Cherry Banana Bread

Feeling like it has been a decade. Yes I am blogging after almost 7 months. The main reason was my health and the new addition to the family. I was blessed with my second daughter 2 months back and surprisingly both my girls were born on the same date. I didn't have any complications except an uncomfortable back pain which totally restricted me to sit with my laptop. Otherwise I was pretty flexible with long walks and doing all the daily chores. In fact this time I was hardly get any time to think of myself since I had to keep myself fully busy with the elder one. But my only concern was to keep my diet healthy. Only the last month restricted my movement. I had a risk of water breakage which led me to confine myself at home for almost 3 weeks. And then the baby arrived and made our life happy. Lil K wished for a sister and she was gifted a sister on her Birthday. So she was more than happy as we were. She is a doting "DIDI" to her baby sis - very protective and concerned about her each and every movement. And thus we spent 2 months and my darlings were growing together making our each and every day from brighter to brightest.

From this year Lil K's school hours got extended from 4 to 6 hours. This made me tensed, worried and forced me to spend some sleepless nights. The main concern was what to give in her lunch box. Lil K is a picky eater when it comes to her tiffin. She hardly eats anything and I get the lunch box returned almost full. So every day I have to go for a brainstorming session to add something new to her lunch box which can satiate my princess's taste bud. I was always very sceptical using bananas in my bakes. I have never tasted any so was totally unsure about the fact what would be the outcome. But again the passionate baker inside me forced me try this recipe. I have bookmarked it long back. This time I thought of executing it crossing my fingers if by any chance my luck favours. And to my surprise not only I but Lil K and all the family members appreciated a lot. It happily adorned the lunchbox and the box came home empty.  So here is the recipe Cherry Banana Bread..
{Note: I was pretty surprised why a recipe that could be easily justified as a cake, named after a bread. Then a few read made me understand that since were baking it in a bread loaf pan, it was therefore considered as a bread, nothing else. }

{Recipe adapted from HERE}

Ingredients

Ripe bananas – 2 -3 medium size (approx 1 cup mashed)

Butter – 4 tbs (room temperature)

Hung Curd – ¼ cup

Brown sugar – ¾ cup

Egg - 1

Vanilla essence- 1 tsp

Flour - 1 cup

Baking soda – 1tsp

Baking powder – ½ tsp

Salt – ½ tsp

Cherry – 10-12

Flour – 2 tbs

Chocolate chips – ½ cup

Chopped Cashew nuts – ¼ cup

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade for 7-8 minutes.
2.  Peel and mash the bananas.
3. In a mixing bowl pour the sugar. Add the bananas and mix well unless the sugar blends nicely. Add the egg and mix. 
4. Then slowly pour the hung curd and add the vanilla essence. Mix until well combined.
5. In a separate container combine nicely the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Do not over mix.
6. Slowly add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and mix well but do not over mix.
7. Add the chocolate chips and the cashews nuts.
8. Seed and slice the cherries and fold them in 2 tbs flour and add them gently to the mixture. Again do not over mix.  .
9. Grease and flour a 9'x 5' loaf pan and then pour the mixture in it.
10. bake it for for 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool it completely and then serve. It tastes better when it is served chill.                                                              

Note:

1. After it gets cool one can keep the bread outside for a day, depending on the temperature. Otherwise suggested to refrigerate and consumed within 3-4 days.

2. It tastes better when it is served chill.

Cherry Apricot Choco Ice Cream Fudge

Everyday we face so many types of incidents and many keep a deep insight in our heart. We share and we start to value on it with a hope may be a little effort can help to change the world. Today I would like to share one incident that I had already shared in my Facebook status. Those who are connected with me had already read this. Now I would liked to share with my readers who have not read it yet…

The other day  on the way to my daughter's school, my driver drew my attention to a biker who was carrying his son of 5-6 yrs old on his back sit. The boy was peacefully sleeping, resting his head on his Father's (guessed) back without holding anything or he was tied up to anything. Just at the glance my heart jumped with some uncanny fear and I told my driver to slow down the car by the biker. I shouted to the man informing that his son was sleeping. The man patted his son with one hand and asked:

"Ki re ghumochhish??? (Are you sleeping??)"

