STARBUCKS BANANA WALNUT BREAD

I am not the only one who has been puzzling over the difference between a banana bread and a banana cake. Even David Lebovitz is as perplexed as I am. Yes I have, in total, spent between 1800-2100 seconds over the past ten years trying to sort out the difference between the two. 

An American friend of mine had offered me a slice of "banana 'bread' " one morning. I studied it and it seemed to me, in all its look and texture, a banana cake. At the time I didn't give it much thought. A shrug was all the puzzle had got out of me. But since I started this blog the question has become more immediate and urgent. I feel stupid. I feel shallow. I feel I should know. 

But then I thought, surely, it cannot be as perplexing as confronting the fifth dimension of wormholes and parallel universes or, at the least, cataloging the properties of subatomic particles such as quarks and gluons. Then.... Why?...People?....Have I not found the answer? Help. Michio Kaku? Einstien?

And I have also just learnt...yes ...learnt.... that Rose Beranbaum has a recipe for banana bread in her book The Bread Bible. She used a plain white bread recipe, added some milk and a couple of bananas to it and called it Banana Bread. Now that makes complete sense no? Yes. 

Yes it makes so much sense that I can almost write an algebraic formula for it. Like...........Bread + Banana = Banana Bread. Check. A++

But Ho No.....banana bread to the rest of the universe is simply banana cake. Eat your banana bread up Rosie. You're alone.  

So here I am I am.....with a Banana Bread recipe called Starbucks Banana Walnut Cake .....oops...Bread.  

Okay...I'll admit ...it's little bit denser than my banana cake, firmer perhaps, cuts more neatly, is more domed and uses oil instead of butter (but hey...a carrot CAKE uses oil too) and it's got stuff on top of it but is just as sweet, moist and delicious. 

This . just .  cannot . be . for breakfast. I forbid it! Banana 'Bread' indeed! Hmmmph!

The recipe ~ adapted from food.com.

I tweaked it a little by adding the zest and juice of an orange and instead of bananas I had used plantains. Because that was what I had darkening in the refrigerator. 

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg

1 1/8 cup sugar  (you could reduce this to 1 cup)

1/2 cup vegetable oil 

2 T buttermilk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract (I omitted) and used instead the 

Zest of 1 orange and juice of half an orange

3 large ripe bananas or 1 cup mashed bananas

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Some rolled oat to top the cake with

Grease and flour a loaf tin measuring 9x5x3 inches. Pre heat oven to 350 F.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Keep aside.

Beat egg, sugar and oil in another bowl until pale and well combined. Add flour mixture to egg/oil mixture and mix well, adding buttermilk as you go along and then the mashed bananas. Add in teh 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts. Combine.

Pour batter into the prepared loaf tin. level out and scatter 1/3 chopped walnuts and then some rolled oats over the top.

Bake for 50 - 60 mintes or until skewer inserted in teh centre comes out clean. If the top gets too brown before its done tent it with a piece of foil.

PINEAPPLE POP TARTS

I wish this house was constructed of grilled meat, roast chicken, steamed red snappers, cemented with sambal belacan, furnished with rice and it's roof tiled with pop tarts. So that Starvers will be distracted while The Starvee photo shoots.

Pop tarts are what I made. And as a Malaysian, tarts only make sense when paired with pineapple jam. These........they were very good. The crust was crusty and buttery. And the jam.... it was obligingly sticky and subtly sweet. And the whole...it was out of this world. 

This just cannot be a breakfast food. I refuse to serve it for breakfast. I would probably refuse to share these next time too.

I checked out the recipe for the pop tart crust on Smitten Kitchen and then at Joy the Baker and realized that they were exactly the same. So the credits go to two of my favourite blogs.

Because I live in a green house it was very difficult to keep the dough cool and firm while rolling, filling and sealing it with jam. Constant refrigeration in between tasks was totally necessary. I made this in the evening when it was cooler. (Don't even think of working with this dough on a hot afternoon). I had also rolled out the dough between sheets of baking paper so that I could easily lift them on to a tray to chill in the refrigerator. It was worth it.

