproof baking dish.

Crumble topping: in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add the butter and rub the ingredients together with your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Using a fork, stir in the oats and almonds. Freeze the mixture for 5 minutes while you prepare the fruit.

Cut the banana in round slices and divide among the ramekins. Sprinkle with the blueberries. Cover the fruit with the crumble topping and bake for 25-30 minutes or until topping is golden and blueberries are bubbling. Serve warm with ice cream or heavy cream.

The crumble topping can be kept tightly sealed in a plastic bag in the freezer for 1 month – whenever you feel like having a crumble for dessert, sprinkle the mixture over the fruit of your choice and bake – do not unthaw before using.

Serves 4

Banana and chocolate cake with coconut glaze for a lazy holiday

Tomorrow is a national holiday in Brazil and I really need some time off – the past few weeks have been intense workwise. For that reason, I bring you today a very short post, but with a delicious cake: the recipe is very straightforward too and can be done without any electric equipment – perfect for the lazy days ahead.

Banana and chocolate cake with coconut glaze
own recipe

Cake:
2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
¾ cup (67g) unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Dutch cocoa powder)
¾ teaspoon baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon table salt
2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
3 large eggs
¾ cup (180ml) canola oil
½ cup (130g) plain yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 ripe bananas, mashed with a fork

Glaze:
1 cup (140) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons coconut milk
¼ cup (25) toasted coconut, for sprinkling over the cake

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 12-cup capacity Bundt pan.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, oil, yogurt and vanilla until smooth. Mix in the bananas. Fold in the dry ingredients just until incorporated – do not overmix. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes or until risen and a skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 20 minutes, then carefully unmold onto the rack and cool completely.

Glaze: place the sugar in a small bowl and gradually whisk in the coconut milk, mixing until you get a drizzable consistency – for a thicker glaze, use less milk. Pour over the cake and sprinkle with the toasted coconut.

Serves 10-12

Banana, chocolate and peanut crumble to comfort a sad heart

I have told you several times already how much I love the Internet – this very blog would not exist if it wasn’t for it. On the other side, social networks sometimes make me sad – they make me think about lots of things sometimes.

For instance, I see people from my family sharing loads of photos and thoughts and… I feel like I don’t know those people. I did, in a very distant past, years and years ago, but life has changed so much and I no longer can relate to them – they are like complete strangers. I have a few close and dear friends I consider family much more than the people connected to me by blood – that is comforting, that puts my heart at ease. Those warm feelings make me feel good after dark thoughts cross my mind and usually I look for comfort in food form, too – not ideal, I know, but it is what it is.

Aside from my mom’s rice pudding, nothing comforts me more than a good crumble, eaten straight from the oven with a little cold heavy cream on the side. This time I added almond meal and cocoa to the topping, creating a delicious and tropical combination with the bananas.

Banana, chocolate and peanut crumble
own creation

3 large bananas, ripe yet firm, sliced in 1cm coins

Crumble topping:
1/3 cup (46g) all purpose flour
¼ cup (25g) peanut meal
½ tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
2 tablespoons demerara sugar
¼ teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 ½ tablespoons (21g) unsalted butter, cold and chopped

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Divide the bananas between two 240ml capacity ovenproof ramekins or cups.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, peanut meal, cocoa, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add butter and using your fingertips, rub the ingredients together until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Sprinkle over the bananas and bake for 20-25 minutes or until topping is golden and crispy.
Serve with heavy cream or vanilla ice cream.

Serves 2

Banana peanut muffins

As much as I try to stick to the ingredients I have at home when baking, that doesn’t always happen: I sometimes cannot resist some fruits at the grocery store or buying another bar of chocolate and/or a jar of jam (I was much worse in the past, if that is any consolation). :)

It is like buying another book when you are not even close to finish reading the ones you already have (that, luckily, I no longer do). But the ingredients… I sometimes give in. :)

Last weekend, however, I reached for a batch of homemade vegetable stock in my freezer and saw a couple of bananas there. There was another ripe banana in the counter, so I decided to bake with them. The idea started as a cake, but changed to muffins when I saw these on Olive magazine – I had each and every ingredient at home and that made me feel like a winner. :D

On top of using the bananas, I was able to go through my giant peanut butter jar a little bit more, use up the remaining peanuts from this recipe and also the peanut meal I found in a shop weeks ago (and of course I had to bring it home). :D Don’t worry if you don’t have any peanut meal at hand: the original recipe calls for almond meal, so you can use either one.

