Banana Bread out of nowhere

2 bananas and a half, that's what was left after my sister in law came !

Ripe and black, I don't like bananas, but I still wanted to bake a banana bread.

In fact, a week before I had tried a recipe from a blog I like but it was a huge deception,

it happens and it won't stop me from picking more recipes from her blog !

Most of all, I don't like bananas, so I changed the recipe to adapt it to my taste.

I've went through a lot of different recipes. But with the basics, 

I made a version just for me and my strange taste in bananas.

It's a healthy one, and the result is exactly as I expected : soft, light, flavoured and healthy !

  Preparation    I was confident in my abilities, once you've missed the first one, the second one 

can't go much worse, right ? Really easy to make, don't overfill your pan and prefer a slow cooking 

to a fast one.

  Tasting    I really loved it, between the carrot bread and the healthy bread, this one is my favorite ! 

Still, I don't like ripe bananas and their smell !

  To conclude    I've bought more bananas, I'll add some zests, yogurt, bananas, chocolate ? 

Well I'll try other ones as soon as I find the time !

- drawing in the car, sorry for the shaking ! -

For 2 medium cakes, or one big pan

   You will need :   

3/4 lb of bananas (ripe)

- 3 medium or 2 big ones -

3.5oz whole wheat flour (100gr)
- little less than 1 cup -

5,3oz white flour (150gr)
 - 1 cup and 2tbsp -

1,5tbsp unsweetened cocoa

1/2tsp baking powder

1/2tsp baking soda

2 eggs

 2oz/60gr lowfat yogurt

1/4 cup +1tbsp orange juice (2.4fl.oz)

3 tbsp rhum-

1tsp vanilla extract

2,5tbsp blond sugar 

Preheat oven at 450°F

Chop bananas without miwing them too much, addd in rhum and vanilla.

Set aside.

\\ Don't use a blender, it's better with some pieces of bananas ! :) //

Whisk flours and powders with cocoa. Set aside.

\\ I pass it in a strainer to avoid balls of baking powder //

Whisk eggs and sugar until foamy

- 1 or 2 minutes -

Stir in orange juice and yogurt(image 1)

Stir in the banana mix (image 2)

Pour the flour little by little, stir until smooth but don't knead it too much.

Pour it in your buttered and floured pan.

Fill it by half

Pur in the oven, change the temperature to 350°F and bake for 50 minutes or so.

Turn of, and let it dry a bit in opened-oven 20 minutes.

Turn out when it's at room temperature.

To serve for breakfast or teatime, with milk honey, butter or just as it is !

Tweeter

Le Far Breton : Pitted prunes batter cake

The "Far breton" is a famous cake from Brittany, France. Some versions have Rhum or Kirsch.

Vanilla flavoured, it looks ands tastes like a French Flan (Custard Tart) 

though a bit heavier and dense, BUT it's so easy and quick to make, that we don't really care :)

This recipe has been perfected along the years by a family from brittany :

my step-brother's mother kindly shared it with me, thank you Yvonne !

  Preparation    Hard to do easier than that ;) Cooking time can change depending on your oven. 

I used a glass-pan (Pyrex) and it was longer than expected. 

I have added more prunes than I was supposed to, for a perfect dose of fruits :)

  Tasting    It has to be eaten fresh and cool, so you'll have to wait a bit before tasting it ;) 

According to me, proportions seem perfect. I've seen others on websites with more sugar or flour. 

This one was delicious. It was not as heavy as I remembered some bought in stores !

  To conclude    It took us a few days to finish the pan, there is only 2 of us :) But we both liked it.

Serves 8

   You will need :   

1cup 3/4 flour (7oz/200gr)

1cup white sugar (7oz/200gr)

4 eggs

4 cups hot milk (34 fl.oz/1L)

12 to 15 pitted prunes

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven at 350°F (180°C) with the buttered pan inside.

