Banananananananana Bread.
Q: Why use old bananas in banana bread?
A: Because nobody else would actually eat the rotten thing.
The REAL answer: The banana, unlike beans, truly is a magical fruit. According to Christie Ledeker, a graduate student pursuing her Masters degree in Food Science, said the main reason for using overripe, brown bananas is a texture thing. If you were to use a fresh banana and mash it up there would be bigger chunks of the fruit and wouldn’t blend as well in the mix.
Christie said the next reason is because a brown banana will be more sweet. So sweet, in fact, one would not want to eat it plain. When the banana ripens its peel changes from green to yellow to brown because it is loosing chlorophyll (the stuff that makes leaves green). As it is ripening, the color-changing peel releases nutrients into the banana which cause more sugars to form and thus create a sweeter tasting fruit.
Banana Bread
10 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon butter
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 large bananas)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups cake flour
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup toasted, chopped walnuts
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Lightly grease a 9 1/4 by 5 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan with 1 teaspoon of the butter.
Puree the bananas, sour cream, eggs and vanilla in a food processor.
Sift the cake flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fixed with a whisk attachment. Add the remaining 10 tablespoons butter and mix on medium-low speed until blended, about 30 seconds. Add the banana mixture in 3 batches, scraping the sides of the bowl and mixing on medium speed between each addition. Fold in the nuts.
Pour into the loaf pan. Bake until lightly browned and bread bounces back to the touch, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe courtesy of Emeril Lagasse of the Food Network.
*This was a good loaf of bread as good bread goes and as good bread goes it left. After it was made it was devoured within 30 minutes amongst 3 roommates!!!
