Caramelized Bananas w/ whipped cream

My Grandma is amazing and every few months she comes to stay with my parents. I spent some time with her a few nights ago, listening to Lawrence Welk, showing her Real Simple magazine, talking about what her life has been like, and laughing and eating dinner together. I have her to blame for my sweet tooth - after every meal she wants something sweet. Since I was little I remember finding hidden Kit Kat wrappers in drawers and bookshelves and opened candy bars from a midnight run to the kitchen. Now that we are both older I have taken it upon myself to not deny her sweet tooth. She always talks about watching her weight and not eating so many sweets, but I always tell her, NO Grandma, that is for ME to do. You get to eat whatever you please from now until the rest of your life (and she understands what I mean. She may not have that much longer to be watching her weight - so indulge). Another trick I have up my sleeve is spiking her afternoon coffee with a little hazelnut liqeuer. I know, I know. She has never taken a sip of alcohol in her life (to her knowledge) but she always tells me, this is the BEST cup of coffee I have ever had. How did you know how I liked it?

So the other night the house was void of sweets. Mom had a few melted/refrigerated Rolex chocolates that I brought her from the Masters but I didn't think that would do the trick for Granny. So I scoured the pantry and all I could find were bananas, so I whipped out the saute pan, some flour, some vanilla and some butter, and made caramelized bananas served with whipped cream on the side (pre-made whipped cream. But I did beat my own whipped cream by hand at work the other night). Grandma LOVED it as a change-up in her daily desserts. If you are lacking sweets around the house, just grab a banana from your fruit basket (or other fruit - sliced apple works well, I would like to try a peach).

Caramelized Bananas

Cut banana in half horizontally - then cut 2-3 vertical pieces out of each half
Dredge banana pieces in flour
Heat butter on high, add a splash of vanilla
Brown bananas on each side until caramelized and crunchy (the sugars in the banana are sufficient for caramelizing)

Serve pieces of caramelized banana with (preferably fresh) whipped cream and a chocolate drizzle.

bon appetit

Banoffee Pie

There are two fruits I have hated for my entire life that I can remember: pears and bananas. I remember smelling a mythical banana warming in the sun in the car rides home from school and, no lie, had a nightmare one time about a poached pear dessert my mom had made with grape juice (oh yeah, other childhood nemesis: Grape Juice). In recent years I learned that fresh pears are quite tasty, in fact, they may be among my favorite fruits, but I still gag a little when I see or smell a poached pear. I ate a baby banana off of a tree in the Dominican Republic and realized I had missed out on a huge thing, and then I started eating banana pudding, bananas on cheerios, bananas with peanut butter, etc. but still tiptoed around bananas in other forms. Well, I have not come to terms with poached pears yet but I think I have finally crossed the line into loving bananas: Banoffee Pie, a whole pie rich with the flavor of fresh banana.

I have mentioned my new cookbook before, Cooking Essentials, which my sweet friend Erin gave me for Christmas - I haven't yet ventured into the international entrees but I have loved flipping through the desserts (Black Forest Gateau came from this particular book).

So - a non-traditional Banoffee Pie, delicious enough to wholly convert me:



Banoffee Pie

Preheat oven to 350

For the walnut pie crust:
1/3 c. ground walnuts
2 c. all-purpose flour
3 T unsalted butter, chilled and chopped into cubes
*Rub butter into flour/walnut mixture with fingers, incorporating into flour until a crumbly, breadcrumby dough forms
3-6 T cold iced water
*add cold water in with a knife, making chopping motions to incorporate in until a dough forms. Roll dough into a ball in wax paper and store in fridge for 15 minutes. Remove, with pin roll out to fit a 9" tart pan and refrigerate again for 20 minutes. I laid it out on wax and covered it with wax so when I went to fit it in the pan I could easily transfer it and push it down.
*Leaving wax paper on top, weigh down pie shell with baking weights, beads, beans, or a cake pan (not so effective but it was all I had!). Bake 10 minutes, remove weights, bake another 15 minutes or until golden

For the filling:

1 1/4 c. sweetened condensed milk
1/3 c. unsalted butter (=entire stick less 3 T)
2 T dark corn syrup
*bring milk, butter and syrup to a boil, stirring, for 5 minutes. Let simmer until a light caramel color and thick. Let cool slightly
3 bananas
*cut bananas into preferred shape (I like to quarter the banana then cut slices out of each piece, making a flat thin banana strip about 1 in. long)
*Lay bananas on bottom of baked pie crust, then pour caramel topping out on top and smooth evenly over pie.
*Refrigerate for 30 minutes

For the topping:
2 c. heavy whipping cream
3 T sugar
1 banana
dark chocolate, melted
*Whip up some cream, sweetening it as you prefer, and drop spoonfuls onto top of pie - lacing with pieces of banana and topping with melted dark chocolate.

Gourmand!

Black Forest Gateau

There she is again, la lengua francaise. Black Forest Gateau, or Black Forest Cake, is an unlikely combination for my taste buds - I hate the flavor of cherry. But a new cookbook had such an alluring picture that I decided to make it Friday night for friends and I think it turned out great (well, it only lasted 1 1/2 days. I think that means it turned out great. But sweets are sweets). Basically it is a layered chocolate cake brushed with kirsch, a cherry liqueur, and filled with fresh whipped cream and canned bing cherries (or any black cherry). I iced it in fresh whipped cream and topped it with dark chocolate and milk chocolate shavings and a few cherries on top - I didn't sweeten the cream because I thought the cake, liqueur and chocolate would offset the lack of sweetness but sometimes unsweetened cream does taste a little chalky. Andrew's advice was go for the gold and sweeten the whipped cream. Of course, he also thought bourbon would taste good (a little idea he got from my bourbon pumpkin cheesecake at Christmas) and tried to sneak some in when I put the electric mixers in his hands. Thankfully my bourbon stash was drained so no weird flavors in our Black Forest Gateau.

Recipe for Black Forest Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 and grease deep 8" round cake pan. I like to grease pan, line bottom and sides with parchment or wax, grease again, and flour bottom and sides of pan. Your cake will never stick!

for the Cake:
1/2 c. unsalted butter
1 c. sugar *Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy
2 eggs, at room temp and lightly beaten *gradually beat in each egg, one at a time
1 t vanilla *beat into butter mixture until well incorporated - transfer to larger bowl
1/3 c. self rising flour
1 c. all purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder *sift dry ingredients together and fold into butter mixture with a metal spoon, alternating with buttermilk in 3 stages
3/4 c buttermilk, room temp

Spoon cake batter into tin, smoothing the surface. Bake 50-60 minutes (my oven is on the low end) until done. Let the cake cool - probably at least half an hour - then with a serrated knife or cake leveler (best invention ever. $3 at Michael's in Wilton cake decorating products) cut into halves or thirds, whichever you prefer and without risking a demolished layer.

For the filling:
1/4 c. kirsch (kirschwasser, cherry brandy, whatever) *brush cake layers thoroughly with kirsch
3 c. whipping cream, give or take + a little sugar *whip and spread over each cake layer
2 1/4 c. pitted and canned black cherries *spread generously over each layer
some sugar for the cream

For the topping:
1-2 c. whipping cream, whipped and iced over cake
2/3 c. dark chocolate, shaved with vegetable peeler to make curls
2/3 c. milk chocolate, see above
a few stray cherries for the top

Bon appetit!