But I was not about to pause, evaporate, melt and take photos of the process. So do go here if you would like to see the step by steps. Photo-parantheses is for plants.

The recipe ~ Smitten Kitchen & Joy the Baker
  
Of course you could fill this with anything, ranging from Nutella, sugar and cinnamon, any jam, anything.

Crust

2 cups plain flour 

1 T sugar

1 tsp salt

1 cup butter, cut into cubes

1 large egg

2 T cold milk

1 extra egg for brushing

Whisk flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Work in cold butter using a pastry knife or your fingers until pea sized lumps of butter are still visible and mixture just holds together when squeezed.

Whisk egg and milk and pour into flour mixture mixing until cohesive and the dough comes together in a ball. Divide into two and chill in the refrigerator until firm ..maybe 20 -30 minutes.

Lay a largish sheet of baking paper on the table and roll out one half of the dough until it becomes a rectangle of about 9 x 12 inches and the dough sheet is about 1/8 inch thick. Cut the rectangle into 9 equal sized smaller rectangles. 

Brush the sheet with beaten egg and plop some jam on each rectangle. Place the jammed dough rectangles  into the refrigerator while you roll out the other dough.

Roll out the other dough half (also on baking paper) to the same size as the first dough and cut them up in exactly the same way. Keep aside.

Take out the jammed dough rectangles and place them next to the blank rectangles. Lift each small blank rectangle and place it over a jammed rectangle and press down the edges with a fork to crimp. Finish off the rest in the same way.

Bake in a preheated  oven at 350 for 25 - 30 minutes or until golden brown.

STRAWBWERRY BUTTERMILK CAKE ~ SMITTEN KITCHEN

I had a moment of alarm when I got up two mornings after I had made butter ~ and buttermilk. I had the need to make something out of it quickly. I knew the feeling of regret that would sink in if I finished the butter before it had a chance to be a part of something bigger.

So off I went in raid of Smitten Kitchen's kitchen in search of a buttermilk cake. And I found it ~ a  raspberry buttermilk or 'any fruit' cake. I decided to add a generous cup of ground almonds to Deb's recipe. I loved the way it turned out. 

Over the years I have come to learn to decipher recipes. I know a cake is moist by looking at the proportion of sugar in regards to the rest of the ingredients, particularly flour. The more sugar there is in the recipe the more moist the cake will be because as the cake bakes the sugar turns to syrup. Unfortunately that also leads to teeth rot.

Too much butter, on the other hand, makes the cake greasy (denser and heavier) rather than moist so that you swivel to reach for a napkin to wipe your oil slicked fingers and lips with (if your fork went missing).

So in my book ground nuts make the perfect medium for adding that extra moistness and richness to a cake without the threat of wincing sugary-ness or slick greasiness because the oils from the nuts remain in the nuts and does not seep completely into the cake making the cake softly moist, delightfully crumbly and airy, while the addition of an extra non-sweet ingredient cuts through the sugar to make the cake subtly sweet.

What I also liked about this recipe was that it required only one egg. It was just enough to hold the cake daintily together. 

In nine words ~This recipe goes into my Greedy Book of Cakes.

This simple recipe had also produced the kind of cake that I like the look of ~ a cake that requires no adornment because I can always pass it off as rustic, charmingly  rough-hewn and with amusing sink holes. The last, definitely a giggling point.

What a pity the strawberries turned pale as the cake baked. But the cake was deliciously moist. 

This is a cake I will make again and again. Next time with kalaedoscopic bits of tutti frutties on top. Along with a little prayer that they don't all sink in.

The recipe ~ adapted from Smitten Kitchen

This is supposed to be a very thin cake. The recipe called for a 9 inch pan. I used an 8 inch pan. 

1 cup (130 gm) all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup of ground almonds
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 stick (56 gm) butter, softened
2/3 cup (146 gm) plus 1 1/2 T sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest (optional) (I opted out)
1 large egg
1/2 cup well shaken buttermilk
1 cup fresh raspberries or any fruit ( I used strawberries)

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Whisk together sifted flour, baking powder, soda and salt in a bowl. Add the ground almonds and mix well. Keep aside. 

