Chocolate Banana Bread

Does anyone ever make banana bread on purpose?

I would honestly like to know the answer to this question. If I could have it my way, I would lock a hundred people in a room and force them to answer. They would be forced to smell cinnamon buns without being able to eat them until they spoke up.

It seems to me that banana bread often comes as a consequence to buying too many bananas, or letting them sit for too long without eating them. One morning, you wake up and notice those bananas over there are...well, going bananas. Time for banana bread!

If you agree with this, you'll also agree that's not really a bad thing at all. Banana bread is a wonderfully versatile creature: it can be enjoyed for breakfast, a snack or for dessert. Add chocolate to the mix and you've got yourself a pretty nice combination. 

To take the banana bread experience to its fullest, I obviously only had one egg left. I started a scavenger hunt aroud my kitchen (which, I'll admit took about thrity seconds given its size) and got some ingredients together. Somehow, I ended up with banana bread. 

The good part is that I ended up with banana bread everyone at work seemed to like. Thanks, bananas, for becoming so ripe all of a sudden!

Chocolate Banana Bread

makes one large loaf

2 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1/2 TS salt
1 TS baking soda
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 egg
1/2 c. sour cream, low or whole fat
1 TS vanilla extract
100g / 3.5 oz semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C.

In a medium bowl, mix mashed bananas, sour cream, oil, vanilla and egg together.

In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugars, salt and baking soda together. Delicately incorporate wet ingredients into flour mixture. Stir until combined; do not overmix.

Pour into a greased or non-stick loaf pan.

Bake 40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Invert onto a rack and let cool before slicing.

Summer was Back

Fleetingly, like all good things, Summer came back last weekend.

And when Summer returns, so does the ice cream sandwich craving. If you're in Paris, run--don't walk--and get your hands on this amazing black sesame ice cream sandwich from Japanese pastry chef Sadaharu Aoki! Creamy black sesame ice cream, reminiscent of chestnuts, is sandwiched between two perfect chocolate sablés.

Amazing!

Patisserie Sadaharu Aoki
35, rue de Vaugirard
75006 Paris

Fig and Almond Tartelettes

 

Figs and almonds are a match made in heaven.

Not convinced? Let me show you.

Exhibit A: Say you like Fig Newtons. (Oh, come on, just pretend if you don't.) Now imagine a Fig Newton with an extra layer of marzipan inside. Alright? I got your attention, I hope.

Who still needs Exhibit B?

You might be convinced by now, but I would like to show you some fig and almond tartelettes just in case.

Last weekend, I got on the bus and headed to the Marché d'Aligre in the 12th arrondissement. Living in the 6th, I'm used to exorbitant fruit and vegetable prices, and was expecting pretty much the same at Aligre. I stepped off the bus...into another world.

A world of peaches, limes and heirloom tomatoes at under two euros a kilo. Heaven. (Well, also the result of this not being an actual farmer's market but rather a market where everything comes from Rungis, the "main market" on the outskirts of Paris.)

Which brings me back to figs--beautiful, dark purple and small. Just soft enough, with a deep, luscious taste. They were priced at a very reasonable two euros a kilo; I had no excuse not to buy them and get started on a tart. And really, does anyone ever need an excuse for figs and almonds? Please.

These individual tartelettes are a perfect way to showcase wonderfully in-season figs. Plus, if you've ever been a fan of crème frangipane--the traditional filling of almond and pastry cream for the galette des rois on Epiphany--this is for you.

As an optional but no less amazing extra, slather some salted buttered caramel on the bottom of the crust before adding the filling. It will add a hardly perceptible je ne sais quoi, and bring the "mmm" factor up a notch.

The pastry crust is the one used in the flan I wrote about last week, and once again a great pairing with the sweetness of the frangipane and figs.

If by now, you're not 100% sure that figs and almonds were made to be, then I'm lost. Unless...this might help?

Fig and Almond Tartelettes

makes two tartelettes

1/2 recipe for pastry crust
6 fresh figs, sliced vertically
1 TB salted butter caramel (optional)

crème frangipane:

50g / 1/2 c. almond flour
50g / 3.5 TB unsalted butter, room temperature
50g / 1/3 c. confectioner's sugar
1/2 TS cornstarch
1 egg
1 drop bitter almond extract (or regular almond extract)
60g crème pâtissière

crème pâtissière:

Note: This recipe will yield 125g, or twice the amount you need. I strongly recommend you don't halve the recipe, as making tiny quantities of crème pâtissière can get pretty tricky. Use the leftovers as a garnish for éclairs, or anything you want! I filled lebanese bread with crème pâtissiere and fresh figs, and it was delicious.


1/2 TS vanilla extract
8g / 2.5 TS cornstarch
20g / 5 TS granualted sugar
10cl / 1/3 c. + 1.5 TB milk, preferably whole
1 egg yolk
10g  / 2 TS unsalted butter, room temperature

Directions:

Make crème pâtissière. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, mix cornstarch, half of the sugar, and vanilla extract. Whisk in milk and bring to a boil.

