Banana Crumb Muffins

A couple of weeks ago I walked into the kitchen and all I could smell was bananas. The bananas that we had were beginning to ripen too and the aroma that they were giving off made me long for some sought of banana cake. I settled on banana bread. I took out my flour and…. no wait… hold that thought.



A few days prior to that I was visiting my SIL and she asked me to make a chocolate cake. Anyone who knows me knows that I love my chocolate cakes rich and chocolaty. All she had was flour and cocoa so I had to settle on a light chocolate sponge cake.


With my niece and nephew fighting over who is going to stand next to the bowl I started baking. I mixed everything up, poured it into a baking tray and placed it in the oven as usual. After twenty minutes or so I decided to check the cake. It had risen only slightly and was unusually flat on top. I pondered over what could have gone wrong and then I took one look to the right and saw the unopened tin of baking powder. No worries though my SIL rushed to the shop to get some fresh cream and we turned it into a good tasting “chocolate brownie” trifle.


I realized that day how important it is to plan and prepare when baking so I paused, took out my little ramekins and for the first time did my mis en place.


The banana bread turned out quite good but I wasn’t satisfied. Being banana bread it wasn’t as moist and fluffy as I normally like my cakes.

With that I decided to give it another go and this time decided to make banana muffins. I searched and found this great recipe for banana crumb muffins. These muffins didn’t disappoint. They turned out moist and fluffy and were great even the next day. A word about the crumb topping… I found that it was great the same day but became soft and sugary the next day. I think it was from the humidity, but if you have sensitive teeth you not going to like biting into the sugary crumb mixture on top.

· 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
· 1 teaspoon baking soda
· 1 teaspoon baking powder
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· 3 bananas, mashed
· 3/4 cup white sugar
· 1 egg, lightly beaten
· 1/3 cup butter, melted
· 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
· 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
· 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
· 1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.

In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.

Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into centre of a muffin comes out clean.

Daring Bakers' Chocolate Flourless Cake with Vanilla Ice-Cream

When I saw the challenge for February I was rather excited, so excited that I finished it 4 days after it had been posted. It was a long wait for posting day and when the day came I was busy helping my brother move so I didn't even have enough time to turn my laptop on. It was disappointing for me since I couldn't wait to share my experiences from the challenge with the rest of you.

As I said I was rather excited when I saw that the challenge was all about chocolate and ice-cream my two favourite things in the world. I was even more excited to finally get the chance to make my very own ice-cream from home.

I started with the chocolate cake since I'm such a chocoholic. I've never attempted a flourless chocolate cake before simply because I've always been afraid to try it. I wish I'd tried it sooner because it is absolutely a divine cake - like eating baked chocolate. The only problem that I had with this cake is that I found it a bit too strong for my tastes. Next time I'll mix in some milk chocolate

Chocolate Valentino

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped

½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter

5 large eggs separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.
   



2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
   
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
   
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
   
   


5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
   



6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
   
   


7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter.
   



8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C.
   
9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C. Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.
   
   


10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

For the ice-cream I decided to use Dharm's recipe and I don't regret it. The ice-cream was very successful for a first attempt and especially since I made it by hand. Next time I'm going to buy an ice-cream maker since the whole process was too aerobic for me. I was afraid that too many ice crystals will develop in the creamy custard base so I beat it every forty minutes for about 5 times before I left it to set completely.

This ice-cream was decadent, rich and creamy. I'm going to try different flavour variants using this recipe as a base. Absolutely decadent.

Dharm's Ice Cream Recipe - Classic Vanilla Ice Cream

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Recipe comes from the Ice Cream Book by Joanna Farrow and Sara Lewis (tested modifications and notes in parentheses by Dharm)

Ingredients:

• 1 Vanilla Pod (or substitute with vanilla extract)


• 300ml / ½ pint / 1 ¼ cups Semi Skimmed Milk – in the U.S. this is 2% fat (or use fresh full fat milk that is pasteurised and homogenised {as opposed to canned or powdered}). Dharm used whole milk.


• 4 large egg yolks


• 75g / 3oz / 6 tbsp caster sugar {superfine sugar can be achieved in a food processor or use regular granulated sugar}


• 5ml / 1 tsp corn flour {cornstarch}


• 300ml / ½ pint / 1 ¼ cups Double Cream (48% butter fat) {in the U.S. heavy cream is 37% fat){you can easily increase your cream's fat content by heating 1/4 cup of heavy cream with 3 Tbs of butter until melted - cool to room temperature and add to the heavy cream as soon as whisk marks appear in the cream, in a slow steady stream, with the mixer on low speed. Raise speed and continue whipping the cream) or use heavy cream the difference will be in the creaminess of the ice cream.

1. Using a small knife slit the vanilla pod lengthways. Pour the milk into a heavy based saucepan, add the vanilla pod and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and leave for 15 minutes to allow the flavours to infuseLift the vanilla pod up. Holding it over the pan, scrape the black seeds out of the pod with a small knife so that they fall back into the milk. SET the vanilla pod aside and bring the milk back to the boil.
   



2. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and corn-flour in a bowl until the mixture is thick and foamy.
   
   


Gradually pour in the hot milk, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the pan and cook over a gentle hear, stirring all the time.


When the custard thickens and is smooth, pour it back into the bowl. Cool it then chill.




By Hand: Whip the cream until it has thickened but still falls from a spoon. Fold it into the custard and pour into a plastic tub or similar freeze-proof container.


Freeze for 6 hours or until firm enough to scoop, beating it twice (during the freezing process – to get smoother ice cream or else the ice cream will be icy and coarse)By Using and Ice Cream Maker: Stir the cream into the custard and churn the mixture until thick (follow instructions on your ice cream maker)

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.