Beat softened butter and 2/3 cup of sugar until pale and creamy and light with an electric mixer. Add vanilla and egg and mix well.

At low speed mix in flour/almond mixture in 3 batches alternating with the buttermilk and ending with the flour. Spoon into cake pan and spread evenly. Arrange fruits on top as you like and sprinkle the 1 1/2 tablespoon of sugar over the top evenly.


Bake in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden brown or a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

CHOCOLATE CASHEW COOKIES AND A WINNER FOR THE PRINT GIVEAWAY

Thanks to the Foodbuzz community these cookies made the Top 9 on 30th August 2010. Happy Buzz Day.

Dreams are strange creatures. You close your eyes again in the hope of dreaming on. Because you want to know how it ends. Like a good movie. But it never does does it? The quest for the complete dream with a beginning, a middle and an end always eludes us. I guess chasing the dream is very much like chasing the 'best ever' cookie recipe. It's endless.

So in my quest, this is another new cookie recipe for the festive season. I will still bake the same old good old but there is always room for the new cookie recipe.  This time it is a chocolate cashew sugar cookie. I got the idea from here at Fake Food Free but made them from an adapted sugar cookie recipe.

It was chocolaty but I think it needed more cashews.  

The recipe ~

6 oz plain flour
2 oz cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
4 0z  butter
6 oz castor sugar
About 2-3 oz cashews or however much you like, chopped quite finely (I did not measure this)
1 egg 
1 tsp vanilla essence


Sift flour, cooca and baking powder into a bowl. Rub in butter until like fine breadcrumbs. Mix in sugar and as much cashews as you like (leaving some to roll the dough logs in afterwards), add beaten egg and mix until it forms a dough. B ring the dough together with your hands pressing gently until it comes together to form a firm ball of dough.


Roll dough into cylinders or logs in the size you prefer. Roll to coat the logs in crushed or chopped cashews. Chill in the refrigerator and when firm slice into thin rounds.


Bake at 190 C on greased baking trays for 10-12 minutes.

Aaaaaaanndd.................the winner of my Print Giveaway by Brochures Printing Online (by random.org) is........number 18 (I still can't figure out a way to copy and paste the winning number).


Chisum's Crew you're the winner :-)!!!

QUICK BREAKFAST NOODLES

Hi everyone! Here's a quick post of some breakfast noodles. It is simple and uses dried prawns as the main flavour base with added bean sprouts and chives for added flavour and texture.


And crushed bird's eye chillie fo a nice kick. Yum!

I made this on the same day that I made the hot sauce.


I used skinny noodles from a packet (horrors) but it did have a few NO'S on the packet.....like NO preservatives, NO MSG, No Colouring. I suppose that's as close to homemade as I can get. 

I'm out of steam, out of energy and out of time these past few days. I need to get working on those cookies. And I think I'm in  need of a plan just so I can carry out my plans.

 The recipe ~


This noodle dish is so simple yet so full of flavour and makes a nice filling breakfast, lunch, snack or even dinner.


2 squares of skinny noodles

6-7 pieces dried prawns, soaked in water for about 10 minutes
2 pips garlic
2 bird's eye chillies or a large chillie pepper
a handful of bean sprouts
a handful of chives
dark soy sauce
salt 
cooking oil


Blanch noodles in boiling water until it softens and is cooked through.It won't take long depending on the noodles that you are using.

Pound dried prawns, garlic and chillies in a pestle and mortar until fairly fine.

Heat a wok and pour in about 2 tablespoons of oil and then saute the pounded ingredients until fragrant and the paste looks a little golden at the edges. 

Throw in the noodles, bean sprouts and the chives and some soy sauce and the salt. Give it a stir to mix them all up well and evenly. You may add some water if it too dry. Serve with garlic ginger chillie hot sauce and a wedge of lime. Enjoy!

