Banana Chocolate Walnut Loaf & Muffins

I love banana bread and I love chocolate and I love yoghurt, so I thought why not a cake that combines all of these into one. It has little added fat since the yoghurt and bananas make for a moist crumb and the whole wheat flour and walnuts makes for a healthier nutritional profile and complements the banana and chocolate flavours so well. The secret ingredient is a good pinch of cayenne pepper that stimulates the taste buds and intensifies all the flavours. (Try a pinch in your usual recipe and taste the flavour boost.)

I like to make a few muffins at the same time, these satisfy my hunger instantly so I can let the loaf cool to room temperature.

One-Bowl Banana Chocolate Walnut Cake (Makes 1 large loaf & 6 muffins)

Ingredients
3 cups self-raising whole wheat flour
½ cup dark cocoa powder (Belgium if possible)
1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
2½ tsp ground cinnamon
Good pinch of hot cayenne pepper (this stimulates the taste-buds and increases the taste)
1 cup dark brown sugar (in the US add 1½ cups cane sugar, Americans have a sweet tooth, if you use white sugar the cake will not be as dark and shiny)
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 cups natural set (Greek) yoghurt
3 eggs
1½ tablespoons oil
3 large bananas, mashed

Method
Step I Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Grease a large loaf [23cmx13cmx7cm (2litre) 9”x5”x3”(4.5 pints)] pan and a six ½ cup muffin pan with cooking spray oil.

Step II Combine flour, soda, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, sugar and walnuts in a large bowl. Stir in milk, eggs, oil and bananas until just combined.

Step III Spoon into muffin pan filling ¾ full smooth surface. Spoon the remaining mixture into the loaf pan and smooth surface (it should be over ¾ full). Bake muffins for 20-25 minutes and the loaf for 60-70 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Stand in the pan for 5 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

The need to knead and the need for speed

Sometimes I get the urge to knead and I have a dough that needs about 30 mins to become smooth and elastic this is because we use dry cornmeal and potato flour which require a long time to incorporate into the dough. It is a very fast rising bread because potato flour really makes yeast grow fast. The cornmeal makes for a golden crumb and an even brown crust and the cheese makes for long lasting bread and the 'OO' white flour makes for a soft texture.

Sometimes I get the need for speed kneading and the same recipe with a little resting makes this possible. To reduce the kneading time to 3 mins. After you have roughly mixed the dough let it rest for 27mins and knead for 3 mins


Cheese, Cornmeal, Potato and 'OO' Wheat Bread
3 cups 'OO' wheat flour
1/2 cup potato flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 cups warm water
2 cups of grated cheese (strong tasting)
2 tablespoons oil
2 teaspoons yeast
1 tablespoon salt

Method
Mix dry ingredients into a large bowl.
Make a well in the centre add water and oil.
Roughly mix into a dough.
Knead for 30 mins. (Or let the dough rest for 27 mins and then knead for 3 mins).
Return to bowl and cover with plastic wrap until doubled in size about 30-40 mins.
Lightly punch down the dough spread out on counter and spread with cheese.
Roll up the dough and shape into a round or log.
Loosely cover loaf with plastic wrap and let double in size about 15-20 mins.
Preheat oven to 460C (500F) for 45 mins. Add small cast iron pan on bottom of oven.
When ready to bake add water into pan to release steam.
Immediately place loaf onto baking stone for 20 mins.
Reduce heat to 220C (440F) bake for a further 20 mins.
Reduce heat to 200C (400F) for 20 mins.



Notice how the yellow cheese is spread out in the crumb of the loaf. I like the large holes this happens because of the folding process.

Three day bread (No Knead)

Time is what makes bread taste good. The longer it takes the dough to rise the better the taste. This loaf takes three days to ferment this is achieved by using a a very very small pinch of yeast in the dough and letting it rise in the refrigerator for a long long time. Also using a baking stone makes for a crisp crust.

Recipe
5 cups (750gs) of strong bread flour (14% gluten)
2 cups (500 mls) water
pinch of yeast (use as little as possible)
1 tablespoon of salt

Method
Place all the ingredients into a large bowl, roughly mix and place into refrigerator covered with two layers of plastic wrap
Wait three days until the dough comes together and looks like kneaded dough
Take dough out of refrigerator for one hour
Punch down dough and shape into loaf, let rise until doubled in size about 1-2 hours
Preheat oven to 250C (480F) with baking stone in the oven
Bake of 20 mins
Reduce to 220C (430F) bake of 20-30 mins until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped


The bread worked out so goood! When I took the loaf out of the oven it started to 'sing' (the crust made loud cracking noises) as the French say this is a great sign of a thin crisp crust and the crumb was soft and chewy.

If you click on the first photo you will see a closeup of the crackes that formed on the loaf.