Coming back from the dark side ...

Are we blogging again? Huh??

Wow! I was almost convinced this blog was a goner!!! Work, work, work. No time to breathe, let alone blog. Pretty tragic, huh? As much as I love my work, I doubt if even I can survive another bout of being slammed like this! Seriously, something is quite wrong when the pictures just keep piling up ... to the point where I randomly stare at them and begin to wonder "When did I make that?? And how the hell do I make it again?!"

Yeeeeessshhhhh.

But life is creeping back to normalcy again. And it seems like I don't quite have writer's block - *phew*! Such a relief! I was kind of freaked out about not knowing how to quite start writing again. Absolutely abhor this feeling of being left behind - like the rest of the food blog world has moved on, you know? And I'm sitting here with my (proverbial) pen in hand, slowly emerging from work insanity, struggling to phrase a sentence or three.

Well, over three sentences have been phrased. Yay! So, we can safely move onto a reasonably fit recipe to celebrate a safe return from the dark side :) - a simple, light and delicious banana-orange loaf. I just mentioned this recipe to Srivalli and she went "Oh man! Another dessert! Wow!" Well, she's right! Apparently, I hanker for breads and desserts a lot more than I realize! Yet, I don't seem to write about these as often as I'd like to ... wait! Guess that's probably because I'm not quite posting as often as I'd like to :)

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Ok, back to this celebratory loaf - I based this on a pretty straight-forward recipe from Rosemary Wilkinson's The Ultimate Desserts Cookbook. Like always, I spent several minutes drooling over the pictures before embarking on baking it :)

Banana Orange Loaf
Light, simple, oozing banana and citrus flavours!

Serving size: 1 loaf

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup unbleached flour
1 t baking powder
1 t ground mixed spices (allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg)
2 large overripe bananas
1 egg
2 T sunflower oil
2 T clear honey
finely grated rind and juice of one small orange
4 orange slices - quartered
2 t icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Brush a loaf tin with sunflower oil and line the base with non-stick baking/wax paper.
Sift the flours with baking powder and the spices into a bowl.

Peel the bananas and mash them in a medium bowl. Beat in the egg, oil, honey, orange rind and orange juice. Fold this mixture into the dry ingredients.

Spoon this mixture into the baking tin and smooth the top. Bake for 40 minutes or till firm and golden brown on top, and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Turn out and cool the cake on a wire rack.

Now comes the fun part :)

Sprinkle the orange slices with icing sugar and grill until golden and you get a funky baked citrus smell. Actually, I should amend the recipe here - grill double the number of slices mentioned in this recipe - only half the orange bits will end up on the cake. The other half? ... I guarantee those will go straight into your mouth :)

Decorate the cake with the orange slices (or whatever is left of them) :)

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Opinion?

Yum! Perfect back-to-blogging celebration. This recipe is light on fat - all of 2 T of oil for the entire loaf! You could even skip the egg and use just egg whites - though I would throw in a spoon of applesauce to go with it.
The banana+orange flavours are delightful, I even doused my slice with a couple of spoons of orange juice before digging in. Also, the overripe bananas kicked ass - nothing like super moist banana flavour to warm the soul :)

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More such recipes:

• Orange Cranberry Cake
• Brazilian Chocolate Bananas
• Banana Bread

And now I'm off to catch up on the zillion blog posts that I've missed over the last couple of weeks! And yes, I need to start responding to all those emails too!

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IMPORTANT REMINDER:

:)

Don't forget to send in your Think Spice, Think Wasabi entries!

That's definitely my next post - a very offbeat nasal passage-scorching wasabi dish :)

And feel free to use this really neat logo that Sunita came up with. Sorry dear S, I meant to post about it earlier, but all this work mania threw me off kilter.

Cupcakes galore, Running Buddies and more!

Several weeks ago, I signed up to be a coach for the spring season with this awesome organization called Girls On The Run. This is a program for preteen girls (aged 8-11) that chooses to combine exciting workouts with games, exercises and discussions. In their own words:

"Girls on the Run aims to develop the whole girl— her physical, mental, social, emotional and spiritual self—supporting the mission to educate and prepare girls for a lifetime of self-respect and healthy living. The Girls on the Run approach also encourages the girls to be open with their families, their peers, and themselves."