I am submitting this to Muhibbah Malaysian Monday hosted by Shaz of Test with Skewer and 3 hungry tummies.

DULCE DE LECHE MALTESERS ICE CREAM SLICES and a CSN GIVEAWAY!!

Thank you all for entering this CSN giveaway. I am very happy and overwhelmed by the response.... This giveaway is now closed and I will announce the winner in my coming post. I'm working on it right now. :) ~ 31st  July 2010

The promotion team at CSN Stores had contacted me saying that I have been selected as their preferred blogger. I was thrilled because it means another wonderful giveaway for my readers. This time it's a $50 gift certificate which allows you to purchase anything you like from CSN Stores. It also means regular giveaways at Cherryonacake in the future!

CSN is based in Boston, USA. It has been in operation for more than 5 years and was recently named to the HOT 100 List of online retailers for 2009. It has 200+ shopping sites with a numerous variety of products and has grown into a Top 3 online US retailer of home and office goods. It has also opened its online stores in Canada, the UK and Germany as well.

The kitchen and dining room have always made up a large part of my life. Can you tell? So when CSN told me about their dining rooms I went on a haunt immediately. Oy! I thought I had died and gone to CSN heaven. 

You wouldn't believe what I saw. This Linon Admore 3 piece white pine corner Breakfast Nook would change my life. I would repent. I would live an exemplary morning life. I would not be the sleepy grouchy morning head anymore. I'll actually be alive. I promise. 

If I had a Riverside Furniture Medley 7 piece Rectangular Dining Room Set I'd give it a hug every hour on the hour... Nom Nom Huggy Hug...

In fact I'll have so many hugs to giveaway I'd love this Home Styles Retro Soda shoppe 5 piece dinette. It's too cute not to hug. So Travolta.

I need racks. We need racks. We need an SEI Iron and Wicker Storage Baker's Rack because I'm a baker. 

 Oh honey! Did I tell you that I needed a Hillsdale Wilshire Black Sideboard Table...I do. Blink.

Oy! What's this?! I want a Butler Vintage Oak Chair Side Curio too. For my what-nots.

I know Seraphina the Fairy would love this Kathy Ireland Area Rug. Because it's like a little garden within.

I have just fallen in love with Bahama Blue. So it only makes sense that I want a Papila Design Sideboard in Bahama Blue ~

Be still my heart.....We need cash. Or a gift certificate...to start the ball rolling. So all of you lucky people in US and Canada only.....

If you would like to try for the giveaway just leave a comment and tell me what you would really like to get from CSN Stores if you won the $50 gift certificate.

If you would like to try for more entries tweet, facebook or blog about this giveaway. For each activity that you do leave a comment and the link. The choice is yours.

I'll keep this giveaway open for 10 days. I 'll pick the winner randomly. (I wish I could figure out how to use that random number picker. If anyone has an idea please let me know). I'll announce the winner on the 31st of July.

So my US and Canadian friends do leave a comment....


While I sit in a corner and suck my thumb dulce de leche maltesers ice cream slices....

Dulce de leche has been a big part of our lives since we met her. I've made 3 cans since. Bad. But this time I'm using it to make ice cream. Good.

This Ice cream slice is an Oz thing. So says Clare of Mrs. Multitasker. That was where I found it ~ On her lovely blog.


I had sandwiched the ice cream in between 2 slices of Ikea's Pepparkakor Cappuccino. Then Dulce de leche,  Maltesers and Cappuccino, they became the 3 great companions in these cool creamy slices of heaven.

This is an ice cream made originally from whipped cream and condensed milk straight from the can. Now we know why it's so good.

  
Here's the recipe ~ adapted from Mrs. Multitasker
600 ml heavy/thickened cream
1 can (395 gm) dulce de leche
1 large packet of Maltesers, crushed
1 packet of Ikea's Pepparkakor Cappuccino or any cookie

Grease a shallow 15 x 10 rectangular pan with butter.

Whip the cream using an electric mixer on high speed until it thickens and falls from the whisk in a thick clump. 


