Sometimes we are tough on ourselves. We try a new receipe, in a new kitchen in an unfamiliar oven and think 'eh, it's ok.' As I continue to bake my way through recent happenings I came across a recipe in of all places a Better Homes & Garden magazine called Holdiay Baking 2006. The magazine is full of dessert recipes with peanut butter as a feature ingredient. We all know by now how central this ingredient is in my baking including the Gourmet cover girl.
This receipe appealed to me as it has some techniques I hadn't come across before (perhaps because I don't read these magazines?). And the other factor was I had a banana and I hate to waste food. I'm also adjusting to moving around a kitchen with a 18"x 12" workspace. At some point when I feel more settled into my IBK I will share some of my kitchen adaptations. I am continually surprised by how little you really do need.
This marble cake requires about 40 minutes of prep, if you follow my method. Baking time is about one hour. I'm not sure about those kitchen people at BHG. But the recipe gets a bit confusing. I've restructured it below as all sense got whipped out of it. The results? I brought it to work--these efforts don't stay in my cottage--astounding. Workmates came in to my office with chocolate on their fingers and crumbs on their file folders asking "Is there more? I only got two pieces."
We never know how good something is standing alone in your kitchen. After all isn't the reward of baking sharing with others?
Ed. Note: A second post in a week purely because of this recipe and the image taken with my new digital SLR! It's a beauty, eh?
Banana Split Cake
1 cup butter
4 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (1 large)
1/2 cup dairy sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup strawberry preserves
Few drops red food coloring
1/2 cup preseweetened cocoa powder
Glaze
8 oz. chocolate chips
6 oz. butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Allow butter and eggs to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, grease and flour a 10" bundt pan. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda; set aside. In a separate and small bowl, combine banana, sour cream, milk and vanilla; set aside.
In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on low to medium speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar; beat until fluffy. Add eggs, on at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add flour mixture and banana mxiture to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined.
Prepare two small bowls. In the first small bowl, stir together 1 cup of the batter, the strawberry preserves, and red food coloring. In the second small bowl, stir together another 1 cup of the batter and the cocoa powder. Spoon half of the remaning plain batter into the preapred 10" bunt pan. Add strawberry batter. Top with remaining plain batter, then chocolate batter. Use a narrow metal spatula to gently swirl the batters.
Bake 55-65 minutes until a wooden skewer or toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes; remove from pan. Cool comptely on wire rack about 90 minutes.
Glaze
In a small saucepan, heat chocolate and butter together until just melted. Take off heat. Continue stirring until melted and shiny. Drizzle over cooled cake.
Ed. Note: The cocoa powder and batter stage is a bother. The dry powder made for a bread dough consistency. My remedy was to carefully thin with sour cream and a smidge of milk. Be patient, slowly count to 30 as you add these two ingredients in small amounts. Do they really test these recipes in home kitchens?! Recipe adapted from Holiday Baking 2006, BHG.
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