It has been about 5 weeks since the spring session started and coaching has been a lot of fun, not to mention entertaining. It is quite a challenge for 3 coaches to manage a gang of 18 high-energy girls! A few of us new coaches entered the first session with quite some trepidation, but walked away at the end amazed by the energy and positive spirits these girls are teeming with. Lately, I've noticed that they've put a spring in my step, I'm usually skipping away at the end of the session :)

And the best part of all this is that the girls are working towards a goal - they will be running the Komen Race for the Cure in June - a 5 K race. This is really exciting for most of them who run around all the time, but haven't done an organized race before.

And on that note, this is a shoutout to all you gals out there! We're looking for running buddies for our girls. The commitment required is pretty easy - you basically get paired with one of the girls and you do 2 5K runs with the girl - a practice one and the real Komen run. Having a running buddy really motivates the girls to go that extra step, plus it totally boosts their confidence. So, if you're even remotely interested, you should check this out! :)

Anyway, yesterday was the GOTR annual auction and I had offered to bake goodies for the volunteers. After going back and forth across several delicious recipes picked from all those awesome blogs out there, we ended up going with a cupcake recipe off ChockyLit's blog - can't quite go wrong with that, huh? :)

If you haven't checked out the Cupcake Blog (gasp!), you should head there right away.

SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING:
The Cupcake Blog can induce insane amounts of sugar cravings. You might even hallucinate and reach into your browser hoping to snag a few crumbs!

Cheryl's original recipe called for bananas, peanuts and jackfruit in the cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting. We weren't able to get our hands on jackfruit, so we just settled for mashed bananas. Also, we used almonds instead of peanuts in the batter. And for the topping, we cut back on the sugar and went with a strawberry puree seasoning.

We've always enjoyed baking, but this was just way too much of fun! We went on this marathon baking spree - almost 50 cupcakes! The Pupp is apparently a born baker and Daria is the perfect taster :) Turned out to be a fabulous evening of baking!

Original recipe can be found here.

Banana Almond Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
Chockylit, you rule!

Servings: 24 (we made 2 such batches)

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
3/4 cup of oil
1/2 cup coconut milk (we went for a light version)
1.5 t vanilla
3 bananas - mashed
2/3 cup almonds - coarsely chopped

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a bowl (we used the magical KitchenAid mixer).
In another bowl, beat the eggs and then add the oil, coconut milk and vanilla.
Add this egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix till blended.
Now toss in the bananas and almonds and mix to combine.
Scoop the batter into cupcake papers till about 2/3s filled.

NOTE:
Chockylit recommends using an icecream scooper to do this. We couldn't find one (?!!) and used spoons instead - was a royal pain :) Also, we ended up using muffin pans/papers - I honestly don't know if that even makes a difference!

Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes or till a toothpick comes out clean.


Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz cream cheese
1/2 stick butter
1+ cup of confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup strawberry puree

Let the butter sit for a couple of hours till it softens and is at room temperature.
Beat the butter, sugar and cream cheese till well blended and all lumps are removed.
Add the strawberry puree and beat some more till it is combined.
Continue to beat till you get the consistency you want (feel free to add more sugar if you have an insanely sweet tooth).


Opinion?

O.M.G. How can cupcakes taste *so* good? I almost got sick just licking the batter! It took serious effort to keep our hands off the cupcakes and save them for the auction. We found them a bit too sweet and will probably cut back on the sugar next time around.

Also, I did not end up beating the frosting enough, so it was a little limp and wonky when I tried to shape it onto the cupcakes. Besides, a spoon doesn't substitute for a piping bag! Let's just call this my avant-garde frosting attempt!

And yes, these pix are kind of lame, but that was the best I could do in 70 seconds :)

Cheryl, you rock - you truly are the cupcake queen!

Brazilian Chocolate Bananas

A few nights ago, I was craving chocolate, maybe with some fruit, something sweet, something easy to make ... and I stumbled upon this recipe for brazilian coffee bananas in one of my favourite books The Ultimate Dessert Cookbook by Rosemary Wilkinson. And it was even tagged quick and easy - can't beat that!

