Banana Cake with Walnuts

I'm always looking for ways to use things up, in this case bananas and buttermilk.  It seems we always have a few bananas that languish until they are black and unattractive looking.  While they are sort of unpleasant to eat, the banana flavor actually gets stronger, which makes them ideal for flavoring a nice, moist cake like this.  The original recipe calls for two bananas, but I think three or four is even better.  You'll get a stronger banana flavor and they make the cake more moist.  The original recipe in Rosie's All-Butter, Cream-Filled, Sugar-Packed Baking Book did not call for walnuts, but I think they add a nice crunch.

BANANA CAKE WITH WALNUTS

Butter for greasing the pan

2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
5 Tablespoons AP flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons buttermilk, at room temperature
1 cup mashed banana  (3 or 4 very ripe, skin should be mottled with brown)
10 Tablespoons (5 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 Tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups toasted walnuts, cut into large pieces (optional)

Cream Cheese Frosting (optional)

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Lightly grease a 13x9-inch baking pan with butter.  I like the pyrex pan for this cake so it doesn't dry out too much.

Sift both flours, the baking soda, and salt together into a small bowl and set aside.

In a second bowl, mash the banana

and stir in the buttermilk.

Set aside.

Cream the butter, oil, both sugars, and the vanilla

in a medium-size mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Add the eggs to the butter mixture one at a time and mix on medium speed after each addition until blended, about 10 seconds.  Scrape the bowl each time.

Add one-third of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture with the mixer on low speed, and mix for 8 seconds.  Scrape the bowl.  Add half the banana mixture, mix 10 seconds, and scrape the bowl.

Add the rest of the dry ingredients and the rest of the banana mixture and mix for 10 seconds.

Add the toasted walnuts

and scrape the bowl and stir the batter several times by hand to mix thoroughly.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake until the cake is golden, springs back to the touch, and a tester inserted in the center comes out mostly clean with some moist crumbs clinging to it.  In my oven 28 minutes is perfect.  Try not to overcook it.

Let the cake cool completely in the pan on a rack.

Eat as is, or frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
16 ounces powdered sugar

Start by mixing the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla to blend.

Next, add the powdered sugar.  You can add it in two parts, and start the mixer very slowly to reduce the powdered sugar-dust that tends to want to coat everything in sight.

 After you have all of the sugar mixed in, it will look like this:

Continue mixing for about 5 minutes, or until the frosting is light and fluffy and it looks like this:

I pour it all on top of the cake, then spread it into the corners.

I like to serve it fresh, then refrigerate it for about 2 hours uncovered.  Once the frosting has set, I cover the pan with plastic wrap overnight.  The next day I cut it into serving-size pieces, wrap in plastic in groups of 2 or 3 pieces, and place in a plastic freezer bag.  To serve, place a single piece on a plate, and microwave for 23 seconds at 40% power.  You may have to do a little trial and error with your own microwave...if you go too far, either in time or power, the frosting will melt (which is still tasty, but not so attractive).

Malaysian Glazed Chicken Wings

This recipe ran in Food and Wine in 2006, and we've enjoyed it countless times.  The recipe comes from a NYC restaurant called "Fatty Crab," and they have a line of sauces at Williams-Sonoma.
This recipe is really very simple, and the flavors are sweet, hot, and salty all at once.  You can modulate the heat somewhat by using fewer chile peppers or less piquant ones.  I went a little crazy this time and used Arbol's which are really hot.  Usually I use Tien tsin's which are hot, but not searing.   You can also substitute chile flakes, which will give you even more control over the heat.  Don't be concerned that they will be too hot, because there's enough sweetness in the sauce to moderate it.

The recipe calls for 5 1/2 pounds of chicken wings, which usually come with all three segments attached.  However, since I buy the organic ones at Wegman's, they only come divided into the two useable segments, so I bought 5 pounds of them.  If you do use the ones that are already broken down, you will need to decrease the roasting time from 40 minutes to about 30 to 35 minutes.

