Blue Cayenne

Banana Bread–Juliet’s Plan B

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Ingredients

• 1 3/4 C. mashed ripe bananas (I didn't have quite this amount but my bread turned out fine)
• 3/4 C. plus 2 T. firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 C. vegetable oil
• 1/3 C. well-shaken buttermilk at room temperature (you can substitute milk curdled with some lemon juice)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 T. dark rum
• 1 t. pure vanilla extract
• 2 C. plus 2 T. unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 t. baking powder
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. fine sea alt
• 3 T. granulated sugar (for sprinkling)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. and position a rack in the lower third of the oven.
2. Prepare a loaf pan (9 inch by 5 inch) by spraying it with cooking spray and lining the pan with parchment paper. Let some of the parchment hang over the long sides of the pan. You will use those long pieces of parchment as handles to safely remove the cake from the pan once it is done.
3. Combine mashed bananas, brown sugar, oil, buttermilk, eggs, rum and vanilla in a large bowl. Mix to combine.
4. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until everything is just blended.
6. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and smooth the top.
7. Put the granulated sugar into a small bowl. Wet your hands and pinch the sugar and the water on your hands together until the sugar begins to clump like snow. Scatter clumps of sugar onto the top of the bread. This will give a nice crunchy top to your bread.
8. Bake in 325 degree F. preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes (mine was on the longer side) or until the bread is firm when you press the top and a toothpick inserted into the bread comes back clean. Remove bread from the oven and let it sit on a rack for about 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes, use a knife to free up the sides of the bread and use the parchment handles to remove the bread from the pan. Let the bread cool completely on a wire rack before serving. Enjoy!
9. Cook's Note: If you don't have buttermilk, combine 1 T. lemon juice and enough milk to fill a cup measure. Stir and leave on your counter for about 5 minutes to curdle. Voila!

Nutrition

Calories

5306 cal

Fat

116 g

Carbs

934 g

Protein

30 g

Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

Vanilla Pound Cake With Apples

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Ingredients

• 1/2 C. (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 3 T. heavy cream
• 1/2 t. vanilla extract (I used vanilla paste)
• 3 large eggs (at room temperature)
• 3/4 C. superfine sugar (I blitzed granulated sugar in my blender)
• 1 1/4 C. cake flour (sifted after measuring)
• 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/4 t. kosher salt
• 1 medium Granny Smith apple (peeled, cored and thinly sliced)
• 1 T. powdered sugar (for garnish)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and prepare a 9 inch by 5 inch loaf pan by lining it with parchment. Us a long enough piece of parchment so that you have parchment "handles" hanging over the long sides of the pan. Those "handles" will help you remove the cake from the pan after the cake has cooled.
2. Melt butter in a saucepan. Whisk in cream and vanilla extract (or paste). Take pan off heat and let butter mixture cool to room temperature.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer and using the whisk attachment, whisk eggs and sugar for 4 to 5 minutes on medium high speed until the mixture has thickened and is a light lemony yellow color.
4. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together. Once the egg/sugar mixture is ready, gradually fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture by hand using a spatula. Then, take several large dollops of this batter mixture and stir it into the room temperature butter mixture. Next, fold all of the lightened butter mixture into the batter. Continue gently folding the butter mixture into the batter until everything is completely combined but, at the same time, being careful to fold gently. Keeping as much air in your batter as you can by gently folding the ingredients together will yield a lighter crumb in your cake.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Arrange thin apple slices across the top of the batter in two rows and bake for 50 to 60 minutes in your preheated 350 degree F. oven. Your cake will be done when the top is a pretty golden brown, is firm when you press on the top and when a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
6. Remove cake from oven and let it cool (in the loaf pan) on a rack. Garnish with powdered sugar. This is a light and very tender (and delicious) cake. Slice it only after it is thoroughly cooled and use a serrated knife. Slice the cake slowly and carefully because this is a very tender cake. I thought the flavor of this cake was best on the second day.