Hot milk

Heat the milk with the vanilla in a medium saucepan. (it must not boil)

Main batter

In a large bowl, mix sugar with flour. Add in the eggs one by one until homogeneous.

Pour the milk

When the milk is steaming but not boiling, pour it slowly on the previous mix, 

stir by hand with a wooden spoon. 

\\ Take your time, don't pour it at once or you will completely miss the recipe //

Pouring

Take the warm pan out of the oven, place the pitted prunes in it 2 inches apart.

Add more or remove some depending on the size of your mold.

Pour slowly the batter on them, really slowly or the prunes will move.

Baking

Bake 1h or so, turn off the oven and let it bake 15 more minutes.

Mine took 1h15 to bake completely. (+15minutes in the oven)

- If you use a stone-pan it can be quicker -

The top must be golden

Mine had a strange shape when out of the oven :D

I should have turned it front to back at halftime-baking... do so !

Let it cool down at room temperature, then cover with a plastic film and reserve in the fridge.

Eat after at least 4 hours in the fridge !

Vanilla rice pudding - Creamy rice

Another classic recipe !

I followed Françoise Bernard's advice but I made my own mix of ingredients !

As a result, it's really creamy, sweet and tasty rice pudding, 

especially with a spoon of quince jam on the top :)

Serves 6

   You will need :   

7oz. / 200gr pearl rice, arborio rice

- I used the same rice as for sushis -

3 2/3 cups fresh milk (30.4 fl.oz/90cL)

3tsp vanilla extract or a vanilla bean grated

1/3 cup + 2tbsp white sugar (2.5 oz/70gr)

1tbsp of butter

To serve

Jam from a citrus fruit :)

Precook the rice

Rinse the rice until water is clear

Bring to a boil in a saucepan full of water with 1 pinch of salt.

Let it boil 5 minutes, turn the stove off and drain the rice.

Preparing the rice pudding

Pour in a wet saucepan the milk, the vanilla, the sugar and the drained rice.

Cover and let it cook at low heat until almost totally absorbed by the rice.

It takes 40 minutes or so. Stirr a few times while cooking.

After 40 minutes, turn the stove off, stirr in the sugar and the butter.

Pour in ramequins or any dish you prefer, cover with a plastic film.

Refrigerate 2 hours before serving

- well, try to refrigerate :) -

Serve when cooled, nature or wih a jam, a syrup... etc.

The French Flan - Custard Tart

A Home-made flan like in french bakery shops. A touch of vanilla, it's a really fresh dessert.

That's the first flan I have ever made, and I really think it was perfect... not too heavy, 

not too much flour, great colour and shape... this recipe convinced me !

I've looked in many books and magazines, finally it's Sébastien Gaudard's rcipe that I've chosen, 

But I followed others advices and tips (Françoise Bernard's) and I've added vanilla.

The book it comes from : "Le meilleur des desserts"/"The best of desserts" lacks of details...

Honestly, if you follow it word by word, you won't succeed....

Well, I already knew the tricks so I haven't had any problems, here is the detail recipe :)

Enjoy that delicious flan !

  Preparation   There is a few tricks but I explain everything carefully in the recipe

  Tasting    Amazingly good, at least as good as in the french pastry shops !

  To conclude    I'm not looking further for a flan recipe right now, I'm happy with this one :)

For a 9inch mold

For 8 people

   Il vous faut :   

1 cookie dough, vanilla flavoured

3 cups + 3tbsp of milk (75cL)

4 eggs

3/4 cup of granulated sugar

3,5tbsp of Maïzena (2.1oz)

- cornstarch -

1 vanilla bean, grated

1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

Turn the oven on at 320°F

Making the dough

Follow the recipe of pâte brisée

Add in 1 tsp of vanilla extract with the water

Place some parchement paper in your pie-mold so you can unmold it easily afterwards.

Flatten you dough (2mm) place it in your mold, pressing gently on the edges.

