Bananas - the older the better for these desserts
Bananas are delicious in cooked dishes as well as for their treasured taste and texture in desserts.
Bananas are the most popular fruit in America. Some might assume it is nature’s convenient, easy-to-peel packaging that makes bananas so wellliked. But that is only part of their charm. The smooth texture and floral fragrance pair with an alluring balance of sweet and acidic flavors to make them irresistible on all counts.
There are more than 300 banana varieties, and several have become commonplace in many supermarkets. In addition to the common Cavendish type, large produce sections often stock exotic red bananas, with their inviting, bronze-tinged maroon skin; petite finger bananas with “digits” about 4 inches long; and slightly larger manzano bananas, named for their subtle apple-like flavor.
Generally, we think of bananas as a grab-and-go treat, eaten raw out of hand. Or incorporated into fruit salads and shakes or layered into peanut butter sandwiches. But they are delicious in cooked dishes as well, piping hot in spicy recipes such as curries or fried rice.
It’s their treasured taste and texture in desserts that are the focus here.
Easy Banana Nut Chocolate Cake
My husband loves to eat a wedge of this delicious banana cake as a breakfast treat with his morning coffee. It is delicious as a dessert as well, accompanied with ice cream or sweetened whipped cream. I love to make layer cakes filled with sliced bananas and whipped cream, but this is so much easier, and just as delicious. The original recipe called for a coarsely chopped, 3 1⁄2- to 4-ounce bittersweet chocolate bar. I use semisweet chocolate chips instead to speed up the process without sacrificing flavor or appearance.
Yield: 8 servings
INGREDIENTS
Butter for greasing pan
2 1⁄4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1stick unsalted butter, softened, plus 2 tablespoons, melted and cooled
1 cup sugar, divided use
2 large eggs
11⁄4 cups mashed, very ripe bananas (about 3medium)
2⁄3 cup plain whole-milk yogurt (not Greek style) 1teaspoon pure vanilla extract 3⁄4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1cup walnuts (3ounces), toasted, cooled and coarsely chopped, see cook’s notes
1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cook’s notes: To toast nuts, place in single layer on rimmed baking sheet in 350-degree oven for about 6minutes, or until very lightly browned. Keep an eye on them because nuts burn easily; they may require less time or more time.
PROCEDURE
1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees with rack in middle. Generously butter a 9-inch square cake pan. 2: Stir together flour, baking soda and salt.
3: In separate large bowl of electric mixer, beat together softened butter (1 stick) and 3⁄4 cup sugar at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2minutes. Beat in eggs 1 at a time until blended. Add bananas, yogurt and vanilla; beat until blended (mixture will look curdled).
4: With mixer at low speed, add flour mixture and mix until just incorporated.
5: In medium-small bowl, toss together chocolate, nuts, cinnamon, melted 2tablespoons butter and remaining 1⁄4 cup sugar. Spread half of banana batter in cake pan and sprinkle with half of chocolate mixture. Spread remaining batter evenly over filling (I drop it in scoopfuls in single layer and then smooth it out with a spatula) and sprinkle remaining chocolate mixture on top.
6: Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 35-40 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a cooling rack 30 minutes. It is easier to cut if you turn it out of the pan — the choice is yours. If you want to turn it out, invert on cooling rack — it may take a gentle tap to make it release. Then, immediately invert onto second cooling rack to turn it right side up to cool thoroughly. Cake can be made 2 days ahead and kept in an airtight container at room temperature.
Source: Adapted from epicurious.com
Black-Bottom Banana Cream Pie
I wrote about this scrumptious banana pie early last year but am doing a repeat here because I adore it and think that I shouldn’t write about the banana dessert topic without including it. It requires some time to prepare because there are a lot of chilling times required here and there. The filling layers are scrumptious. Half of the custard filling is combined with chocolate; the other half is spiked with rum. Layer the chocolate custard into a frozen, made-fromshortbread-cookies pie shell, and then slice the bananas on top, letting the slices fall into the pie as evenly as possible. After chilling, top with vanilla-rum custard and whipped cream. If you’re in the mood, garnish with some shards of dark chocolate made by running a vegetable peeler on a block of dark chocolate. Mmmmm.