If your dulce de leche is very thick as mine was thin it down with a little of the extra cream first until it becomes soft, smooth and is the consistency of condensed milk. But make sure it is not too runny.


Fold in the dulce de leche and the crushed maltesers into the whipped cream until everyhting is evenly mixed. Pour into the greased pan and freeze.


When the ice cream has frozen use a cookie cutter the same size as the cookies you're using and cut out circles or squares and sandwich them in between two cookies.  Serve cold immediately.

STRAWBERRY MANGO SNOW CONE ~ TYLER FLORENCE'S

Did you know that you could shave ice in a blender? You did? In an ice kacang, snow ball kind of way I mean. You did? Well I didn't. I never thought of shaving just plain ice cubes in a blender and making a snow cone. Nope. Never. But Tyler Florence did and I  am so pleased.

But I have to tell you that I was nervous making these. Not because they were difficult to do. They were the easiest things to make imaginable. No cooking was involved. Just some blitzing in the blender and the whole process was over.

But what was nerve wrecking was the thought of photographing food that has the potential to melt right before your very eyes. So I was working against time or rather against thawing and these were what I took. Melting snow cones.

But they are pretty and Tyler Florencehas such pretty ideas. And not an ounce of fat in it. Don't you just love him? Although I would have added a little honey in it because the strawberries and the mango were not quite sweet enough.  But it makes a great tropical and summery treat. Cool and so refreshing. And so easy. Guiltless indulgence these snow cones are. Oh yes. On a hot tropical day this is your answer to thirst.

The recipe ~ Adapted wholly from Tyler Florence


2 mangoes, peeled and chopped
1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 lime juice
8 cups ice cubes
mint leaves for garnish
lime slices or wedges for garnish


Puree mangoes and strawberries with the lime juice in a blender until fine and pureed. Pour int  a jug and keep in the refrigerator.


Crush ice cubes in a blender until very fine like snow. Put  a pile of snow into bowls or cups and pour the fruit puree on top until no more white ice can be seen. Serve immediately. :)

CHERRY CUPCAKE FINANCIERS

Awww....these little Cherry Financiers made the Top 9  on Foodbuzz ~ 11th July ~ Happy Buzzday! Thank you to the Foodbuzz community :)

I would never have attempted these cakes because I never did like the flavour of almonds. I also imagined that for a cake to be called financier it couldn't be a good thing and because I believed madeleine-like cakes to be simply dry sponge cakes. 

So I was glad when Sarah-Jane of siliconeMoulds.com had posted some financiers on her lovely blog and made them look anything but dry, financial or mercenary. Now I know how delicious these little cakes are.

They were literally bursting over the top, each with a big, juicy, red cherry that looked like it was trying to burrow its way in but failing quite miserably because it was simply too fat. And too cute.

And true to what Sarah-Jane had said....these were simply, simply delicious. Very moist because of the double proportion of ground almonds to flour, the browned butter gave it a beautiful nutty flavour, it also had not the almondy flavour that was not to my liking and of course, for me, the big fat adorable juicy cherry just topped it all. 


And a little history before the recipe : According to Wikipedia they are believed to be called financiers because they became popular in the financial district of Paris around the Paris stock exchange. They were originally believed to be baked in small rectangular moulds thus resembling gold ingots which could be another reason they were called financiers.

The Recipe ~ adapted wholly from Sarah-Jane of SiliconeMoulds.com

I had doubled the recipe below because I baked them in normal  sized cupcake cases. I got 6 lovely bursting with cherry financiers. 

70 gm ground almonds

105 gm icing sugar

35 gm plain flour

92 gm butter ( I used salted)

92 gm egg whites ( I used 3 eggs)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

6 fresh whole cherries with stems attached

Preheat the oven to 200 C

Brown the butter to a nut brown.

Sift all dry ingredients into a medium bowl and mix well. (I used an electric mixer). Add in the egg whites and mix until evenly blended. Add the hot browned butter and mix it in quickly until the mixture is well mixed.

Pour into prepared cupcake cases almost right to the top. ( I had a space of about 1/8 of an inch between the edge of the rim and the top of the batter). Then top with a whole cherry on each with its stem attached.

