Double Chocolate Banana Bread

Thanks to Harold, who sent us a picture of a double chocolate banana bread one day,
I could not get double chocolate banana bread out of my mind.

Double chocolate banana bread.

Double chocolate banana bread.

I tried other things, I went to 7-11 and bought dreyers triple chocolate ice cream.



Double chocolate banana bread.

I ate a packet of Indomie,

Double chocolate banana bread.

I watched endless cute kittens and cute Kpop idols on youtube...

Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread.Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread.Double chocolate banana bread.Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread.

ARGGHHHHH!
This must be how it feels like being in Stephen King's movies.
Luckily, this obsession is easy to solve.

I just had to google recipes for double chocolate banana bread and make the first one I encounter.
It's Smitten Kitchen's Double Chocolate Banana Bread.

Recipe
My slight adaptation:
I reduced the sugar from 3/4 to 1/2 and I used the sugar I have at home (caster sugar).
I tried to follow the baking time 'til the end but my toothpick came out clean after only about 30 minutes of baking - so I had to take it out way earlier than 55-65 minutes. I recommend frequent testing after 30 minutes.

- 3 very ripe bananas
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1/2 cup caster sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 cup semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate chunks or chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter pan. Mash bananas, Whisk in melter butter, brown sugar, egg, vanilla. Mix baking soda, salt, flour and cocoa (I didn't sift as instructed by original recipe - sorry, too lazy) in another mixing bowl. Mix wet and dry ingredients until just combined (actually OB helped me mixing the batter, so I am sure it was overmixed), add chocolate chips. Pour into pan and bake until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10-15 minutes, run a knife around the edge and invert it out onto a cooling rack.

The cooling process was very hard for me as SC and OB's grabby hands could not stay away from the cake. Warning: very very chocolatey.
WE LOVE IT, and I can finally stop obsessing with DOUBLE CHOCOLATE BANANA BREAD... well, until my next craving, or whenever Harold posted another picture of double chocolata banana bread :)

Please check out the original recipe here.

Super Easy Cheat Cherry Tart

Looks impossibly impressive, absolutely gorgeous, and super yummy!


I am not calling this a recipe. But here's how to make this beautiful yummy dessert.
Preheat oven to 200C, Lightly butter baking sheet, place frozen roti prata on top (one per person), brush the top with beaten egg, bake until it's fluffed, take it out of the oven. Arrange halved cherries on top, add some sugar all over, bake again until golden brown and serve.

It doesn't get any easier than this, no?
Enjoy!

Sweet Summer - How To Make Cherry Clafoutis

Saw the recipe on Gary's blog and I just had to make it! It's my favorite kind of recipe. Minimal, simple ingredients and the dish sounds and looks absolutely divine. I went to buy fresh cherries right away and got it done. If only I'd stop procrastinating things other than food...


Very easy to make!
Recipe (literally taken from Gary's blog. I followed every step!)
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pounds of red cherries, stem removed, pitted (alternatively you can add blueberries, strawberries or even apricots or pears)
• 0.5 cup of flour
• 0.5 cup caster sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup of milk
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• powdered sugar

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 180C, lightly butter baking pan. Set aside.

2. Warm the milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to simmer (do not boil) and set aside.

3. Combine eggs, flour, sugar, vanilla extract and salt in a mixing bowl. Whisk by hand or by food processor until smooth. Gradually add in warm milk. Continue to whisk until thoroughly combined. The batter will be a little watery - even more watery than whipping cream - but that's how it's supposed to be, so don't worry! 

4. Pour the batter into baking pan. Bake in oven for 8-10 minutes until slightly set. Remove pan from oven - do not turn it off!

5. Put cherries into the batter in single layer. Put baking pan back into the oven and continue to bake for an additional 40-45 minutes. Surface should be brown and batter set. 

6. Take the pan out of the oven. Let cool slightly, and run a knife along the sides of the pan to loosen up the clafoutis.

7. You can serve it immediately or let cool to lukewarm/room temperature. Before serving, dust with powdered sugar, cut into wedges or squares, and optionally put a scoop of ice cream on top (preferably homemade - that's Gary. For me... I'd totally buy since I haven't tried making ice cream before heheheh).


Halfway done. How gorgeous are those cherries!

And...

The beauty.

Dig in! I had it for tea time and breakfast the next day. I absolutely ADORE the flavor of baked cherries.

Thanks for the recipe & inspiration to bake again, Gary!

Peanut Butter Brownie

Sigh... if only every failure looked this good!

You may not believe it... but I failed this brownie recipe. This was my second attempt and I still failed.

Sobs. But at least I ended up with......this beautiful failure.
In my first attempt, I mistakenly melted dark chocolate chips into the batter, and ended up with burnt top + jiggly bottom.

In this second attempt, I carefully followed the recipe, covered the baking tray with aluminium foil to prevent from burning. The top's done beautifully, but the bottom was never set no matter how long I baked it for. 

I really don't know what I did wrong...

But rich melted chocolate + savory peanut butter?

Failure or not, still tasted pretty bloody amazing.

Here's the recipe if you wanted to give it a try, many have succeeded, I am sure I failed because of my own stupidity. Thanks Mrs Ergul for sharing the recipe with me. I still licked the tray clean :)