A good 'ole favourite

What do you usually do with banana's that have been sitting so long they are black, soft and have fruit flys as permanent residents?



You transform it into divine banana bread with a scrumptious golden crust, a moist fragrant center with lots of yummy banana goodness.

I followed the recipe from joy of baking and made a few minor changes as listed with recipe below. I loved the results and this will definately be "the One" I will turn to when I need a trustworthy, failproof banana bread.




Banana Bread with Hazelnuts and Cream Cheese
-adapted from joy of baking

Recipe:

1 cup (115 grams) hazelnuts

1 3/4 cups (245 grams) all-purpose flour

3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated brown sugar

1 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon all spice

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

3 ripe large bananas (approximately 1 pound or 454 grams), mashed well (about 1-1/2 cups)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Garnish: (Optional)

1 large banana, sliced

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place oven rack to middle position. Butter and flour (or spray with a non stick vegetable/flour spray) the bottom and sides of a 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients (banana mixture) into the dry ingredients just until combined and the batter is thick and chunky. (The important thing is not to over mix the batter. You do not want it smooth. Over mixing the batter will yield tough, rubbery bread.) Scrape batter into prepared pan and place the slices of banana and hazelnuts on top of the batter for garnish. Bake until bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove the bread from the pan. Serve warm (which i prefer) or at room temperature with a dollop of cream cheese.


Try this recipe the next time you have a bunch of bananas that would otherwise end up in the bin.

HO Ho HO....I'm back!

Finally, I'm back in singapore and settling down.

My room make-over is almost complete, will post photos when its done.

In the meantime, I've been busy helping my sister with log cakes for christmas. My sister has an ice-cream store. Hence, I've been making ice-cream log cakes!

Its heaps of fun and intimidating at the same time. I don't have much experience with log cakes let alone an ice cream one. So, I opted for simple flavours and decorations. Here are the 3 recommended combinations but you can also custom make your own.

The first one has chocolate ice cream and Ferrero Rochers covered in chocolate ganache.



A classic and my favourite. This baby has coffee and vanilla ice cream, covered in dark chocolate ganache and sprinkled with almonds. Plus a saucy looking santa!



Last but not least a white snowy log cake filled with goodies. It has vanilla ice cream, a centre of fudgy chewy brownies, a chips ahoy base and lightly smothered with fresh whip cream and topped with m&m's.



If you are interested in ordering one for Christmas, they cost SGD$45 and weigh 1kg each. Look for them at Cold Rock Singapore.