Congratulations to Alison “Bakesale Betty” Barakat and her husband, Michael Camp, on their birth of their daughter, Hazel Mary on November 6. Mom and baby are doing well. I got to chat briefly with Betty when I stopped by on Saturday for a fried chicken sandwich and a slice of really yummy apple pie. Truly a guilty pleasure but I did take a short bike ride before going there. 
This week’s treat is very yummy banana bread. I decided to plate a few slices, garnish them with strawberries and take a few photos.
The banana bread recipe is adapted from the Fanny Farmer Pumpkin Bread recipe.
Banana Bread Recipe
1 1/2 cups (210g) flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup (200 g) sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (1/4 L) banana purée
1/2 cup (1 dL) canola or vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 dL) chopped walnuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Sift together the flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda. Mash the bananas into a puree and be sure to leave it a little lumpy. Mix the banana, oil, eggs, 1/4 cup of water, honey, and cinnamon together, then combine with the dry ingredients, but do not mix too thoroughly. Stir in the nuts (optional.) Pour into a well-buttered 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.
Topping
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Spread liberally over the banana bread dough before placing in the oven. The aroma will make you want to hurt someone!!! Bake 50-60 minutes until a thin skewer poked in the very center of the loaf comes out clean. Turn out of the pan and let cool on a rack. Makes one loaf. Can easily double the recipe.
Thanks to Bakesale Betty for her guidance and mentoring on this yummy recipe.
Updated 08/16/2017: Banana Chocolate Chip Cherry Bread: I cannot believe I posted this recipe 11 years ago. I usually make a double batch of the banana bread. Right before folding it into the pans, I add about a cup of dried cherries and chocolate chips to the mixture to make Banana Chocolate Chip Cherry Bread. It has become a big hit and I make it often. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes with the added moisture. Enjoy!!!
This photo was from my first night apprenticing at Bakesale Betty. My personal goal is to sharpen my baking skills. Also, this is a far cry from being a computer geek. It was a lot of work but very fun. More photos here.
My task for the evening was prepping rhubarb pies. Betty started me out cutting out dough in circles and pressing it into the pie tins. Next, I prepared the rhubarb filling which consist of 25 pounds of rhubarbs, sugar, freshly squeezed orange juice, and orange zest. I mixed the rhubarb filling in a very large steel bowl with a large paddle which was like an oar. I rowed through the mixture and poured it into the pie shells. I took a dinner break and feasted on Betty’s pasta with portobello mushrooms (very yummy!) then she showed me how to make the lattice to cover the pies. I had never made a lattice before. It was much simpler than I expected but it took me a couple of pies to get the hang of cutting away the extra dough. The final touch was brushing the lattice with cream and spreading sugar on the top of each pie. I loaded each cookie sheet of pies on the rack and placed the rack into oven. I prepped a total of 13 pies. I learned from Betty that it is not about speed but quality when baking.
Betty’s oven rack is amazing. The rack spins in the oven so the baked goods cook evenly. Here are the finished pies:
Bon appetit!
