August 5, 2008

Tuesdays with Dorie: Black-and-White Banana Loaf

I was indecisive about this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, a chocolate-swirled banana bread that was chosen by Ashlee of A Year in the Kitchen (you can find the recipe there).

At first, I wasn't going to make it because I don't really like banana bread. Then, I realized that I had all the ingredients on hand, including a few over-ripe bananas in the freezer. I figured I could take the loaf to work on Saturday. But, it was really hot here over the weekend. The weatherman actually forecasted "stifling heat and suffocating humidity." So, I wasn't about to bake something for over an hour in my already-hot, central-air upstairs only house. The temperature was a bit cooler Sunday evening, and I decided to make the loaf--finally--in an attempt to procrastinate averaging final grades for my summer classes.


And, boy oh boy! Am I glad I made it! It was really good!! The banana flavor wasn't overwhelming and was so good with the chocolate. Unlike most banana breads, this is more like a dense, moist cake.

The recipe is basically a banana & rum batter (I used Wild Turkey American Honey, because I had no rum in the house), half of which is mixed with melted chocolate & butter then marbled together.


I was pretty impressed with the marbling, if I do say so myself. And it was easy to do. I simply used an ice cream disher to layer scoops of the two batters. First, a scoop of white batter went into one corner of the loaf pan. A scoop of chocolate batter was added next to it...and so on until the first layer was finished. I then alternated scoops, layering chocolate on top of white and white on top of chocolate, until I used all of the batters. I ran a butter knife gently through the batters to swirl them just a bit.

I like this so much that I plan to make another loaf soon. Well, as soon as the weather cools down again.

13 comments:

Bumblebutton said...

Oooo your marbleing is very impressive! Extra nice when you don't have to shop for a recipe. Glad it was delicious!

Sarah said...

Wow! Your marbling is great! Looks yummy.

Heather B said...

It looks delicious! Great job!

Pamela said...

I must agree that this is some seriously impressive marbling! Sounds like you enjoyed it and you did a great job.

Engineer Baker said...

Very pretty marbling - love the tip. I'm glad you liked it.

Susie Homemaker said...

very jealous of that marbling.
very.
i won't be back.
(just kidding! i'm a stalker. i'll be back.)

Anonymous said...

Very nice marbling!

Anonymous said...

Wow! That looks absolutely beautiful! I'm glad you liked it!

Anonymous said...

Wow! That looks absolutely beautiful! I'm glad you liked it!

Rigby said...

Very nice cake! This would be perfect during the cooler months with a hot cup of coffee or hot chocolate :)

White Sugar Brown Sugar by Rachel Garlinghouse said...

It's so pretty!

Anonymous said...

That is some mighty fine marbling. And an ice cream scoop! Genius.

Fillmore Martin Photography said...

that looks super yummy!!