Yield: 8 servings
INGREDIENTS
2boxes (5.3ounces each) allbutter shortbread, such as Walkers Shortbread, broken
1⁄4 teaspoon salt, divided use 5tablespoons unsalted butter, 3 tablespoons melted, 2 tablespoons cold, divided use
3ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces, see cook’s notes
2 cups whole milk
1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
1⁄4 cup cornstarch
4 large egg yolks
Optional: 1 tablespoon rum 1cup chilled heavy whipping cream, divided use 1teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large ripe bananas, peeled
1 1⁄2 tablespoons powdered sugar Cook’s notes: I use Trader Joe’s Pound Plus Dark Belgian Chocolate
PROCEDURE
1: Place shortbread and salt in a food processor. Process in long pulses until finely ground and beginning to stick to the sides. Add melted butter and pulse just until incorporated. Transfer to a 9-inch pie pan; press evenly onto bottom and sides of pan. Place in freezer. 2. Prepare custard: Place 2 ounces chocolate in a small bowl; set aside. In heavy saucepan, whisk milk, sugar, cornstarch and remaining salt. Whisk in yolks; place on medium-high heat, whisking constantly, just until mixture boils and is very thick, about 4-5minutes. Remove from heat. Measure out 1⁄2 cup of the hot custard and add to the bowl of chocolate; let sit for a minute and stir to melt chocolate. Meanwhile, whisk 2tablespoons cold butter into the custard in the saucepan; stir in rum (if using) and transfer custard to a heatproof bowl. Refrigerate until chilled, stirring occasionally, about 2 hours.
3: Meanwhile, stir the chocolate custard, then stir in 1tablespoon cream and vanilla. Remove pie shell from freezer and spread the chocolate mixture across the bottom. Refrigerate to firm up.
4: Working over the pie shell, cut the bananas into 1⁄4-inch thick slices, letting them fall to cover the bottom. Spoon the chilled custard over bananas and smooth the top. Refrigerate for 2 hours to set. 5: Whip remaining cream with powdered sugar until medium to stiff peaks form, about 1minute. Spread on top of the custard and refrigerate at least 20minutes or until serving time. Pie can be prepared to this point 6 hours before serving stored in the refrigerator. 6: If you like, just before serving, using a vegetable peeler, shave remaining 1 ounce chocolate and sprinkle on top of pie.
Source: Adapted from rachelraymag. com and Mary Mannone
No-Added-Sugar Banana ‘Ice Cream’
Made using frozen, very ripe bananas, this reduced-sugar “ice cream” dessert takes advantage of the fruit’s high pectin content. The pectin helps make the dessert creamy when frozen. The natural sweetness of the ripe fruit means no sugar needs to be added, just 1⁄2 cup of heavy cream to add flavor and promote a silky texture. Plus some vanilla, lemon juice, salt and cinnamon. Voila!
Yield: 8 servings
INGREDIENTS
6very ripe bananas
1⁄2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1⁄4 teaspoon ground cinnamon PROCEDURE
1: Peel bananas and place in large, zipper-style bag. Press out excess air and seal. Freeze bananas until solid, at least 8hours.
2: Let bananas sit at room temperature to soften slightly, about 15minutes. Slice into 1⁄2-inch thick rounds and place in food processor. Add cream, vanilla, lemon juice, salt and cinnamon; process until smooth, about 5minutes. As they process there will probably be logjams of slices that form, sometimes making raggedy balls above the blade. Stop the processor and using a silicone spatula, press the wayward slices down by the blade and start processor again.
3: Transfer mixture into airtight container. Seal and freeze until firm, at least 2hours or up to 5 days.
