Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Black-and-White Banana Loaf

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was a banana bread loaf with a twist - adding some chocolate to half the dough and marbelizing it.

The recipe calls for 4 eggs and 1 1/2 bananas. Since I know you can use half a banana as a substitution for an egg, I just threw in 2 bananas and 3 eggs. I've mentioned it before, but whenever I bake anything using bananas, I prefer to freeze them ahead of time and then thaw them out in time for the cooking. The ice crystals that form inside the banana help break down all the cell walls and release all the flavorful juices.

Making the marble design was easier than I had anticipated. I alternatively ladled in some of the white and black batters, making sure I wasn't too even while pouring them. Some spots got too much black, some too much white, and that was just right. I then did a quick zig-zag through the mixture once all the batters were added, and the simple marble look came through.

I accidentally fell asleep while baking this. The loaf itself didn't burn, but I didn't get foil on top of it in time so the crust turned out a bit darker than I had wanted. This didn't affect the flavor at all, and the bread is great to munch on.

Recipe: Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan, p. 232

14 comments:

Jules Someone said...

Nice loaf! I'll have to try the freezing technique.

Eleganza Strings/ The DeLadurantey Family said...

Yum! Looks good!

Madam Chow said...

The marbling looks great. I do the same thing with frozen bananas.

CB said...

Great tips about freezing the bananas and substituting for eggs. Loaf looks lovely!
Clara @ iheartfood4thought

Rigby said...

Your break looks tasty! Cool tip on the frozen bananas!

Heather B said...

Looks delicious! Great job!

Anonymous said...

thanks for the tips, i didn't know you could sub bananas for eggs. your loaf looks great. :)

Engineer Baker said...

Crispy bits are actually my favorite part :) Thanks for the egg and freezing tips!

Elle said...

mmmm, looks good! Nice tip about the bananas, by the way!

Pamela said...

It looks good to me. And thanks for the tip about subbing an egg with banana. I didn't know that.

Jayne said...

I'm with engineer baker - the crispy bits are my favorite parts, too. Lovely job!

Teanna DiMicco said...

Thanks for that tip on subbing the egg! Anything for making this 400 calorie a slice bread less "bad for you"! Yours looks delicious!

Summertime said...

Nice job! I need to try freezing the bananas instead of the last minute banana baking marathons. Thanks for the great tip!

Nancy/n.o.e said...

I like your marbling! I plan to cut at least one egg next time. My brother is allergic to eggs; he makes his pancakes with banana instead.