Banana peanut muffins
slightly adapted from the always great Olive magazine

1 ¾ cups (245g) all purpose flour
2 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon table salt
3 tablespoons peanut meal (finely ground peanuts)
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon (78g) demerara sugar
3 ripe bananas, being 2 mashed and 1 chopped
100g smooth peanut butter
2 eggs
½ cup (120ml) buttermilk*
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
handful of toasted peanuts (salted are fine)

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Line a standard 12-hole muffin pan with muffin cases.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, peanut meal and sugar. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the 2 mashed bananas, the peanut butter, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla until well mixed. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a fork – do not overmix or your muffins will be tough; muffin batter is supposed to be lumpy, not smooth like cake batter. Stir in the chopped banana.

Divide the mixture between the cases and sprinkle with the peanuts – press them slightly with your fingers so they adhere to the batter. Bake for about 20 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 5 minutes, then carefully remove the muffins from the pan and transfer them to the rack. Serve warm or let them cool completely.

* homemade buttermilk: to make 1 cup buttermilk place 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a 240ml-capacity measuring cup and complete with whole milk (room temperature). Wait 10 minutes for it to thicken, then use the whole mixture in your recipe

Makes 12

Melted butter banana cake for busy days

It is very clear that I haven’t had time to write for the blog – well, I haven’t had time to cook or bake, really (and all that makes me really sad).

For days like these, when there is barely any time to play around in the kitchen or to write a blog post (type recipes, edit photos and translate them for my other blog), I bring you this banana cake: it is delicious, the recipe is put together in no time at all and since the butter is melted you don’t even have to wait for it to soften. Very quick, very good – exactly what I need nowadays.

Melted butter banana cake
slightly adapted from Dan Lepard

175g granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 1 orange
200g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
250g all purpose flour
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
250g very ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
3 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter an 6-cup capacity loaf pan and line it with baking paper, buttering it as well.

Place the sugar and orange zest in a large mixing bowl and rub together with your fingertips until sugar is perfumed. Stir in the butter, then beat in 100g of the flour until smooth. Add the eggs one by one, beating each one in well before adding the next, then mix in the juice, vanilla and banana. Sift in the remaining flour, baking powder and salt, and stir until smooth.

Spoon the mixture into the pan and smooth the top. Bake for 60-65 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer pulls out with only a few crumbs sticking to it, it's done.

Serves 6-8

Chocolate, banana and coconut muffins

I love baking as a whole, and muffins are such favorites of mine: they’re easy to put together – no electric equipment involved most of times –, taste amazing right out of the oven – not need to wait for them to cool completely – and can turn any breakfast in a treat. I hadn’t, however, baked muffins in a long time, and I honestly don’t know why.

When the latest issue of the always wonderful Donna Hay Magazine arrived I immediately dug in and found several muffins recipes – they all looked mouthwatering and if it weren’t for the frozen bananas I had in my freezer it would have been difficult to choose which recipe to start with.

I found these muffins delicious warm, when the chocolate chips are melted – for some reason they are less interesting when cool, therefore they taste way better out of the oven – if there are any left, a handful of seconds in the microwave oven should do the trick.

Chocolate, banana and coconut muffins
from the always gorgeous and mouthwatering Donna Hay Magazine

2 ½ cups (350g) purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
½ cup (50g) unsweetened desiccated coconut
2/3 cup (133g) granulated sugar
1/3 cup (30g) Dutch cocoa
2 eggs
½ cup (120ml) coconut milk
½ cup (120ml) canola oil
3 small very ripe bananas (400g), mashed with a fork
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
200g dark chocolate, in chips or chunks – I used one with 53% cocoa solids

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper cases.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, coconut, sugar and cocoa. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, coconut milk, oil, banana and vanilla. Pour liquid mixture into dry mixture and stir just until combined; do not overmix. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake until risen and a skewer inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Carefully remove muffins from pan and place on a rack until cool enough to handle. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 12 – I halved the recipe and got 8 muffins

Simple banana cake for the weekend

I don’t know about you guys, but weekends for me mean cake: a slice for lazy breakfasts or to eat while watching a movie on the couch.