MALAYSIAN GLAZED CHICKEN WINGS

12 small dried red chiles (or substitute 1 Tablespoon chile flakes)
3 Tablespoons coriander seeds
1 1/2 Tablespoons fennel seeds
1 Tablespoon cumin seeds

1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cups molasses
1/2 cup Asian fish sauce
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/3 cup soy sauce
8 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
One 4-inch piece of fresh ginger, thinly sliced

5 1/2 pounds chicken wings

Toasting spices:

In a small skillet, toast the chiles, coriander seeds, fennel seeds and cumin seeds over moderate heat until fragrant, about 3 minutes.  Cool and then transfer to a spice grinder or mortar, and grind to a fine powder.

Marinade:

In a medium bowl (or I like to use a 4 cup measuring cup since I'll need to pour it over the wings later on), whisk together the sugar, molasses, fish sauce, soy sauces, garlic, ginger, and the toasted spices.

I use a 2-gallon plastic bag, or you can use two 1-gallon bags, in which case you will have to approximately divide the marinade between them.

Place the bag (or bags) in a pan, just in case there is leakage.  Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight, turning occasionally.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Remove the wings from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels; reserve the marinade.  Arrange the wings on 2 wire racks set over a foil-covered baking sheet.

Roast for about 40 minutes, or until well browned and cooked through.

Meanwhile, strain the marinade into a medium saucepan,

and bring to a boil.

Cook over moderately high heat until thick and sticky, about 20 minutes.  Transfer the marinade to a large bowl.  when the wings are done,

add them to the bowl and toss to coat with the sauce.

Pile on plates and serve immediately.  They're messy AND delicious.

(In the photo above, I served them with barbecued pork fried rice, which I'll write about in a future post).

Molten Chocolate Cake

Warm, liquid-y chocolate cakes were all the rage in restaurants about 10 years ago.  Now it's warm brownies with ice cream and sauce on them...an over the top dessert you would have to have only eaten a salad to want.  That's the problem with intense desserts, but if you plan carefully with a very light meal, you can enjoy this every now and then.

You will need small ramekins for this, ones that hold about 3/4 to 1 cup.  I tried two methods.  The first is this device, which is designed for creme brûlée.  It will yield a very liquid-y cake, and these hold 1 cup.  I would say that this is a dessert for serious chocolate lovers with big appetites.

When you make a custard you put water in the bottom of the pan, and it has the handy lifters to get them out, taking much of the danger out of the process.  For these cakes you don't use the water, but the lifter still greatly simplifies the process.  It's made by Chicago Metallic and costs about $16 at Amazon.

The second is a fluted pan that holds 3/4 cup, that I found at Williams-Sonoma for 59 cents each:

The cake will hold it's shape better because the metal and the direct contact with the pan will cook the bottom more.  There will be significantly less gooey-ness, and more crispness.  It's also a smaller serving, so more manageable at the end of a meal.  Your choice.

MOLTEN CHOCOLATE CAKE

14 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) unsalted butter
6 large eggs
6 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar
1 cup AP flour

Generously butter eight 1-cup ramekins.

Stir chocolate and butter in heavy saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth.  Always put the butter on the bottom of the pan so it melts and creates a buffer for the chocolate.

Cool slightly.

Whisk eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla in large bowl to blend.  I used my Pourperfect bowl because it has a spout, but you can use any bowl.

Whisk in 3 cups powdered sugar,

then chocolate mixture, which will get rid of any clumps of confectioner's sugar,

then flour.

Transfer batter to prepared dishes, filling to top and dividing equally.

(Can be made 1 day ahead.  Cover and refrigerate.)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Bake cakes until batter has risen above the dish, top edges are dark brown, and centers are still soft and runny, about 15 minutes, or about 18 minutes for refrigerated batter.

Run small knife around cakes to loosen (this will not be possible or necessary for the metal fluted pans).  Allow cakes to rest in dishes 5 minutes.

Using hot pad and holding dish very firmly, place ramekin on one plate,

then invert it onto the dish you plan to serve it on.

Remove first plate,

then lift the ramekin off and cake should flow out onto serving plate.  Use an offset spatula to be sure you get all of the rich, gooey chocolate out.

The cakes in the metal pans will be cool enough to handle in 5 minutes, and can simply be inverted on the plate and lifted off.

Repeat with remaining cakes.  Serve with ice cream.

We used mocha almond fudge ice cream, but coffee, cinnamon or vanilla would also be excellent choices.  Makes 8-10.