Banana Daiquiri Bread

This recipe came from a book I picked up when we were celebrating our 10th anniversary in the Caribbean. I’ve tried a couple of the things from it before with average to good success. My biggest complaint is the things I *really* want to make involve seafood and we just don’t get the best quality seafood here in the Midwest.   We had some of the most amazing stuff while we were there . . . and mangoes, mangoes, and more mangoes.  I want to go back!

The recipe called for dark rum but I only had light rum on hand and I didn’t want to buy a bottle of dark rum since I might well never use it again. When we stayed at the resort on St. John they gave us a freebie bottle of Cruz Bay dark rum and it was disgusting . . . it smelled like cleaning solution or something and when we tried it with a fruity mixer we both felt ill. Later we learned that dark rum really isn’t meant for fruity mixers (we’re willfully ignorant when it comes to most alcohol info) but we were so turned off that we just cringe at the thought of dark rum. Having said that, I think it would be better in this recipe b/c this is precisely where the stronger flavor would do well. The rum and Cointreau do not stand out strongly in the flavor of this bread/muffin but they accent it nicely. It’s better than a simple banana bread. I would make this again.

Here is the original recipe with my notes:

Banana Daiquiri Bread

1 ¼ c. granulated sugar
¼ c. butter, melted
1 Tbsp Cointreau
3 Tbsp dark rum
2 c. mashed bananas (I used 5 medium bananas, didn’t measure the amount)
½ c. milk (I used 1/2 c. homemade yogurt)
2 eggs, beaten
2 ¼ c. flour
½ t. baking powder
½ t. baking soda
½ t. salt
¼ t. cinnamon (I may have used a little more; I didn’t measure this)

Preheat oven to 350 F and butter a glass loaf dish. Take 1 Tbsp of the flour and lightly coat the bottom and sides of the dish.

In a large bowl using an electric beater combine the sugar and butter. Add the Cointreau, rum, bananas, milk, and eggs.

Sift together all dry ingredients and add to butter mixture. Beat until combined, but do not overbeat.

Bake for 1 hour and insert a toothpick to check for doneness. Continue baking until toothpick comes out clean.

I made these as muffins rather than bread and it made 20 muffins.

Still Tweaking After All These Years

If you ever look at the ‘Today’s Favorite Recipes’ on the side bar, which just counts the top page hits, you’ll notice that Banana Blueberry Muffins is always at the top. It’s a popular search result and gets 10-30 hits per day. It’s a good recipe. I make it a lot myself and have been making it for years. I look at it as a good base recipe from which to springboard into new flavors. Like the Coconut Apricot Hazelnut White Chocolate Chip muffins pictured on that page. Some people would consider that a whole new recipe. I don’t. I consider it a variation.

Yesterday was Black Forest Cake Day and I didn’t make one, but I’ve been thinking about one for a couple of weeks and maybe that influenced my baking this morning. I wouldn’t call this a ‘Black Forest Muffin’ by any stretch . . . not enough chocolate and no whipping cream in sight. But I used up some leftover cherry chips and a half bag of mini chocolate chips on hand, then I added some homemade granola (not *my* homemade granola, but some given to me) in place of nuts, which aren’t usually featured in BFC. Thing 2 said these are the best muffins I have ever made b/c she loves the cherry chips.

Banana Cake

I made this cake for the Worship and Theology Night for our student group. I’m thankful I can bake for students, rather than having just our family (mostly me) eating all the stuff I bake!

This is a recipe that I adapted from Betty Crocker. Have you ever noticed that Betty is the only one who measures in 1/3 c increments??

Banana Cake

2 1/2 c. flour

1 1/2 c. sugar

3 medium bananas

2/3 c. shortening (it’s best with a little Crisco but this time I used all margarine)

1/2 c. finely chopped nuts

2/3 c. buttermilk (or soured milk)

1/2 t. vanilla

1 1/4 t. baking powder

1 1/4 t. baking soda

3/4 t. salt

3 eggs

1/2 1 c. mini chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour 9 x 13 pan or two 9-inch round pans.

