Good day for baking

[Gonz]

I-94 is shut down. Hockey practice and my pick-up game are both cancelled today. Even the local ski hill is closed. It's 30-40mph winds, at least 8 inches of snow so far and it's 5 degrees outside. Nothing better to do than a little baking.

Here's my favorite Banana Bread recipe:

* 5 very ripe bananas
* 4 eggs
* 1 cup shortening
* 2 1/2 cups sugar (half white, half brown)
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
* 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 tsp cinnamon
* 1/2 tsp nutmeg
* 1 cup chopped nuts (whatever your favorite, I use chopped walnuts)

Smash up the bananas and eggs in one bowl and set aside. In another bowl beat the shortening and add the sugar. Stir in vanilla and banana mixture. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt; blend into batter. Add walnuts if desired. Then pour this batter into two loaf pans, the ones that are about 9x5ish.

Bake in a 300 degree oven for roughly 1 hour 15 minutes, they're done when a toothpick comes out clean.

 

[bfisher88]

Wow, banana bread is my favorite. May have to try this one out.

 

[robbiex0r]

A recipe I came across recently:

A Few Notes Beforehand.

1) Stick your bananas in a brown paper bag for a few days and they will ripen pretty fast.

2) I use my nephew's Banana wine in this recipe, but you can use banana liqueur instead, or say screw it and double up on the spiced rum.

3) Use the cheapest Spiced rum you can find. I used Castillo brand. You will pretty much burn through an entire fifth on this recipe if you plan on making several batches, especially if you decide to play "1 shot for the batter, 1 shot for the baker" while making it.

4) You can "marinade" the breads in the rum later by putting some in a shallow pan and dipping them, BUT it's much easier if you use a spray bottle instead.

5) If you can spray them a couple times with the rum over the period of a few days or weeks before sealing them in cling wrap and tinfoil they will be even better, as they "age" a bit, and the booze penetrates into the bread, but they are awesome as they are.

6) You can do this by hand but it's a bitch, an electric beater or a stand mixer makes it a heck of a lot easier. I just got a vintage stand mixer this summer for 20 bucks at a garage sale, and it was a godsend.

7) If you are making multiple batches, loaves, don't bother cleaning out the mixer bowl, just keep dumping the ingredients in when the bowl is empty, and each batch will be a little more complex.

Ok, enough nonsense, lets get on with the show!


Revvy's Jamaican Spiced Banana Rum Bread

(Makes 10 mini loaves)

Preheat mash tun...erm I mean oven to 350 degrees.

Ingredients

Mini Tinfoil Bread Pans
Pam Baking Style Cooking Spray

(wet side)
5-6 large ripened bananas mashed
2 sticks softened butter
3 1/3 cups sugar.
1/2 cup sour creme (Or plain or vanilla yogurt)
5 eggs
1/4 cup Banana Wine, or banana liquer
1/4 cup Spiced Rum
(Or if banana wine/liquer is unavailable, use 1/2 cup of Spiced Rum.)

In mixer cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and sour cream. Fold in mashed bananas. Pour in rum and banana wine. Mix at medium speed until well blended, once well blended raise the speed and whip the ingredients until frothy (about 2-3 minutes.)

(dry side)
In a separate bowl mix together;

5 cups flour
3 3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 1/4 tsp allspice

With mixer running slowly, fold the dry ingredients into the wet ones until well mixed.

Spray the baking tins with PAM and set on baking sheet. Fill each tin half way with bread mixture. (I use an ice cream scoop, and find that 4 1/2 scoops is about half way.)

Bake @ 350 for 45 minutes or until a toothpick pulls away cleanly from center of loaf.

When cool, spritz generously with rum in spray bottle (of partially fill a baking pan and quickly dunk each side in rum.)

Wrap in plastic wrap. If possible Spritz them over the course of several days. The wrap tightly in plastic wrap (tape may be needed) and then again with tinfoil.

If you feel creative you CAN wrap each loaf after with wrapping paper, but I usually just slap a ribbon and gift tag on them and say the hell with it.

 

[ELittle]

This a somewhat fancier interpretation of a banana bread recipe. The ingredients you will need are:

-1 loaf of sourdough french bread
-10 bananas
-5 pounds of bacon
-1 gallon of your favorite batter for battering the bread loaf
-a deep fryer

Cut the bread in half horizontally, and remove all the filling, leaving 2 "shells". Remove peels from the bananas, and mash up with the bread filling you scooped out, then stuff back into the loaf. Put the 2 halves back together, and wrap with the 5 pounds of bacon. Secure the bacon with tooth picks. Dip the bacon wrapped loaf in the batter, then put into the fryer until golden brown. Remove from the oil and drain, removing the toothpicks, and let cool for 30 minutes. Slice bread at an angle, and serve.

I have not actually made this, but someone told me its great!

 

[Devil Doc]

You think the Gumper baked or Jake the snake or Terry Sawchuck? I wouldn't let that get around the league, gonz.

Doc.

 

[Gonz]

You think the Gumper baked or Jake the snake or Terry Sawchuck? I wouldn't let that get around the league, gonz.

Doc.

You're quite right, I just can't imagine Gumps in front of the Kitchenaid!

 

[gregor22]

That's old time hockey right there, the Gumper. I remember him taking a shot to his dome, bleeding like a stuck pig, stitched up, then getting back on his skates.

 

[thinde]

I-94 is shut down. Hockey practice and my pick-up game are both cancelled today. Even the local ski hill is closed. It's 30-40mph winds, at least 8 inches of snow so far and it's 5 degrees outside. Nothing better to do than a little baking.

Here's my favorite Banana Bread recipe:

* 5 very ripe bananas
* 4 eggs
* 1 cup shortening
* 2 1/2 cups sugar (half white, half brown)
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
* 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 tsp cinnamon
* 1/2 tsp nutmeg
* 1 cup chopped nuts (whatever your favorite, I use chopped walnuts)

Smash up the bananas and eggs in one bowl and set aside. In another bowl beat the shortening and add the sugar. Stir in vanilla and banana mixture. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt; blend into batter. Add walnuts if desired. Then pour this batter into two loaf pans, the ones that are about 9x5ish.

Bake in a 300 degree oven for roughly 1 hour 15 minutes, they're done when a toothpick comes out clean.

Much to my wife’s skepticism I made Gonz’s Banana Bread last night. She has always used her mother’s recipe and was reluctant to change. But after having it for breakfast with coffee this morning she’s a believer. The brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg gave it an added dimension that worked well.

Thanks for the recipe Gonz.

Tom