I have all of her cookbooks but have stuck to a few solid recipes over the years. Her White Chocolate and Banana Cake is one of my favorites along with Cream Cheese Brownie, Chocolate Mint Sticks, Farmer's Wife's Pecan Cookies, and Chocolate Rum Espresso Cheesecake. There's a great story that goes along with the cheesecake recipe and I'll save that for another post since this is just a quick, "hello how are you doing post."
As you can guess by the name of the recipes, bananas are the main ingredient and there is white chocolate as well which adds a sweet touch. The hidden gems in this recipe, which I like to call out since some people do not like or are possibly allergic to some ingredients, are coconut, walnuts and darm rum or brandy. I prefer dark rum specifically Flor de Cana which I discovered on a girl's trip to Costa Rica in 2004. Another unique feature of this recipe is how the pans are "dusted" so they do not stick to the pans. Instead of the typical butter and flour, Maida Heatter's recipe calls for wheat germ which add a nice crust all the way around the bread.
I tweaked the banana "bread" recipe, as I call it, since I bake it in mini loaf pans and this was just a mini tweak. The recipe calls for sesame seeds and I happened to be all out of plain sesame seeds. I used the last of them the last time I seared some Ahi Tuna for dinner. All I had left was a small amount of black sesame seeds. Turns out I like the way they added some contrast to the loaves. The loaves definitely have a more rustic look to them...and still delicious as ever.
The recipe as it appears in the book will make about 5 mini loaves. I make 1-1/2 times the recipe so I can get 8 good sized mini loaves per batch. The cooking time will also need to be adjusted to about 34 - 38 minutes when baking 8 loaves. calls for a hold list from friends.
A friend requested a gluten free version of this recipe so that may be my next tweak. I'm luckily not gluten free but since so many people are, it would be a crime if this amazing recipe couldn't be shared with them.
White Chocolate and Banana Cake Recipe from Maida Heatter's Best Dessert Book Ever p. 62
Diana J Prause
I may not run with scissors but I do bake with nuts :-)
