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The Best Banana Bread Ever

3/30/2020

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​From the corner of my eye, I spotted three bananas - no more, no less, and each perfectly spotty like abstract yellow dalmatians.
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​Now, it might not be the most prudent of me to declare this the best banana bread on the planet. I shall not hesitate to admit that I have yet to try every recipe in existence for this classic comfort cake (because it's definitely a cake and not a "bread" by any means), but as any engineering graduate shall preach: If it works, why mess with it?
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​This is not to say that I haven't included my own fair share of tweaks and additions, for while recipes are guidelines that ought to be respected, they're not exactly exempt from customization either.
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Some days, there are cravings for cookies. And at other times, one may settle for nothing other than a warm, moist slice of banana bread.

A slice supple enough to appease the desire for Starbucks;
A slice brimming with the just ideal dose of caramel-like sweetness;
A slice embodying the very essence of ripe-and-nearly-decaying-into-organic-matter-but-not-yet bananas; and
A slice to pair with a morning pour-over or frothy latte, while in practice of Social Distancing. 
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​That, my patient readers/post-skimmers, is this. Adapted from none other than the "divine ruler of the kitchen", I present:
The Best Banana Bread in Existence.
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Just be careful not to over-mix. I'm serious about this point. 
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Ingredients
(Recipe inspired by and adapted from smitten kitchen)
​

- 3 ripe bananas
- 1 egg
- 40 ml olive oil
- 40 g unsalted butter, melted
- 60 g brown sugar
- 60 ml maple syrup *
- 1 tsp vanilla extract *
- 180 g all-purpose flour 
- 5 g baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice *
- pinch of salt
- 1/3 cup chopped walnuts *
​
Directions:

1) Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl and set aside.
2) Using a potato masher, or the less ergonomic alternative of a fork, mash the bananas in a large bowl until chunky bits remain. There is no need to completely pulverize, as the banana bits will continue to disintegrate as the other ingredients are incorporated.
3) Whisk in olive oil and butter, then egg and vanilla extract. Lastly, add in the brown sugar and maple syrup. Mix well.
4) Sift in dry ingredients and proceed to fold in gently. It is crucial that the batter not be over-mixed: the fate of the loaf hinges on this step!
5) When the mixture is 80% incorporated, add in walnuts and fold once more. If desired, save some to top the loaf.
6) Bake at 350 F for 45-50 minutes. Check for doneness using a skewer at the 45-minute mark, and replace into the oven for a maximum of five additional minutes (50 minutes in total) if some stickiness remains.
7) Let cool for 10-15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
8) Serve warm and enjoy!​

Notes
- Millet was omitted from this recipe, with a generous handful of roughly chopped walnuts stepping up in its place instead. Based on familial feedback, grains reminiscent of quinoa commonly result in digestive issues, though nuts did not pose such concerns. Personally known to not be the biggest lover of nuts ("healthy fats"), walnuts were a quintessential ingredient that could not be foregoed for enhanced texture.
- The amount of maple syrup and brown sugar can be adjusted to your desired sweetness, though I found these amounts to be ideal given the ripeness of the bananas on hand. Be mindful of the state of your bananas, as they contribute natural sugars to the batter.
- More often than not, I tend to eyeball the amount of vanilla extract, cinnamon, and synthetic enhancers. The quantity of these ingredients is entirely up to one's preference and normally be substituted to whatever similar entity is present in the pantry - just as long as ratio of dry-to-wet remains consistent, of course.
- Smitten Kitchen's original recipe called for a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. However, pumpkin pie spice was utilized instead, as the latter spices are not regular occupants of my pantry.
- Finally, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of just incorporating the dry ingredients. Overmixing the batter will result in a rigid, dry loaf with the consistency of stale bread, stripping the cake of flavour and moistness. A few sparse pockets of flour are acceptable and can be smoothed out whilst pouring into the pan prior to baking.
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Matcha & Cocoa Sugar Cookies: The Bear and the Bunny