And without stopping he sped away to his destination. After that I didn't know why my heart kept on pounding and all those unwanted fears started to rule over my mind. 

I was really trying to console my mind that everything was fine or would be fine. But could not stop blaming the man, who himself was wearing a helmet but carrying his son without any safety belts, helmets or any kind of protection. Every day we read so many tragic incidents about the bikers till why not people get aware of this???? And we keep on blaming others.

Blaming other is easy, but once you blame yourself life will become easier for you and easier for others too.....

Now let me come to my today's preparation. I bought fruit again with a mind set of using them in my baking or in the desserts. After the huge success of Cherry Dark Egg Less Cake  my confidence level increased another level and this time I bought a pack of Apricot. Honestly speaking I have only tasted this fruit in chocolates. Never in my dreams I have thought of bringing them home and eat or use in some dish. But now I want more fruit in my kitchen either for baking or preparing desserts or something less.  Dry Apricot is very famous and hugely found in India. But the raw fruit I found first time in Kolkata. May be it had missed my eyes as I was a rare visitor of the fruit section where now I love to spend more time exploring the range of fruits available in the market. To read more about Apricot you can visit HERE. Apricot is a very nutritious fruit which helps to protect the heart and eyes, as well as provide the disease-fighting effects of fiber. It also helps to prevent constipation and digestive conditions.

The Apricots I bought, were very tart. I decided to first use them raw rather than baking them.  So the other day I made this divine dessert which melts in mouth and leaves a tart sweetness of the Apricot, Cherry, Chocolate and the Ice Cream. In every bite you will have the tart bite amalgamated with the sweetness.  Now let us have a look to the recipe.

Ingredients:

A Rectangle loaf pan (Size: 6" X 3")

For the Chocolate Layer:

Chocolate- 3/4 cup (Grated)

Whole fat Cream- 1/2 cup (or you can use 3 scoops of Vanilla Ice Cream)

Cherry- 8-10 seeded and sliced

For the Ice Cream layer:

Vanilla Ice Cream-3 scoops

Apricot- 2 seeded and sliced

Method:

1. Put the chocolate in a dry microwave safe bowl. Microwave it for 10secs. Then stir. If the chocolate is not melted then again microwave for 5secs. Microwave and stir alternatively till the chocolate is melted.
2. Add the Ice Cream in it, Mix them nicely and melt for 10 secs more. Make sure the Ice Cream and the Chocolate should blend together nicely.
3. Add the sliced cherries, mix with it and make two separate portions and reserve.
4. Take the 3 scoops of Vanilla Ice Cream. Microwave it for 10secs. Add the Apricots. Mix well.
5. Now take a rectangle loaf pan (Size: 6" X 3"). Take aluminum foil and line in the pan very cautiously and slowly so that there should not me much folds or wrinkles in the foil. The best way is first make the pan upside down then cover the foil and take the impression of the pan. The foil it self will look like the same shape of the pan. Then take the pan and fit the foil in it.
6. Now take the first half of the Chocolate and layer it evenly. Freeze it for 30 mnts.
7. Then pour the Ice Cream layer on the first layer. Freeze it for an hour.
8. Then again take out the pan and pour the remaining chocolate layer on the second layer.
9. Freeze over night and then enjoy the Apricot Cherry Choco Ice Cream Fudge in slices.

Note:

If the weather is too hot then keep the remaining portions  (Which you will use later) of the chocolate and Ice Cream in the refrigerator. Just take them out 10-15 mnts before you will do the next layer.