In a small bowl, beat egg yolk and remaining sugar for a minute. Add a little of the hot milk and keep whisking.

Pour everything back into the saucepan and cook, whisking constantly. Remove from heat when the mixture begins to boil, and place saucepan in a larger pan or sink filled with cold water.

Once the cream has cooled to about 50°C / °F, add butter and whisk briskly.

Use pastry cream as soon as possible, and do not keep it more than 12 hours in the refrigerator.

Make crème frangipane. Cut butter into chunks and place into a medium bowl. Mix and soften with a spatula. Add, in this order, the confectioner's sugar, almond flour, cornstarch, eggs and almond extract, beating after each addition.

Add crème pâtissière and mix until well combined. Use immediately or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Assemble tart.

Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F.

Butter two tartelette pans and set aside. Roll out dough and pinch into tartelette pans. Make small holes on the bottom of the dough with a fork. If using, spread caramel on the bottom of the crust. Add filling. Place fig slices in a petal pattern on top of the cream.

Bake approximately 30 to 40 minutes, until crust is golden and frangipane is set. Cool for five minutes and gently remove tartelettes from pans. Let cool completely before serving.

Weekend Fare: Pierre Hermé's Flan à l'Eau

Oh look, it's the weekend!

Back when my weeks consisted of two days of classes and three hours of English tutoring, the term "weekend" didn't actually mean much to me. When someone came along rejoicing and screaming "It's almost Friday night!!!", I would usually think one of three things:

- I can finally see my friends!,

- I thought today was Monday for some reason,

- Wait, what? Friday night? The beginning of my 48-hour shopping-free spree!

Since most stores are closed on Sundays in Paris, Saturday is a pretty awful day to do any shopping, if you ask me. Stores are crowded, and people get cranky because it's their day off and there are too many people around. Consequently, I used to shop on Tuesdays--nobody in sight, the store to yourself. Sigh  Those days are long gone.

Now, when someone starts a heated conversation about the approaching weekend, I think the same thing every time: I want to go on a weekend trip.

Obviously, if you're not really planning on going anywhere, you can just pretend. Pretend like it's not raining, pretend like that loud group of tourists standing in front of your door for the past twenty minutes (with no plans to move to accomodate your passing through with grocery bags) doesn't even exist.

I mean it: it's actually quite easy to convince yourself that they aren't really saying "Oh my god, Kevin, look at how old this building is. Maybe the king even went here."

Here's my solution to all this brouhaha: plan a mini-staycation and get a picnic going. 

It can be a picnic in your own apartment, but that doesn't really matter: I traveled to the South of France this weekend with a tasty tomato salad. You don't even need a toothbrush, unless you're planning on eating quite some garlic, I guess. There's only one thing you can't forget, and that's dessert. Specifically, Pierre Hermé's recipe for a Flan à l'Eau. This is pretty much your typical Flan Pâtissier (also called Flan Parisien at times), except it substitutes half of the milk for water. Sounds strange, but it's incredible. The taste is lightly sweet, the texture creamy, yet it holds its shape like a nice flan pâtissier should.

And when I mean incredible, I mean picnic-in-the-woods incredible. (That explains the terrible picture and aluminum foil.)

Even better: Picnic-in-your-apartment incredible.

Flan à l'Eau

adapted from Pierre Hermé

Note: The pastry crust may seem like a hassle to make, especially if you've got a tried and true recipe. Trust me on this, though, and give it a try. It isn't too sweet, which is a great counterpoint to the sweet filling.



for the crust:
180 grams / 12.5 TB unsalted butter, softened
1 TS coarse salt
1 TS granualted sugar
1/2 egg yolk
50 ml / 1.7 fl. oz., or a scant 1/4 c. milk, room temperature
250 grams / 2.5 cups all-purpose flour

Place all ingredients except flour in a food processor, and pulse several times. Add flour, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Work dough into a ball and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Roll dough out on a floured surface to a thickness of approximately 2 millimeters. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Remove from refrigerator and press into a buttered 9-inch springform pan. The flan will be high, so leave at least 1.5 inches of dough on the sides of the pan. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before filling and baking.

for the filling:
375 grams / 1.5 c. + 2 TS milk, preferably whole
370 grams / 1.5 c. water
4 eggs
60 grams / scant 1/2 c. vanilla pudding powder
210 grams / 1 c. + 1 TB granulated sugar

Bring water and milk to a boil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Remove from heat and place in a bowl.

In a large bowl, beat eggs, pudding powder and sugar together and pour slowly into the milk-water mixture. Pour back into the saucepan and cook over low heat, whisking until the mixture starts to boil. Remove from heat and let cool thirty minutes.

Prehat oven to 190°C / 375 °F.

Place filling on top of chilled dough and bake for one hour. Remove form oven, let cool, and refrigerate at least 3 horus prior to serving.

The flan can be stored in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days after baking.