Use a rolling pin to remove the excess

- roll toward the exterior of the mold -

Create an alluminium circle so the dough won't go down. 

Do that only if the edges are vertical like mines.

Put in the oven 15 minutes

Set aside at room temperature.

Put the oven on at 375°F

Prepare the vanilla bean

Open he bean in half, remove the seeds and set them aside for another recipe.

Doing the pastry cream

Bring the milk to a boil with 1tbsp from the sugar in a saucepan

- putting sugar avoids milk burning/sticking on the sides -

In the meanwhile, whisk the eggs with what's left of sugar. Stirr in the maizena until homogeneous.

- that's quick -

When the milk simmers, put in the vanilla bean and pour the half of it on the previous batter, whisking !

Whisk for 15seconds and put it all back in the saucepan at medium heat, whisk well.

Leave it 2 to 3 more minutes, whisking continuously especially in the corners of the sauce pan !

It will thicken quickly. Remove from the stove and pour in a bowl. 

You have made a french pastry cream :)

Remove the vanilla beam, and beat with an electric beater 1 minute at low speed.

Pour the cream in the mold, flatten the top.

Put in the oven 45 to 50 minutes in the middle of the oven until real golden on the top.

 

- it's alive ! -

- After cooling down, it flattens and creates a thin layer of dough :) -

Let it cool down at room temperature, 

then refrigerate at least 3 hours

Serve cold !

Marbled cake

I've done all the recipes from Vovoi's book, at least, those working :) I'm back in my cookbooks !

"Exquises pâtisseries pour les Fêtes" de Christophe Felder, 

Choice was rather hard, because all the recipes seem delicious... My first pick is the marbled cake chocolate & vanilla.

I've done this one for a few years now, it must figure on my blog.

To be sure I haven't changed anything in the recipe since I've been using it, I've checked everything one more time. I hadn't changed a thing !

As good as usual, I can eat humongous piece of it !

- Creamcheese and chocolate icing -

For 1 big cake, or 2 middle sized cake (8inch by 4)

  You will need :   

for the batter

2 eggs

2cup and 1tbsp of flour (9.7 oz / 275gr)

6.1 oz of unsalted, softened butter (16tbsp / 175gr)

- sout of the fridge 1hour in advance -

1 cup 1/2 granulated sugar (13.2 oz / 375gr )

8.5 fl.oz  half & half (25cL)

1tsp of baking powder (0.2 oz/5gr)

3/4tsp  salt

flavours

4tsp unsweetened cocoa (0.9oz/25gr) de cacao amer en poudre

1tbsp vanilla extract

Turn your oven on at 375°C

In his recipe, Christophe Felder says to mix everything in a robot with a tool for working dough...

I don't have any, so here is what I've done :

Stir by hand, with a wooden spoon doing fluid but quick moves, rising the dough. the butter with sugar and salt to have a creamy batter

Add the eggs and stir until homogeneous

Finally stir in the flour with the baking powder

You have a soft and homogeneous batter

Divide it in two equal halves, in the first one, whisk in the cocoa.

In the other one, whisk in the vanilla

Use a whisk or a spatula by doing quick moves : cut and rise the batterMélangez au fouet ou par mouvement rapide en coupant/soulevant avec une spatule

Butter and flour your cakepan

- Christophe Felder says to spread melted butter on it and cover them with a parchment paper -

Start by pouring a thin layer with the cocoa batter (1/2inch) Do the same with the vanilla one etc...

Don't go further than 2/3 of your cakepan, it will rise a lot during baking :)

Bake it 40 minutes, without opening the oven. Depending on your cakepan, it often goes to 50 minutes.

Check the cooking by inserting a pick or a clean smooth knife in the center, 

if it comes out clean, it's baked !

Let it cool down at room temperature before turning out.

Christophe Felder gives the recipe for a chocolate icing made of "vegetaline" since I don't have any and I don't even know where to buy it in California, I will explain a Chocolate & creamcheese icing.

