Banana Bread

image courtesy of keepitsweetblog.com

I have always been fond of banana bread, but have always been under the impression of its more of a cake than bread. It has often raised discussion (sometimes heated) amongst the catering community. In retrospect all cakes are a form of bread, and such ill have to go along with it. The smell of banana bread when cooking / cooling has been known to drive people to distraction - and i used to use this to my advantage. I would have a small amount prepared to cool down in the restaurant and bar area, and people would buy it in droves. Heres the recipe i used to use, i promise that you will love it. Its food that will make you smile, again and again.

You will need:

1 Loaf tin greased and lined with silicone

250gk of self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of bicard of soda
100g of butter softened
18g caster sugar
2 eggs
250g kilo of banana, peeled and crushed
Demerara sugar

The doing bit:

Sieve flour, bicarb and baking powder

Cream together butter and sugar until white

Add the eggs one by one and with each egg add a little flour

Add the banana

Fold in the flour mix

Place in the loaf tin, sprinkle the top with Demerara sugar


Bake in a moderate oven (about 180C) until when pierced with a inkef, the blade comes out clean.

Allow to cool and devour. Its a rather beautiful thing warm.

Classic Plum Tart

Before and after glazing

This recipe is one I've been thinking about doing for a while - although my thoughts had oriented around a plum and rosemary tart, this is one that i think could be adapted to incorporate such an animal. That said, praise be to this dessert anyway as its startlingly good on its own, full of late autumn and winter promise.  With the added boon of finding some reduced plums in the supermarket yesterday, I am more than happy that this is an omen of good things.

No road to wonderfulness is easy however, and this recipe does take a bit of time. That said, it is more than well  worth the wait (and the weight, he chuckles). You wont be disappointed.


500g of sweet pastry
800g of plums halved and stones removed
A little icing sugar
2 tablespoons of apricot jam
1 tablespoon of brandy
Creme patisserie (see below)

Crème patissiere

2 egg yolks
60g caster sugar
40g of Corn flour
350ml of milk
1 vanilla pod split and scraped

Method

Blind bake the pastry case, and dry out (you can cheat and buy one, i wont tell)

Cream together the egg yolks and sugar then work in the corn flour

Bring milk and vanilla pod to the boil then allow to cool slightly

Pour the milk onto the eggs and whisk (using a bain marie)

Rinse out the pan return the custard to the heat and cook out gently stir all the time do not over cook and scramble, do not allow the mix to stick and burn

Spread crème patissiere onto the flan case

Roast the plum halves cup side upper most, sprinkle with icing sugar cook for 20 minutes

Arrange the plums on the tart

Heat up the apricot jam and brandy and glaze the plums