Put in the oven and bake at 200 C for 10 minutes after which I reduced the temperature to 180 C and baked for about another 15-20 minutes until the cakes were risen, golden brown and cooked firmly in the centre. Test with a toothpick. If it comes out clean without anything gooey attached its done. 

(You may tent the cakes with a piece of foil if it gets brown too quickly while the centre is not cooked yet).

MUNG BEAN FRITTERS ~ KUIH KASTURI

 
Afternoon tea is history. It went out of fashion some 30 odd years ago. What a pity because that is, to me, the most fun meal. It is a dessert meal or a snack meal. It was a sit down meal. It was either cakes, fritters or simple fried noodles. Nowadays it's packaged biscuits ~ Khong Guan cream crackers, Marie Biscuits ~ all dunked in hot milk tea or Milo or commercial buns from the nearest bakery eaten 'on the go'.. No one has the time to sit down as a family to enjoy afternoon tea anymore. No family is smiling and conversing at 4 o'clock anymore.

I doubt my children have any idea that afternoon tea was an actual sit down family meal. Yes I'm guilty of it's extinction too. But I'm not alone. Tuition got in the way. Traffic got in the way. Malls got in the way. Businesses got in the way. TV got in the way. Why, afternoon tea got in the way of the British too. Life had to go on. And so it did.


It's no wonder that our tea time kuih(s) have become an all day long snack food. Tea time has disappeared. But not the hunger for the various kuih though. Besides, men get up to feed at midnight. Old fashioned mung bean fritters fill that new hunger. I don't recall my dad or brother being up at midnight hunting for food. But of course World Cup Football was never shown Live either. These bean fritters are one of H's favourite kuih. They are delicious warm.

The Recipe ~


300 gm green mung beans
1/2 dark brown sugar or granulated palm sugar
3 or 4 or  T plain flour
pinch of salt
water


Batter :


1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup rice flour
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
enough ice cold water


Place mung beans in a fairly deep pot. Cover with water completely, the water level about an inch and a half above the surface of the mung beans. Bring to a boil and then lower flame to simmer. Cook until the beans are tender, have broken up and until the beans have absorbed all the liquid leaving only a mush of beans in the pot (very much like cooking rice by absorption). Watch the pot carefully towards the end so that it doesn't burn. Transfer the mush onto a flat plate to cool it down completely.*

When the boiled beans have cooled down completely transfer to a medium bowl and add sugar, flour and a pinch of salt. Adjust for sweetness if you like it sweeter. Mix thoroughly until it becomes pasty and then shape into patties about 2 inches in diameter.


Batter :


Mix all dry ingredients together. Add cold water slowly and stop until you have achieved a nice coating batter.


Heat up a pot of oil until hot. Dip the bean patties in the batter  one by one and fry until a light golden brown and crispy. Serve warm or at room temperature. Enjoy.

* It's important that the cooked beans cool down completely so that when the sugar is added it will not melt and make the bean mixture too soft and sticky to handle. Some recipes call for grated coconut instead of flour to firm up the mixture enough to handle and to taste. I didn't have any.

MARTHA STEWART'S CREAM CHEESE POUND CAKE

I've made a lot of mistakes in my life and this is one of them. I over beat and over baked this pound cake and Martha Stewart would not have been pleased.

Look at that fissure. I do wonder if it was supposed to be like that. Look at those sugar spots. Look at those holes. Yes I'm guilty.

But at least I've used up the cream cheese that I've had in my fridge since forever. This recipe used no baking powder. So it was heavy and dense but it had a lightness and moistness to it when sliced. Six eggs must have done that. It cuts very well. Very few at home got excited. But many reviewers raved over this. So it must be me.


I'm not too happy with the photographs either so I'm not saying much. 


Click here for the recipe ~ Yes .....I'm so unexcited and feel so guilty that I don't even have the desire to type out the recipe.

BUT it's almost gone though. H liked it ^o^. Phew! I've been acquitted. *Taking off the leg irons*