I told a while ago that it is difficult for me to bake with bananas because my husband and I eat them all in no time, but because of the summer that changed a bit: we continued to eat bananas like crazy, but because of the hot days they would become too ripe too fast, therefore now I have some bananas in my freezer and the first recipe I made with them was this cake, a recipe from the always great Stephanie Alexander.

The cake is insanely moist and tender, with a hint of cinnamon and a lovely banana flavor – I thought of icing it with a chocolate glaze, but then I thought that it was called “simple banana cake”, so I kept it simple and served it with a dusting of icing sugar only – it was a very good decision, for this cake needs nothing more than that.

Simple banana cake
slightly adapted from the oh, so wonderful The Cook's Companion: The Complete Book of Ingredients and Recipes for the Australian Kitchen

1 ½ cups (210g) all purpose flour
¼ cup (35g) whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
125g unsalted butter, softened
1 ¼ cups (250g) granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 large ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup (120ml) buttermilk*
icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 20cm (8in) square cake pan, line the base with baking paper and butter the paper as well. Sprinkle with flour and knock out the excess.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl. On medium speed, beat in the banana and vanilla. On low speed, beat in the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk in two additions, and mix just until incorporated. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until golden and risen and a fine skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cake completely in the pan over a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

* homemade buttermilk: to make 1 cup buttermilk place 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a 240ml-capacity measuring cup and complete with whole milk (room temperature). Wait 10 minutes for it to thicken slightly, then use the whole mixture in your recipe

Serves 16

Chocolate, coconut and banana cake

I love trying new things and I am sure I am not alone: when movies are concerned, for instance, writers and actors become directors, directors work as actors or make cameo appearances, and so forth. Change is good; variety is the spice of life.

While some are very successful working in different areas – I think Antonio Banderas should focus on directing more after I watched Crazy in Alabama, and let us not forget that Quentin Tarantino was a writer before working behind the cameras – I can’t say the same about others: I started watching Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s directorial debut the other day, but the movie was so awful I changed the channel after fifteen minutes of it. Poor Joseph, go back to acting, will you? :)

As I said, change is good – maybe except for JGL? ;) – not only in the movies but also in the kitchen: this moist and delicious cake, very chocolaty, is made without eggs and yet the result was really, really good, as the banana not only acts as the egg replacer but also adds a wonderful flavor to the cake.

I have no intention of giving up on eggs – I just love them too much – and that was not even the reason why I baked this cake: I just got hypnotized by the beautiful photo I had to make it, especially because the recipe comes from a cookbook that the more I cook from, the more I love it.

Chocolate, coconut and banana cake
cake slightly adapted from the marvelous A Modern Way to Eat: Over 200 Satisfying, Everyday Vegetarian Recipes (That Will Make You Feel Amazing), glaze from the wonderful Annie Bell's Baking Bible

Cake:
¾ cup (105g) all purpose flour
1 ½ cups (150g) almond meal
1 cup (95g) unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
125g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
150ml maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
150ml coconut milk
50ml whole milk, room temperature
1 large ripe banana, mashed

Glaze:
100g dark chocolate – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
25g unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons whole milk, room temperature

Cake: preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20x7cm (8x3in) round cake pan with a removable bottom, line the bottom with a circle of baking paper and butter the paper as well.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, almond meal, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and slowly pour in the melted butter, maple syrup, vanilla, coconut milk, milk and banana. Mix well.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 35–40 minutes, until it feels firm to the touch and a skewer comes out clean. Don't worry if the cake has cracked on the top, as this will all get covered by the chocolate glaze.
Remove the cake from the oven and cool completely in the pan over a wire rack. Carefully unmold, peel off the paper and transfer to a serving plate.

Glaze: place chocolate and butter in a small heatproof bowl and set over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring until melted. Remove from the heat and whisk in the milk. Set aside for 5 minutes, then spread over the cooled cake.

Serves 8

Banana waffles with chocolate sauce

My sister came over the other day for lunch and she spent the afternoon here with me, but this time, instead of playing Super Mario, I suggested we watched Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, for she had never watched the original version – I’m really biased here for this is one of my all time favorite movies and I cannot conceive the idea of a Willy Wonka other than Gene Wilder (sorry, Johnny, but you really sucked at playing that part). :)

She loved the movie – which was no surprise to me – but at some point she told me it wasn’t easy watching it without having something to snack on: all that chocolate made my sister crave something sweet, and since we’d had such a light lunch I thought that waffles would make our afternoon even nicer.