Source: Adapted from americastestkitchen.com
Have a cooking question? Contact Cathy Thomas at cathythomascooks@gmail.com
CHESTER, PA. >> President Joe Biden turned up at a minority-owned flooring business in suburban Philadelphia on Tuesday to highlight how his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package can help small businesses and to put a face on those who have struggled throughout the pandemic.
The visit to Smith Flooring, Inc. was Biden’s first stop in a cross-country administration roadshow — also involving his vice president and his wife — designed to publicize, and take credit for, the virus relief package.
It “took some loud, strong voices to get this done,” Biden said, making a subtle dig at Republicans during his visit to the small union shop that will benefit from the relief. “And it’s not like it passed with 100 votes. It was close.”
While Biden was in Pennsylvania for his first stop on the “Help is Here” tour, Vice President Kamala Harris and husband Doug Emhoff were reinforcing the small business theme Tuesday with stops in Colorado.
With Harris and Emhoff taking notes during a business roundtable in Denver, Lorena Cantarovici, who began making empanadas in her garage after emigrating from Argentina, told of how her small shop grew over the years into three Maria Empanada locations but then was forced to lay off workers when the coronavirus struck.
She said 80% of her team came back through previous relief programs but it could take two
The visit to Smith Flooring, Inc. was Biden’s first stop in a crosscountry administration roadshow — also involving his vice president and his wife — designed to publicize, and take credit for, the virus relief package.
years to get back to full capacity and “recover all this loss.” Harris and Emhoff did their part by departing with empanadas in tow.
Gabriela Salazar, whose Colorado Artisans represents more than 100 artisans in Denver, estimated more than 90% of those artisans are unemployed or collecting unemployment. Salazar, a small business owner for 30 years, told Harris that help from the Small Business Administration has “kept me afloat but more is needed.”
In Pennsylvania, meanwhile, Smith Flooring had 23 employees during peak times but currently is employing 12 workers. It is using the loan to help retain workers and upgrade technology. Borrowers are eligible for forgiveness if they meet certain requirements, including devoting at least 60% of the proceeds to payroll expenses.
In his chat with the owners of Smith Floors, Biden repeatedly asked “what else” they thought his administration should be doing to help businesses like theirs.
In Washington, the Senate confirmed Isabel Guzman, Biden’s pick to lead the Small Business Administration on Tuesday. She is expected to play a key role in implementing the relief bill.
Biden is trying to showcase how the aid package will bring transformational
change to the nation by halving child poverty, fueling record levels of hiring and pumping money to parents, schools and state and local governments. It’s a sharp turn from the start of the Biden administration, when vaccination goals were relatively modest and Americans were warned the country might not return to normal until Christmas.
The Biden administration estimates that 400,000 small businesses have closed because of the pandemic and millions more are barely surviving. His aid package includes a $28 billion grant program to support restaurants and drinking establishments. It also includes $15 billion in flexible grants.
The visit to Smith Flooring
was meant to drive home that point. The business saw revenue fall about 20% during the pandemic. It recently qualified for a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan during a two-week window in which the Biden administration focused the program exclusively on helping businesses with 20 or fewer employees.
Harris also held a virtual chat with the operators of a Fort Lupton, Colorado, vaccine clinic.
The second day of the vice president’s tour to publicize the virus relief was disrupted because of a mechanical issue with the government plane that flew the vice president to Las Vegas and Los Angeles on Monday. A smaller backup plane was sent to fly her to Denver, relegating
most of her staff, Secret Service and a small group of reporters to fly on a cavernous cargo plane.
Because of the plane issue, Harris scratched her plan for her visit to the vaccine clinic, Plan De Salud Del Valle Inc., and instead spoke with the clinic’s staff over Zoom. She praised their work, making particular note of the clinic’s focus on helping minority communities get vaccinated.
“The President and I from the beginning of this have made it one of our highest priorities to make sure that we are taking into account racial disparities, and that we supply folks on the ground with the resources you need so that we have equitable outcomes,” she said.