Friday, March 13, 2009

Silver Palate Banana Bread

breadbanana

We were cleaning out the basement freezer and to my suprise, there were frozen bananas! I can't believe it's my fourth banana bread post (I made it here - CI's version, here - lower fat and here - with chocolate chips). Seriously, can anyone ever have too much banana bread?! A while ago, I saw a recipe for banana bread from the Silver Palate Cookbook that I wanted to try because compared to others I've tried, there was no added liquid (milk, buttermilk, sour cream, yogurt). When you consider how much banana is used, I guess more liquid isn't reallly necessary.

This banana bread was really delicious! The texture was soft and light compared to CI's version. It may have been a little too light for banana bread standards, but that's because while the butter, sugar and eggs were creaming, I was trying to multitask by doing dishes at the same time and left the mixer running a lot longer than usual. If you're into dense and chewy, I would try this recipe using the muffin method by melting the butter instead of creaming (or just not overcream like me..haha) because the flavour was amazing!. Doesn't it feel like sometimes that no matter how much banana is added the flavour is still weak, but at the same time adding more banana might turn the bread into mush? I love strong banana flavour, but when there are equal or more cups of banana then flour, it starts feeling gummy to me. I think the yogurt in my previous go-to recipe from CI mutes the flavour of the bananas and makes the batter too wet. The best part about this recipe was not having to wait for the centre to cook while sacrificing the rest of the loaf although I would have to bake this in a loaf pan to be sure (need Goldtouch now!). Bundt pans have way more surface area and allow for even baking. My favourite are the ones from Nordicware, which are just so heavy sometimes I feel like I might drop my cake while I'm pulling it out from my oven.

The only question is, how much banana is in 3 bananas? Mine came to 1 1/4 cup. Since that was close to the 1 1/2 cup in CI's recipe, I didn't bother adding another banana. I don't think I would use less than 1 1/4 cup of bananas though or else it probably won't be flavourful enough. There are still 3 frozen bananas left. Maybe next time I'll be confident enough to break into a bag of whole wheat flour, we'll see...

Silver Palate Cookbook Banana Bread: (makes 1 loaf)

8 T unsalted butter, room temp
3/4 c granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 c unbleached all-purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 c whole wheat flour (I used all purpose)
3 large ripe bananas, mashed (1 1/4 cups - 1 1/2 cups)
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 c walnuts, coarsely chopped (I omitted)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan. (I used a bundt pan)
2. Mix flour, soda, salt together
3. Mash bananas with a fork, add vanilla to the banana mixture.
4. Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time and beat.
5. Alternately add dry and wet ingredients to butter mixture, beginning and ending with the dry (dry-wet-dry-wet-dry)
6. Pour into pan. Bake 50-60 min, or until cake tester comes out clean (I look for a few mini moist crumbs). Cool in pan 10 min, then on rack.

26 comments:

  1. It was fate that you found those frozen bananas!! :-D Lovely bread!!

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  2. Talk about pay dirt when you found those bananas. I'm craving banana bread; a slice of yours would be wonderful for breakfast!

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  3. Looks great! No, you can't have too many banana recipes! :)

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  4. You know how I LOVE how you compare different recipes and techniques. Also, being a multitasker myself, I am glad to know that this works well even if I forget about the mixer for a while. It looks fantastic - can't wait to try it.

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  5. There is something very comforting about banana bread, in my opinion. Yours looks fantastic!

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  6. Your banana bread looks absolutely delicious! The bundt pan makes it look even more yummy :D

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  7. I agree with everyone...I always always learn something from you! I did that the other day - the overcreaming, way over! - with my new apple tea bread recipe, and it looked so lovely there in the mixer that I hoped the bread wouldn't be ruined. It wasn't! I can't remember what's in my own go-to BB recipe but I do know you're supposed to whip the bananas and sugar together till they're perfectly smooth, which is a little unusual. I like making my tea breads in bundt pans too...I found some 3-cup minis that work perfectly because a 9x5 pan is 6 cups. Well, enough about me - I need to buy some bananas tonight so they can start going bad!

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  8. Everyone in my family loves banana bread! Pity I don't make it often. This recipe sounds great though! *bookmark* :D

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  9. I love banana bread and this one looks like a winner :)

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  10. When my hubby goes to the store by himself, he likes to bring too many bananas home on purpose, because he loves banana bread so much. I'm always looking for news recipes - this looks great - thanks for sharing!

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  11. I agree that you can never have too much banana bread! Looks great, Steph.

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  12. mmmm Banana Bread! My god ive just realized HOW LONG its been since ive had some!

    Do tell, which recipe of the ones you've tried do you like best?:)

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  13. Yum! This banana bread looks particularly delicious! I think you can never have too many recipes for b-bread. And, this one sounds so unique and yummy.

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  14. Well we have both been using the Silver Palate lately. I actually wish I had kept the books instead of just the recipes I thought I wanted.
    I agree, often the flavor of banana is too faint and more bananas gets gluey. I think I made this bread before and loved it.
    I really make the corned beef so I can make corned beef hash with the leftovers.
    And your caramel crunch bars are killing me. OMG! Love at first sight.
    Also, we both use blogspot, why are your photos so much larger than mine. Which template do you use? I am uploading on the largest size offered, but smaller photos just don't do anything justice. Okay, except my butt. Small photos are preferred then.

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  15. this looks fantastic! i've been looking for a recipe to use up some frozen bananas myself--i just may try this. i have so much whole wheat flour too, so i'll probably go with that. great job!!

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  16. I will have to try this one! I always have too many bananas!

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  17. I like the use of the bundt pan for a quick bread. I had not thought of that. I'll definitely try that. I love using my bundt pan.

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  18. This recipe of your looks so good! The banana bread looks so moist....yummy

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  19. Oh, I love banana bread and I haven't made any for the longest time. Yours looks really good, and I'm intrigued by no additional liquid. My regular recipe is quite similar, but with 1/3 cup hot water. I do use the whole wheat flour and I sub yogurt for half the butter. So good. And my favorite loaf pans are some vintage metal ones that are very long and slim. They seem to cook everything perfectly.

    Nancy

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  20. oh gosh I love banana bread, but never thought to use whole wheat flour--I was always so afraid of what it might taste like.
    but you liked it ok, so there is hope!

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  21. There's definitely no such thing as too much banana bread!! Especially when they look as good as this one!

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  22. THE BEST RECIPE EVER...MY FAMILY IS SOOOO HAPPY WHEN WE HAVE UGLY BANANAS :)

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  23. redrules19@yahoo.co.ukSeptember 13, 2010 at 7:33 AM

    rosemary conleys banana and sultana cake the nicest banana bread i have ever tasted you should try it

    BANANA AND SULTANA CAKE
    Per 50g serving - 100kcal/0.4g fat

    1lb 3 oz (475g ) ripe bananas (approximately 5 large) peeled.
    2 beaten eggs
    6oz (150g) brown sugar
    4oz (100g) sultanas
    8 oz (200g) self-raising flour

    Mash the bananas and add the eggs, sugar and sultanas. Mix well, then stir in the flour. Place in a lined 2lb (800g) loaf or cake tin. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 180c, 350F or Gas Mark 4. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. When cool, store in an air-tight tin for 24 hours before serving.
    http://www.rosemaryconley.com/content/past-recipes-of-the-week/banana-and-sultana-cake-and-kims-cake.htm

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  24. Banana can never be wrong! I could eat it for three meals a day!

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