Monday, 23 February 2015

"Ultimate" Banana Bread

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"Ultimate" Banana Bread


We found ourselves in possession of too many overripe bananas on the counter this weekend, with our designated freezer banana storage already full. I had been meaning to try out the "Ultimate Banana Bread" recipe from the folks at Cooks Illustrated for a bit, so that's the recipe for the banana bread pictured here. Despite being somewhere over 50% banana by raw weight, it's still got a nice moist crumb and while it's got good banana flavor, it's doesn't beat you over the head with it quite as much as you might think.



For a change, I just shot this with the available (tungsten) light in my dining room, with a silver reflector to help fill a little bit. It just happened that the light fell in a decent direction, and a long exposure on a tripod was a good deal simpler than breaking out the strobes. I was stopped down to ƒ/16 to get the focus across the leading edge of one slice back a bit into the loaf, since the layered banana slices on the bread were a nice detail.



Nikon D7000 w/Nikkor 50mm ƒ/1.8 prime, 20s @ ƒ/16, ISO100. Color finishing in Aperture and Nik Viveza.



Ingredients



1 3/4 c (8 3/4 oz.) unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. table salt

6 large very ripe bananas, peeled

8 tbl. melted and cooled slightly

2 large eggs

3/4 c. packed (5 1/4 oz.) light brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 c. walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)

2 tsp. granulated sugar



Directions



Preheat your oven to 350°F with a rack in the lower middle position. Prepare an 8 1/2"x 4 1/2" loaf pan with baking spray (or grease and flour the pan.)



In a medium bowl, put 5 of the bananas. Cover and microwave for about 5 minutes on high until the bananas are soft and releasing liquid (if your bananas have been frozen, you can thaw them this way.) Place a mesh strainer over a medium saucepan, and dump the bananas and any liquid they've released into it. Let them drain for 15 minutes, stirring every so often.



In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.



Return the drained bananas to the medium bowl. Cook the liquid that drained off over medium-high heat until reduced to 1/4 c., pour back onto the bananas, and mash with a potato masher until mostly smooth. Whisk in the butter, eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla.



Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and fold to combine. Don't overmix; a few streaks of flour are fine. Add the walnuts near the end of this process if you're using them (I skipped them here, to accommodate the newly-installed orthodontia of Thing One.)



Pour into the prepared loaf pan. Slice the remaining banana into 1/4" pieces and fan out in two rows down the sides of the loaf, leaving the middle 1 1/2" or so clear to the loaf rises well. Sprinkle the granulated sugar over the top of the loaf.



Bake for 55-75 minutes, until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove and cool at least another hour on a wire rack before slicing.






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