Issue #76: Banana Taoism

Overripe Fruit, Banana Cake versus Banana Bread, plus an All-Purpose Chocolate Glaze, a Correction for Issue #75

Here in the U.S. it’s the morning after—Election Day, that is. And as we were warned, we do not know the results and likely won’t for some time. It’s a good day to do something tangible and gratifying. It’s a good day to bake a cake. —Mitchell

Correction: In last week’s newsletter about hash, I referred to the classic, red-tinged (Yankee) hash made with beets as “Red Velvet Hash,” like the cake. An astute and gracious reader, food journalist, friend, and former colleague Kathleen Purvis noted that she had always known it as “Red Flannel Hash.” Of course, they are one and the same and I had made the wrong red fabric association. (Nate and I just bought flannel sheets for the lakehouse so maybe I had a different flannel on my mind.) Red hash with beets has and will always be known as Red Flannel Hash. This has been corrected in the archive. —md

I just got back from a five-day retreat at the International Center of the Taoist Tai Chi Society of the USA in Dunedin, Florida. It’s only the second in-person retreat held there since COVID-19 descended on us. I feel physically exhausted and spiritually energized.

The International Center of the Taoist Tai Chi Society of the USA in Dunedin, Florida, an affiliate of the Fung Loy Kok Institue of Taoism. After a recent five-day retreat, I came home with some overripe bananas.

Retreat attendees volunteer to care for the center and each other while there, which usually includes cooking (sometimes for as many as 1,000 people). But out of an excess of caution in the midst of a pandemic that just won’t seem to go away, we were on our own for meals. Snacks were offered at break times, when cases of Costco’s addictive mixed nuts and a selection of fruit, mostly apples, oranges, and bananas, were laid out so we could restore our energy. Although I feel like I ate my weight in fruit and nuts daily, we still ended up with quite a lot left at the end. Everyone who drove to the center from the area was encouraged to take some fruit home.

Now, I flew to Florida, of course, but airline travel has never stopped me from taking home food in order to prevent waste. I remember flying home from Montreal once with about two pounds of cooked beets from a giant salad at a restaurant we were unable to finish. So, I sealed a couple of very large, very ripe bananas in Ziploc bags and stuffed them into my carry-on.

Overripe bananas don’t exactly travel well, but they were in good enough shape for banana cake.

When I got home, those poor bananas were somewhat worse for wear. But I had intended to use them to make a banana cake, so it didn’t really matter what shape they were in, as long as they didn’t ooze banana juice all over my tai chi clothes.

You will note that I didn’t say banana bread. Somehow in our enthusiasm to make everything seem homier and healthier, the notion of a cake made from bananas has given way to a denser, more rustic bread. Google banana and in the list of suggested searches you will find banana bread and banana pudding, but banana cake is not an option. In my opinion, as cupcakes are to muffins, banana cake is to banana bread. That is to say, banana cake is lighter, more delicate, more fun—also more delicious.

https://youtube.com/shorts/FzkLGiXZ77Y

When I was growing up in Toronto, we had a Polish neighbor, Mrs. Cooper, who was an avid baker. She was famous for her apple cake, the poppyseed cookies she would make from the dough scraps from that cake, and this banana cake, which she set to cool on her window sill. She baked most of her cakes in a 9-inch x 12-inch Pyrex dish. I usually do the banana cake in two 9-inch round layers, or I make half a recipe and bake it in an 8-inch square. But this week I decided I wanted a more substantial slice, not a layer cake, but a solid wedge. So, I baked the cake in a deep, 8-inch round baking tin with a removable bottom I brought back from England.

These British baking pans, which are quite deep and have removable bottoms, I first saw on the Great British Bake Off.

One thing to come from my addiction to the Great British Baking Show is a set of deep cake pans with removable bottoms. These are not springform pans, rather, they are standard cake baking tins with removable bottoms. The first time I saw the competitors use them on the show I thought, what a smart idea. No need for parchment. The next time I was in London, I made my way to the kitchen section of the John Lewis department store, where I found the sturdy, black, deep cake tins I wanted. Why aren’t these commonplace in America? Obviously, you can’t use a very thin, liquid batter in them. But most cakes seem to work perfectly well and they come out with ease. What’s more, the black metal conducts the heat well—no soggy bottoms

Although my husband thinks much lesser of me because I am not a chocolate person, I happen to really like chocolate icing on my banana cake. (We recently purchased some chocolate covered banana chips that prove the synergy of this flavor combination.) Since baking my way through Michelle Polzine’s amazing Baking at the 20th Century Café cookbook, I always seem to have a container of her simple, delicious, chocolate glaze in the fridge. It keeps forever, from what I can tell. And it is a perfect topping for so many things, this banana cake among them. Polzine uses it on various Viennese tortes. I use it to paint shortbread and digestive cookies, and to coat cakes like this.

RECIPE: Mrs. Cooper’s Banana Cake

(Makes a large sheet cake or layer cake that serves anywhere from 8 to 12 people)

• ¾ cup sour or regular milk, buttermilk, or a combination

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 1 ½ cups sugar

• 3 large eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• ½ teaspoon cinnamon

• Pinch salt

• 1 generous cup mashed very ripe banana (about 2 or 3 bananas, depending on size)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease your chosen baking pan, whether an 8-inch x 12-inch or 9-inch x 13-inch rectangle, or two 8-inch or 9-inch rounds, or one deep 8-inch round with a removable bottom, which is what I used in the photo above.

In a small bowl, combine the sour milk and baking soda. Let sit to froth while you work on the rest of the batter. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and continue beating until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the vanilla, cinnamon, and salt, and mix well. Blend in about half the milk mixture and half the mashed banana. Add 1 cup of the flour and the baking powder and mix until almost incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and banana and then the remaining cup of flour. Stir just until incorporated. Don’t over mix or the cake will be tough.

Transfer the mixture into the greased pan(s). Even out the top with a small offset spatula and bake for anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes, depending on depth of your pan. The larger rectangle and rounds will be done quickly. My single 8-inch layer took about 50 minutes.

Let cool in the pan for about 20 minutes. Then run around the edge with a thin knife and remove the cake to a wire rack (right side up) to finish cooling completely. Ice, if desired, with the chocolate glaze below. Note that like most cakes, this banana cake is best if made, iced and left at room temperature for a day before you intend to serve it so the flavors have a chance to develop.

RECIPE: Michelle’s Chocolate Glaze

(Makes 2 ½ cups, but I often just make half a recipe)

• 10 ounces (285 g) 72% (or thereabouts) chocolate, chopped

• 2 ounces (58 grams) 80% (or thereabouts) chocolate, chopped,

• ½ pound (224 grams) unsalted butter

• 3 tablespoons honey

• Pinch salt

In a medium, heat-proof bowl, combine the two chocolates, butter, honey, and salt. Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir to melt and combine. When about 80% or so of the chocolate has melted, remove the bowl from the simmering water and continue stirring until fully melted. If using right away, keep warm to stay liquid, or else transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge until ready to use. Heat gently to melt back to a liquid before using.

https://youtube.com/shorts/bs434m8VxLQ

As a side note, Mrs. Cooper lived to be over 100 years old, passing away in Toronto in the summer of 2019. Her granddaughter, Tami Antrobus, and I reminisced about her baking on Facebook. She was proud that some of her recipes had been memorialized in my cookbooks.