Beat all ingredients (except chocolate chips) on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into pan(s).

Bake 35-50 minutes, depending on size of pan used or until tester comes out clean.

Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely. Frost.

I prefer my own concoction of chocolate peanut butter frosting but it’s also good with plain chocolate or plain peanut butter frosting or even cream cheese frosting.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting

1/2 c. creamy peanut butter

1/4 c. cocoa (more, if desired)

3 c. powdered sugar

1 t. vanilla

1/4 c. milk (or more as needed to attain proper texture)

Beat until smooth and spreading consistency.

Can She Bake a Cherry Pie, Charming Billy?

I think the Husband (whose name is NOT Billy) would say that I have passed the Cherry Pie Test for spousal suitability, many times over, in fact, and left my mother some long time ago! Today is National Cherry Pie Day and Thing 1 asked if I would please make a cherry pie b/c she especially likes how I ‘decorate’ them. I couldn’t quite remember how I usually do this and I didn’t have it written down anywhere, but now I will, sort of.

Those of you who frequent this blog but who don’t attend church with me must wonder what sort of baby factory we have when I say that once again I’m making a meal for a couple who just had a baby. Well — it’s a wonderful baby factory! Just wait until August/September b/c I think within a month’s time I know five couples who are expecting a new baby and, NO, we don’t belong to a mega-church. Those whose taste I know better than others will get something beside the usual citrus grilled chicken and potatoes!

For today I wanted something a little different than a generic cherry pie. One of my favorites is Cranberry Cherry Pie. I used the No Fail Pie Crust recipe I posted some time ago. I made a 10-inch deep dish pie for us and I bought a disposable pie pan for the New Parents and those things are considerably smaller — 8 or 9″ and fairly shallow. I ended up with more cherry than cranberry rather than my usual split (typically for my 10-inch deep dish I use 2 cans pie filling and 1 can cranberry sauce but if I would have added more cranberry sauce today, it would have been way too much filling).

3 cans cherry pie filling (2 were ‘lite’/less sugar but not with sugar substitutes and was a ‘more cherries’ can)

1 can whole berry cranberry sauce

orange zest

several (4-5) tablespoons of orange juice concentrate

nutmeg (I’d guess 1-1.5 teaspoons — I just sprinkled it on top and stirred it in)

cornstarch (a couple tablespoons)

I think I usually use egg instead of cornstarch b/c the mix looked much lighter when I stirred it up than I remember it. I haven’t cut into it yet to see how the texture came out because for dessert tonight the family wanted to eat what we made with a little leftover pie crust, a ‘black bottom’ banana cream pie:

Banana cream pie is the Husband’s favorite pie. I sliced bananas into the bottom of the crust, made a chocolate ganauche and poured over them, then topped with the sickeningly sweet concoction of Jell-O pudding (a mix of vanilla and cheesecake flavores, made with less milk than normal) and Cool Whip. The kids love the top and I go along behind them eating up the chocolate left on their plates!

Recipe of the Day — Muffins

I keep getting search hits for a banana recipe with applesauce — and while I mention in the use of applesauce in the Banana Blueberry Muffin recipe, it is not essentially a banana applesauce flavor. The following recipe is one I made from the previously mentioned recipe but tweaked so that it is primarily the apple flavor that one tastes. Enjoy!

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Whole Grain Apple Streusel Muffins

2 ripe bananas, mashed

3/4 cup chunky applesauce (I used to make my own but you can use ‘store-bought’)

½ cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 Tablespoons oil

1 1/4 cups white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Streusel Topping (recipe below)

Mix together bananas, applesauce, brown sugar, eggs and oil. Mix together dry ingredients and stir into banana mixture. Spoon into muffin pan which has been prepared with nonstick spray or paper muffin cups. Mix and sprinkle Streusel Topping on batter. Bake at 350 F about 20 minutes or until done.

Streusel Topping:

2 Tablespoons margarine

2 ½ Tablespoons wheat germ

1 Tablespoon flour

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

Mix until crumbly.

Notes: If wheat germ is not available, use a total of 1/4 cup flour. This original recipe of mine is dated March 1999.