I used a recipe from a Brazilian blog I adore but instead of adding chocolate chips to the batter as my friend Richie did, I made a chocolate glaze to pour over the waffles – Willy Wonka would be proud. ;)

Banana waffles with chocolate sauce
slightly adapted from a beautiful Brazilian blog

Waffles:
1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
½ tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
200ml whole milk, room temperature
1 medium banana, mashed
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate sauce:
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons milk

Waffles: place ingredients in a large mixing bowl and combine until well blended and smooth. Let batter sit for 5 minutes before using.
Heat the waffle maker until very hot; lightly coat with nonstick spray. Pour about 1/3 cup of batter into the machine, close and cook until cooked through and golden.

Make the chocolate sauce: mix all the ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over high heat, whisking, until it comes to a boil. Cook for 2-3 minutes, whisking, until thickened.
Remove from heat and let it stand for 5 minutes before pouring it over the waffles

Serves 4

Banana, ginger and honey cake

As much as I love banana cakes, sometimes months go by without me baking any – my husband and I are crazy for the fruit and end up eating all the bananas before they go brown and I get a chance to do anything with them.

No one has muscle cramps here, I can assure you. :D

Last week I bought a huge bunch of bananas, and even though we ate a lot of them there were still two by the end of the week, very freckled and turning brownish, perfect for baking. A banana cake from Rachel Allen’s latest cookbook was the perfect way to use those wonderful bananas, but I’ve adapted it a little to use honey instead of golden syrup (explanation here).

The cake is delicious fresh out of the oven, so tender, but I have got to tell you that toasting the slices and slathering them with butter is something almost mandatory. :)

Banana, ginger and honey cake
slightly adapted from the delicious All Things Sweet

110g unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (44g) light brown sugar, packed
100g honey
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
100g all purpose flour
50g whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
pinch of salt
2 medium ripe bananas, mashed

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 5 ½ cup-capacity loaf pan, line it with baking paper and lightly butter the paper as well.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream butter until soft. Beat in the sugar and honey, then beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time (mixture might look curdled, carry on anyway). Beat in the vanilla. Sift flours, baking powder, ginger and salt over mixture and fold to combine. Fold in the bananas, mixing until incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 25 minutes, then carefully unmold and transfer to the rack to cool completely. Peel off the paper and serve.

Serves 8

Banana almond cake - simple yet delicious

After posting a recipe that calls for homemade vegetable stock, homemade tomato sauce and homemade ricotta I had to bring you something simpler, but equally good: a no-fuss banana cake with part of the all purpose flour replaced by almond meal, which gives it a delicious almond flavor and combined with the sour cream and the mashed bananas makes the cake moist and tender.

In my defense, it could’ve been worse: I could have told you to make your own sprinkles. :D

Banana cakes are favorites of mine and I always have a couple of ripe bananas in the freezer, just waiting to be transformed into something delicious – it’s too cold now for banana sorbet, so cake was my decision and it was a no-brainer, really.

The cake sunk a bit in the middle and years ago that would have stopped me from posting it here, but with time I’ve learned to dial down my perfectionism at least a bit, and I try to do that whenever possible because as much as people parade it as a “quality” I don’t think that’s true – it is actually a cage we build around ourselves and from which it gets harder and harder to escape.

The cake sunk, yes, but it tasted amazing, so I photographed it to share it with you – I hope you like it as much as I did.

Banana almond cake
slightly adapted from the delicious World Class Cakes: 250 Classic Recipes from Boston Cream Pie to Madeleines and Muffins

1 ¼ cups (175g) all purpose flour
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2/3 cup (65g) almond meal
2/3 cup (150g) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup sour cream*
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20x10cm (8x4in) cup loaf pan, line it with paper and butter the paper as well.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder , cinnamon and almond meal.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Beat in the vanilla.
Add the sour cream and the banana and mix on low just until combined. Add the dry ingredients in and mix on low just until incorporated.
Transfer batter to prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes or until golden and risen and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 15 minutes, then carefully unmold onto the rack and cool completely. Peel off the paper, dust with icing sugar and serve.

