When I was 12 years old back in the Philippines, I baked a banana tart with the skin on. I was not sure whether my family thought that I was hopeless. But my uncle, bless his soul, loved it. Thinking about it now after so many years, he might have been very happy because he had a substantial dosage of tryptophan and tyrosine. Whatever it was, it encouraged me to improve my baking skills. Thank you my dear uncle for eating my banana tart!
At work, I maintain a happy kitchen. I believe that happy cooks make better food. I have proven this, time and time again. "Hells Kitchen" is never going to work for me. Apart from doing my best to be a "great boss", there is an ample supply of bananas in my kitchen.
If you are looking for the best banana bread recipe, I may have the qualifications to have one. I have tested so many recipes and this is my best! This recipe is very easy to make. Even my friends, who do not own a mixer could make this.
Victor's Banana Bread with Toasted Pecans and Chocolate
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| If your ingredients are organized, this will take less than 5 minutes to prepare. |
2 Large ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 1/4 cups of flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsps. cinnamon
1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Beat the eggs until foamy. Add the sugar slowly, then the oil in a steady stream to make an emulsion. Mix in the bananas.
2. Sift the dry ingredients in to the banana mixture. Mix until blended, do not over mix.
3. Add the pecans and the chocolate. Mix and pour into buttered loaf pan or a tube pan.
4. For a loaf pan, bake for 1 hour.
I chose an 8" tube pan to bake this banana bread. For 8" tube pan, bake for 50 minutes.
If you have a different size pan, remember, the wider the pan is, the thinner the bread will be and will bake faster. Bake until the loaf springs back when touched or insert a skewer. it's ready when the skewer comes out clean.
This banana bread may not be a complete breakfast but it is good to eat to start your day. Since, this blog is flirting with food, I have to find a way to make this recipe even more appealing.This bread can be use for french toast...happy toasts. I have made it as a dinner dessert as well. I transformed it into a torte with some vanilla buttercream, chocolate ganache and candied pecans.
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I finished this torte in front of my guests. So , I have to make it simple enough for them to want to make it. I know for sure that they were looking forward to eat the dessert.
I split the banana bread into three layers, then I brushed them with honey and rum syrup and filled each one with vanilla buttercream, chocolate ganache and I garnished it with chopped
candied pecans.
Banana is a happy food because it is a good source of tryptophan and tyrosine which is synthesized in the brain to produce serotonin and dopamine.
These are the happy molecules. Dopamine from the skin of the bananas is higher, which explains my uncle's experience years ago.
My friends watched me make the torte, and I watched them eat it!
Happiness!
Note: Happy Banana means something else in some countries.
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