3/20/2020

1 Comment

 
​For the longest time, it hadn't occurred to me that cookies were my go-to guilty pleasure. Made known to me by none other than the ever-observant orangecane, I began to unravel a world of baking possibilities within my kitchen, specifically in the realm of cookie testing.
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Smitten Kitchen is highly commended by my fellow baker and tea-fanatic, with the acts of scaling and substituting strictly spurned. While I had halved the recipe in previous iterations), nevertheless maintaining a single unit of egg, and achieved beyond satisfactory results, I opted to reassess this recipe's egg-to-butter ratio with post-vacation quarantine time on my hands.
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​Oomomo cookie cutters now in possession, I took to the three-hour ordeal of ingredient incorporation, refrigerating, rolling, cutting, stamping, and rolling and cutting again. The tips included in the original post could not be fully utilized in the face of character-shaped cookie cutters (with message stamps), so the traditional, non-time-saving methods were used.
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For maximum enjoyment, pair alongside a freshly-brewed cup of joe or refreshing homemade yuzu ginger ale!
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Ingredients
(Recipe inspired by and adapted from smitten kitchen)

i) Matcha Sugar Cookies ("The Bunny")
- 183 g all-purpose flour
- 11 g matcha powder *
- 2 g baking powder
- 80 g granulated sugar
- 112 g unsalted butter
- 0.5 egg, beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt

ii) Chocolate (Cocoa) Sugar Cookies ("The Bear")
-175 g all-purpose flour
- 20 g unsweetened cocoa powder *
- 2 g baking powder
- 80 g granulated sugar
- 112 g unsalted butter
- 0.5 egg, beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt

Directions:

The same steps apply to both versions.
​
1) Whisk dry ingredients (flour, salt, and baking powder) together in a medium bowl.
2) Beat egg in a small bowl and set aside.
3) Beat softened butter with sugar until fluffy.
4) Add in vanilla and carefully measure out half a portion of beaten egg using a digital scale. Combine well.
5) Sift in dry ingredients and fold using a spatula.
6) Once completely incorporated, let chill for 1 hour in the refrigerator. Using the freezer to quicken firming is <i> not </i> recommended in this case.
7) Remove from fridge and roll out the dough to 0.5 cm thickness. Cut shapes and stamp surfaces as desired.
8) Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes. Depending on the size of your cookies, baking time may be reduced (for smaller, daintier pieces) or increased (for larger slabs). Keep a watchful eye over the cookies and remove from oven when the edges just begin to brown.
9) Let cool for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, the cookies will exhibit crispiness with undertones of earthy matcha or bitter cocoa.
10) Serve and enjoy!

Notes
- Smitten Kitchen's recipe was divided into two equal portions with a great deal of precision, with my implemented adjustments noted below:
  • The amount of granulated sugar was reduced from 100 g per batch to 80 g; this quantity was decided on to maintain the shape of the cookies while preventing an overly sweet finish.
  • The amount of all-purpose flour was reduced from 195 g per batch to 183 g and 175 g in the Matcha and Cocoa versions respectively; please keep in mind that the total weight of dry ingredients remains unaltered.

- Take care to prevent adding too much baking soda to the mix, whether intentional or not, as it will cause the cookies to puff and spread more. Consequentially, they will be more friable and susceptible to breakage. Surface stamping will also be less noticeable.
- Doubling the amount of egg, as I did in my first two trials, will result in a smoother surface and thicker, cakier consistency. Minimal changes to flavour were observed.​
Dealing with Dough - Warnings and Recommendations

i) Too soft/warm
  • Makes stamping difficult and cookie will not retain shape
  • Segments of dough may get stuck in the cookie cutter/stamp, ruining the overall design
  • Method of rectification: Place back into fridge to chill for 30 mins and warm up with hands prior to rolling out.

ii) Too stiff/cold
  • Cracking will occur and surface will reject stamping
  • Method of rectification: Allow the dough to warm up at room temperature, then slowly began to knead with hands to disperse body temperature until ready to roll.
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WHAT DOES "QUIRKY AESTHETICS" MEAN?

Quirky =  a term that commonly refers to something/someone distinctly different and unique
Aesthetics = the visual aspect of things



Together, Quirky Aesthetics refers to the things, events, and happenings seen and perceived by this blog's creator - quirky perspectives in a visual form.

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