Wait ... almost 10 pm - do I *ever* need coffee at 10 pm? I'm the person who drinks a mocha at 10 am and bounces off the walls the rest of the day! The last thing I needed was espresso at night! But I did want my dessert - truly, madly, deeply. So, I went with chocolate instead and used one of Becky's magic truffles - *so* good! Yesss, I was a bit bouncy, dark chocolate and all! But still, so much better than espresso, right? :)

This dessert was sinfully rich and took all of 5 minutes to make. Can't quite beat that!

Brazilian Chocolate Bananas
Zippy decadence!

Servings: 1

2 small overripe bananas
1 small dark chocolate truffle
1/2 cup nonfat greek yogurt
3 toasted peeled almonds

Peel and cut the bananas into thin slices.
Set aside 3-4 slices for the topping.
Mash the remaining banana pieces with a fork till thick and pulpy.
Melt the chocolate truffle in a saucepan (or stick it in the microwave for a minute).
Mix the molten chocolate with the mashed bananas.
Spoon some of the banana mixture into a serving dish, top it with some yogurt and repeat this layering till the bananas and yogurt are used up. Swirl the last layer of yogurt before topping it with the sliced bananas and almonds.

Any good? Any good?

*drool*! So tasty, so easy, so happy!



Variations?

* Well, if you want the bananas to be richer, it might be a good idea to add some liqueur - maybe amaretto? Or even some brandy.
* If you want to go with the original coffee version, replace the chocolate with 1 t of coffee granules or powder mixed with 1 t of muscovado sugar in a little hot water - stir this into the mashed bananas instead of the chocolate.

Questing for the perfect Banana Bread ...

I'm on the eternal quest for the perfect AND healthy banana nut bread recipe - the bread I baked for LisaBee's bachelorette party was pretty good, but I'm trying to make it even moister without having to use loads of butter, in fact I want *very* little butter. But I want it moist. And reasonably light. And flavorful. And nutty. Lofty aspirations, eh? :)

Well, this attempt was definitely a step in the right direction! In fact, this might be it! I might have to retire on this quest and move onto a different one :) The fun thing is that I've totally gotten back into baking - not sure if it was because of the plethora of frozen overripe bananas sitting in my fridge or my messing up of the last Pioneer Organics order that resulted in about 20 apples that I need to use up or just the fact that turning on the oven makes the house warmer :) Whatever be the reason, I'm loving it. And this time, I'm definitely loving the result!

Banana Nut Spice Bread

Light on the fat, NOT on the flavor!

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (another PCC discovery!)
1/2 cup of brown sugar
3 T honey
2 cups of super ripe mashed bananas (yes, I went overboard with the bananas, but it totally worked!)
2 T vegetable oil
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 t vanilla extract
1 t salt
1 T baking soda
2 large eggs (or egg substitute :))
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease a 9x5 loaf pan.

Beat the oil, sugar, baking soda, salt cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla in a bowl until smooth.
Beat in the eggs one at a time (or, like in this case, the egg substitute - 1/4 cup at a time).
Next come the bananas and honey. By now, the mixture should be smooth and creamy.
Now start adding the flour, about 1/2 cup at a time, folding it in till blended.
Finally toss in the nuts and mix.
Now pour the batter into the greased pan and let it sit for about 10 minutes. I picked up this hint from one of my fave books on baking Whole Grain Baking that my sis turned me onto. Letting the batter sit seems to result in a much moister, fluffier bread - that makes me happy! :)
Ok, now stick the pan in the oven for 45 minutes. Lay a piece of foil over the pan and let it bake for another 10 minutes.
Now do the usual does-the-toothpick-come-clean? thing - Not done yet? Don't panic! It might take a few more minutes in the oven to get the inside completely done :)
Once done, let the cake cool in the pan for 10-12 minutes before tipping it onto a cooling rack.

Slice it. Taste it.

Wooo Hooo Hoooo!!!! This is good, really good! I feel like I've finally hit that balance I wanted - I had tried this with several substitutes - apple sauce made it too dry, sour cream made it too heavy, but this buttermilk thing seems to have worked great, even with the egg substitute! And the cinnamon+nutmeg was the perfect amount of spice to complement the banana+honey flavors!

Ok, I'm shipping this off to Baking History's Bread Baking Day #04 as my submission for 'Bread and Spices' :)