* homemade sour cream: to make 1 cup of sour cream, mix 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or until thicker (I usually leave mine on the counter overnight – except on very warm nights – and it turns out thick and silky in the following morning; refrigerate for a creamier texture)

Serves 8

Banana-jam swirl bread and versatility

As I opened my freezer to get egg whites to make financiers I found four frozen bananas stashed there, sitting next to a bag of peas. I immediately thought “ok, financiers and banana cake” – nothing wrong with that, right? :)

Then I opened the fridge to get some butter and saw a jar of raspberry jam (I can’t live without jam, so I bought another jar right after I used what I had around to make these blondies) – that triggered my memory: I was almost 100% sure I’d seen a jam swirled banana bread somewhere (here, to be more precise). So I decided my banana cake (or bread, in this case) would have a jam swirl, but raspberry, since I find strawberry jam a tad too sweet. The marbled effect looked beautiful and the flavor was great, too.

Banana cakes or muffins are versatile little beauties, aren’t they? They taste delicious plain, with berries, chocolate, coconut, maple syrup, honey, with lemon icing and with jam – they remind me of the talented (and handsome) Mark Ruffalo, who I saw this morning being cute and funny in the trailer for Begin Again, and physically transformed and dark in the movie I most want to watch this year.

Banana-jam swirl bread
from the delicious Better Homes and Gardens Baking: More than 350 Recipes Plus Tips and Techniques

2 cups (280g) all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup very ripe mashed bananas (about 4 medium)
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
½ cup (120ml) canola oil or melted butter (I used ¼ cup of each)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup raspberry jam

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 22.5x12.5cm (9x5in) loaf pan, line it with baking paper and butter the paper as well.

In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture; set aside.
In a medium bowl combine eggs, bananas, sugar, oil and vanilla. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Transfer batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly. Spoon jam on top of the batter and use a knife or thin metal spatula to swirl jam into batter. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then carefully remove from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Serves 8-10

Banana raspberry muffins, Cate Blanchett and switching sides

The Oscar nominees were announced yesterday and several of my favorites are part of the list: Leonardo DiCaprio, Christian Bale, Martin Scorsese, Judi Dench, Alfonso Cuarón, Amy Adams... I don’t trust the award but it is a joy to see talented people being recognized for their work.

After watching Gravity a couple of months ago – and being pretty much blown away by it – I wanted, with all my heart, to see Sandra Bullock walk up the Kodak Theater stairs (without tripping, of course) to receive the Best Actress in a Leading Role award: she’s amazing as Ryan Stone, a performance that to be honest I wasn’t expecting from her – I adore Sandra, but had no idea she could stretch her acting like that. It was a nice surprise and I wanted her to be recognized by it. However, I watched Blue Jasmine yesterday and Cate Blanchett accomplished what I would call sheer perfection on that film – up to this moment I cannot stop thinking about her as Jasmine, the way she builds the character and express her emotions, with no vanity whatsoever, completely available for what the script and the director wanted from her. I’ve been a fan of Cate’s for years and thought I’d seen the best of her acting in Elizabeth, but apparently I was wrong – Blue Jasmine is the peak of a career packed with amazingly crafted and portrayed characters.

I am sorry, Sandra, but I am switching sides. ;)

And since I am being very fickle today, I’ll no longer say that my favorite add in to a banana muffin are blueberries – yes, they’re great paired with banana, but the slightly sour flavor of raspberries are even better mixed in the tender, delicious muffins.

Banana raspberry muffins
slightly adapted from the wonderful Olive magazine

250g all-purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
50g light brown sugar
50g granulated sugar
pinch of salt
2 large very ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
2 large eggs
½ cup buttermilk*
75g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 heaping cup frozen raspberries, unthawed

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugars and salt. In another bowl, mix the bananas, eggs, buttermilk, butter and vanilla. Pour them over the dry ingredients and mix lightly with a fork – the batter will look lumpy and it’s OK, don’t overmix or your muffins will be tough.
Divide the batter equally among the paper cases and top with the raspberries, pressing them gently into the batter. Bake for about 20 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 5 minutes, then carefully unmold, transfer to the rack and serve warm or at room temperature.