Cherry Dark Chocolate Egg less Cake

“Your hand and your mouth agreed many years ago that, as far as chocolate is concerned, there is no need to involve your brain.” 
― Dave Barry

Every day I used to stare at the fresh fruit cakes made by my fellow food bloggers, drooled over those and bookmarked the recipes. But I have never gathered that much courage to bake one in fear to discard them. Using fresh fruits in baking was a very rare entry in my kitchen and a challenging job for me too. And I was also not that much confident to make some with a scary heart if I had to trash it as none of the family members ever had shown any decent interest in it. Whenever I asked my Man or my daughter if they would like to have some delicious desserts with fresh fruits they totally hooted out. But that didn't put me down. My utmost passion to experiment the fresh fruits in cooking made me to try secretly a Mango Pie. When I served them, with raising eye brows and faces with disapproval, they tasted it. No need to say they did like the Mango Pie.  I got little bit enthusiastic to use more fresh fruits in my cooking. Then I made Mango Yoghurt/ Aam Doi and Apple Yoghurt. To my surprise this time also they devoured it without any protest. More confident I am now getting more prone towards using fresh fruits in my baking.  Please don't laugh at me, once I prepared Apple Chicken too just to feed my daughter apple who was then a rigid apple hater. 

I have a very bad addiction of getting the impulse of craving for chocolates or chocolate cakes in the wrong hours. This is the reason that whenever I am in my parents’ house, my dad buys creamy chocolate cakes and stores them in the fridge. I often get caught red handed stealing cakes and guttling it surrendering completely to the pleasure of the chocolaty world in the middle of the night sitting on the kitchen platform swinging happily my legs. This time also when my Cherry Dark Chocolate Egg Less Cake was born, I was in intense labour in craving for some chocolate cake. And I got totally relieved and satiated after smacking my creation. Cherry these time was my saviour, who paired heavenly with my creamy icing chocolate cake and gave me the divine satisfaction and the taste that was still osculating my lips, my heart. Now I am off to the recipe:

Ingredients:

Cake pan I used: 5" round

For the Cake:

Flour: 3/4 cup

Baking Soda: less than 1/2 Tspn

Baking Powder: 1 Tspn

Cocoa Powder- 2 Tbspns heaped

Fresh Cherry- 8-10 seeded and cut in halves. (You can use less or more)

Condense Milk: 1/2 tin (room temperature)

Butter- 2 Tbspns heaped (room temperature)

Soda Water - 1/4 cup or less  (room temperature)

For the Icing-

Amul cream- 1 pack (200 gms)

Garted dark Chocolate: 1  & 1/2 cups

For the decoration:

Cherries: As much you need.

Method:

Prepare the Icing first:

1. Warm the cream in a double boiler and melt the chocolate in it. Mix well.
2. After it cools down refrigerate for and hour.

Prepare the cake:

1. Shift all the dry ingredients 3-4 times (Flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder).
2. Mix the condense milk and the butter nicely.
3. Pre heat the oven to 200 C degree.
4. Add the Flour , 3/4 of the 1/4 cup soda water and the cherries to the butter mixture and fold all together nicely.
5. The mixture will be little bit flowing when you drop the mixture from the spatula or spoon. If you need to add the remaining milk then mix it.
6. Grease a pan and dust with flour.
7. Put the cake mixture and bake for 25-30 mnts at 170 C degree. Check pricking a tooth pick coming out clean. It needed bake for 5mnts more.
8. Take it out of the oven and let it completely cool.
9. Teke out the cake form the pan slowly. Now cut the cake to get three layers. Evenly spread the icing in each layer and keep on stacking.
10. You can cover the whole cake nicely with the remaining icing and make simple designs. Or do the rosettes I have done here. Decorate with the cherries and refrigerate for an hour or so to set the cake and enjoy. 

 Note:

1. To know how to make Rosettes Priya of Cook like Priya has shared us her very useful post Here  and for a youtube video visit Here.

2. The cake will stay for 3-4 days in the fridge. 

3. If you want to add eggs then you can add 2 eggs and increase the butter to 200gm.