Chocolate & creamcheese icing

   You will need :   

1oz unsweetened chocolate

0.75 oz unsweetened cocoa

2.8 oz creamcheese

3.5oz powdered sugar

2tsp vanilla extract

3tbsp half & half  or water

2 pinch of salt

Melt the chocolate in the microwave with 2tbsp of water

Soften the creamcheese with an electric beater for 2 minutes, mix in the cocoa, the vanilla and the melted chocolate at medium speed

Mix in the sugar and the salt little by little, go on medieum/high speed.

Add in some water or half and half to obtain the perfect consistancy 

to spread on the cake.

- so good -

Cookie Therapy

How to feel better : just have a cookie !

   On this post :   

#1 

Cookie "chunk" 

Vanilla, gooey, the perfect cookie

#2 

A monster of a Cookie

chocolate and coffee cookie !

À venir :

#3 Orange and chocolate cookie

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#1

Chocolate chunk Cookie

For 25 to 35 cookies

   You will need :   

1cup of chocolate chip or chocolate chunk (125gr)

1 stick of unsalted butter, softened (110 gr)

- out of the fridge 1h before use -

1cup of flour and 1tbsp (140gr)

1/3 cup of brown sugar (90gr)

1/4 cup of white sugar (60gr)

1 egg

- at room temperature -

1 tsp of vanilla extract

1/2tsp of salt

3/4tsp of baking soda

1 pinch of baking powder

Turn the oven on at 375°F
Put the flour and the baking powder in a bowl.

Stir your softened butter with sugars and salt with a wooden spoon in another bowl
After a few moves, use an electric beater at full speed for 2 minutes.

- if your butter is too hard, put it in a mold a fewminutes in the pre-heating oven to soften ir -

Stir by hand the egg and the vanilla.
Pour the flour with the baking powder and stir until smooth and homogeneous

- 1rst picture : butter and sugars // 2nd picture : after the flour -

Then, stir by hand the chocolate chunk of the chips.
On a tray covered with parchment paper,
do golf-ball size heaps with the batter, 2 inch apart.

- 1rst picture : after addind chocolate // 2nd picture : before putting in the oven -

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes

Let it cool 5 minutes on the tray, then 10 minutes on a grill

ENJOY :) 

They are really good... my husband became addict....

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#2

A monster of a cookie

Chocolare espresso cookie (café)

Mh mh mh a sweetness to go with coffee,

 texture is lighter, less toffee than the previous one. Less butter, less sugar.

For 25 cookies or a monster big cookie cake :)

   you will need :   

1cup 1/2 of chocolate chip (6,1oz / 175gr)

- or dark chocolate chunk -

1.8 oz of unsweetened chocolate, chopped 

1/2 stick of butter 

- out 1 hour before use -

1 cup and 1tbsp of flour 

1/2 cup of brown sugar

2 eggs at room temperature

1tbsp fine grounded coffee

- I emptied a Nespresso  -

1tsp vanilla extract

1/4tsp of salt

4 pinch baking soda

2 pinch baking powder

Turn on the oven at 375°F

Melt the unsweetened chocolate with 1 cup of chocolate chip and 2tbsp of water 
in a pan at low heat, stir until smooth

In a bowl, mix your butter with the sugar, use an electric beater at high speed for 2 minutes, set aside

- if your butter is too hard, put it in a mold a fewminutes in the pre-heating oven to soften ir -

Beat the eggs with the coffee with the eletric beater for 1 minute,
stir them in the previous batter, and stir in the melted chocolate.
Then pour in the flour, baking soda and bowder, stir until smooth and homogeneous
Then, add the half cup of chocolate chips left.


On a cooking tray, do golf-ball size heap with the batter, spaced of 2 inch,
Flatten them a little

Bake 10 to 12 minutes, the top must be a bit cracked !

hi ho ! hi ho ! let's find chocolate chip !