* homemade buttermilk: to make 1 cup buttermilk place 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a 240ml-capacity measuring cup and complete with whole milk (room temperature). Wait 10 minutes for it to thicken slightly, then use the whole mixture in your recipe

Makes 12

Maple banana cake with caramel drizzle + an amazing movie trailer

Weeks ago the trailer for Foxcatcher was released and my interest in the movie skyrocketed – I’d read about it and seen a couple of photos (in which both Mark Ruffalo and Steve Carell look unrecognizable) and the trailer just made me even more curious (oh, the joy of a perfectly put together movie trailer!).

I find it remarkable when an actor chooses a project that is completely different from everything he’d done up until then, which is what Carell is doing in Foxcatcher – for the little I’ve seen and read his performance will be one to watch next year. That reminds me of other actors who emerged from comedies and delivered great performances in dramas such as Jim Carrey in The Truman Show, Jamie Foxx in Collateral (before that movie I don’t think anyone would have thought the guy could win an Oscar) and, to me, the most fantastic one, Marlon Wayans in Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky did the impossible here, let’s be honest). I cannot wait to see Carell playing such a dark character, and it’s too bad the movie release has been postponed to 2014 (apparently no one wants to compete against Gravity and 12 Years a Slave in the award season).

***
I like having a handful of ingredients in my freezer for cooking and baking, like berries, peas, spinach and nuts, and two things I always have stashed there are egg whites and overripe bananas. A while ago the egg white amount was considerably low, but there were quite a lot of frozen bananas around, and they were transformed into this moist, delicious cake (the caramel drizzle makes it extra special, don’t skip it). The cake does taste fantastic with the addition of maple syrup, but I have made this recipe replacing the syrup with a mild flavored honey and it worked like a charm, too.

Maple banana cake with caramel drizzle
slightly adapted from the always gorgeous Delicious Autralia

Cake:
3 large eggs
125g unsalted butter, melted, cooled
1 cup (175g) light brown sugar, packed
¼ cup (60ml) maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 overripe bananas, mashed
¼ cup sour cream*
225g all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon table salt
icing sugar, for dusting

Caramel drizzle:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup (60g) light brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Cake: preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Grease an 8-cup capacity Bundt cake pan and dust with flour.
Beat eggs, butter, brown sugar, maple syrup and vanilla in an electric mixer for 5 minutes or until thick. Beat banana and sour cream into the batter. Sift in flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt then mix until combined. Spread into the pan and bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, then carefully unmold onto a wire rack. Cool completely.
Make the caramel drizzle: place butter and sugar in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. When it boils, whisk in the cream – carefully because the mixture will bubble – until incorporated then remove from heat.
Dust the cake with the icing sugar and drizzle with the caramel.

* homemade sour cream: to make 1 cup of sour cream, mix 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or until thicker (I usually leave mine on the counter overnight – except on very warm nights – and it turns out thick and silky in the following morning; refrigerate for a creamier texture)

Serves 8-10

Banana poppy seed muffins with almond streusel topping

Last week I had a sudden urge to eat banana cake, but it was a busy Sunday and I would not have enough time to make the cake and then wait for it to cool. Stephanie Alexander's muffins, topped with Thomas Keller's streusel, turned out to be a delicious and very fast alternative to my cake cravings, and they turned out so tender I had to be super careful removing them from the pan, even with the paper liners.

For a little more color and caramel flavor, brown sugar might be used to replace half the granulated sugar in the batter.

Banana poppy seed muffins with almond streusel topping
adapted from two wonderful sources: The Cook's Companion and Bouchon Bakery

Streusel topping:
60g all purpose flour
60g almond meal
60g granulated sugar
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter, cold and diced
handful of sliced almonds

Muffins:
1 ½ cups (210g) all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
3 tablespoons poppy seeds
150ml canola oil
¾ cup (180ml) whole milk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large bananas, mashed with a fork

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan (1/3 cup each cavity) with paper liners.

Streusel: in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, almond meal, sugar and salt. Add the butter and rub with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the sliced almonds. Refrigerate it while you make the muffin batter.

Muffins: in a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Whisk in the sugar and poppy seeds.
In a small bowl, mix the oil, milk, egg, vanilla and bananas until combined. Pour over the dry ingredients and stir with a fork just until combined – don’t overmix. Transfer batter to the pan and pack the streusel on top. Bake for about 20 minutes or until risen and a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 10 minutes, then carefully unmold (they’re very tender) and transfer to the rack.

Makes 12