Avid Baker's Challenge: Nut-Crusted Chocolate-Banana Swirl Cake

My Avid Baker's Challenge club is beginning a new book for 2012, The Weekend Baker by Abby Dodge. And (exciting!), the author herself is getting us started with our first recipe, Nut-Crusted Chocolate-Banana Swirl Cake on page 288.

The new book is really interesting because it details the recipes in stages so you can get started one day and finish everything a day or two later. I can see this coming in very handy around the holidays! It's not something I've done much of before, but I'm looking forward to experimenting with baking in stages.

The Nut-Crusted Chocolate-Banana Swirl Cake (half of which is sitting patiently on my counter-top, waiting for me to eat it) is delicious! The finished cake has a dense crumb but isn't heavy and the bananas keep the cake really moist. Plus, bananas equals healthy, right? Right! The banana flavor is really only obvious in the vanilla swirls of the cake while the chocolate swirls taste pretty much like pure chocolate so it's a nice combination of the two flavors. And even my husband - who doesn't like banana bread - declared this cake to be fantastic and has already polished of several slices.

The only bundt pan I have is this Nordic Ware Heritage bundt pan and I was a little concerned with trying to press my ground nuts into all the small crevices, so I chose instead to make 2 loaf cakes instead of 1 bundt cake. It was easy peasy to butter and nut the plain pans and I think the loaf shape - wrapped in some clear cellophane and a pretty ribbon - would be great for gifting. With the change in pan shape, I had to bake the cakes for an additional 15 minutes (until an inserted toothpick came out with a few crumbs).

The other change I made was to follow our ABC leader Hanaâ's suggestion of creaming the butter and sugar before adding the banana (I also squished up the banana first). I got a little nervous when adding the banana - as the batter seemed to separate - but all was well in the end. Overall I was very pleased with our first Weekend Baker cake and I can't wait for next month's Glazed Cinnamon Rolls! I'm curious to see how they'll compare to my Overnight Cinnamon Buns (which I loved) from last year's ABC book, Baking for All Occasions by Flo Braker.

mise en place

my two loaf pans, generously buttered and "nutted"

hmmm...getting nervous here as the batter separated
when the bananas were added

half the finished batter is separated and the melted chocolate is mixed in

spoonfuls of the vanilla/banana and chocolate batters are marbled together

the finished loaves...the whole house smelled delightful

I couldn't wait for it to cool...

moist, tender...and delicious!

Bye for now...

Avid Baker's Challenge: Frangipane Ripple Chocolate Pound Cake

Flo Braker's Baking for All Occasions was the 2011 Avid Baker's Challenge book and I wrapped up my participation with the October selection...the delicious Frangipane Ripple Chocolate Pound Cake (page 335).

This cake was a real adventure to make because I also decided to make the almond paste - from scratch - which goes into the frangipane. Now, full disclosure, I have never been a fan of almond flavored baked goods...plain almonds? Great! Chocolate covered almonds? Yum! But marzipan? No thanks! But last year I got my first inkling that maybe, just maybe, it's actually almond extract flavoring that I don't like and/or I had just been served some really bad marzipan as a child. My perhaps-almonds-are-not-so-bad revelation happened in one of my CSCA baking classes last winter when we made a pear-frangipane tart and, while the pear was mushy and flavorless, the frangipane was amazing. Ditto in another class when we made croissants and (to my utter shock and disbelief) the almond croissants were my favorite! I was still not totally convinced though, to the point that when I made a Swedish Pear and Almond Cream Cake for the HCB ring last June, I omitted the almond cream. I know now that was a big mistake.

I decided that for this cake I was going to go all in - including the almond paste - no substitutions allowed. The ABC's fearless leader, Hanaâ, recommended a great almond paste recipe from imafoodblog.com. And not only was the almond paste very easy to make, it was so incredibly yummy that I ate the leftover 2 ounces on its own over the next couple of days! It was so rich and delicious that a small pinch felt like a big treat.

Another great example that only good things can come from being adventurous in the kitchen.

mise en place for the almond paste

and, voila, homemade almond paste...so delicious!

additional ingredients for the frangipane

my frangipane, ready to go

mise en place for the chocolate cake

butter and sugar, creamed for 4-5 minutes

the finished batter

laying down the second layer of the frangipane

and...topped with the rest of the batter

done! It smelled divine.

I love this bundt pan...makes the prettiest crusty-edges

here's my frangipane "ripple"

looks beautiful when sliced

and tastes delicious when eaten!

We're moving on to a new book for the Avid Baker's Challenge 2012 - The Weekend Baker by Abby Dodge - and the first recipe was chosen for us from the author herself! Can't wait to get baking.

Bye for now...