Tuesday, January 26, 2010

TWD: Cocoa-Nana Bread

I'm going to come right out and say it. This one was a bit of a disappointment. It was neither cocoa nor banana enough for me. And it certainly wasn't bread. This was cake. Not that that's a bad thing, but the whole name led me to believe that this was going to be something else.

This was a simple recipe to make (whew!) It calls for a lot of cocoa. More than in most recipes. I use a black cocoa from KAF. It makes dark, rich, wonderful things. Because of all the cocoa, I was hoping for a rich, chocolate taste. The cake also uses two ripe bananas. I just want to show you what a RIPE banana that is ready for baking looks like. (I throw them in the freezer when they start getting black. That's why they look wet)


I used 2 1/2 because that is what I had in the freezer. This was a very thick batter. I was a little surprised with the instructions at the end. Normally, when there is a liquid to add, it is added alternately with the dry ingredients. In this case it was all dry and then the buttermilk. Thanks again to my trusty stand mixer.

I used the full baking time plus a couple of extra minutes. It was tasted the first night by some friends of the husband. They all thought it was ok, but it would have been better with ice cream. The next day it was better. I'm discovering that with certain baked goods, a bit of ripening is helpful. Having said that, I didn't love this. It wasn't strongly cocoa flavored, and it wasn't strongly banana flavored. It's as if the two flavors almost cancelled each other out. I have other things that I love to make when I have black bananas.

Here's the full cake.

Here's a slice begging for some ice cream. Those lighter brown spots are semi-sweet chips. When they say black cocoa, they aren't kidding.


Thank you to Steph of Obsessed with Baking for choosing this one. I don't think this will be joining my baking list any time soon. Ah well. It's good to try new things anyway.

15 comments:

Marthe said...

Wow, that really is a black loaf! Sorry you didn't like it, I was very happy with this recipe though!

Bella Baker said...

too bad it wasnt a winner for you. This recipe seems to be getting a lot of mixed reviews. I happened to love it! I do agree though, that it was definitely more of a cake!

spike. said...

I bet it was better with ice cream- I'll have to try that

Gracie said...

I am sorry you didn't like this...I love it. I don't think I would've made it on my own.

I agree...this is not bread, this is cake!

Susan said...

Eww! Black bananas! :D I am not a fan of bananas in baked goods and definitely not a fan of over ripe bananas. Your bread? Gorgeous!

Flourchild said...

My goodness that is some dark bread..it's begging for a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Kayte said...

I have never heard of black cocoa, but now that I see your bread, that really is black looking! Wow. Guys here loved it, but then you probably figured that already. Can you believe we have chocolate the next THREE weeks??? Me neither. See you next week, hopefully loving that one a little better than this one, you think? Hawks beat the Hoos in the HooHawk bb game in Hooville. I was banking my odds and wore my HooHawk shirt...half IU shirt, half Iowa shirt sewn together...LOL. It's very unique. Doesn't win you many friends, though.

Paula said...

What do you normally use the black cocoa for? Does it taste different or just look different? I'm with you on the cake/vs bread idea.

Carol Peterman/TableFare said...

Sorry this one didn't wow you. I too pulled ripe bananas from my freezer stash to make this. Because this was such a cocoa heavy recipe, the black cocoa powder may have been too mild to really carry the bread. Though the color is super bold, black cocoa is really mild in flavor because it's so heavily dutched. If you do make it again, you might try a different cocoa powder and see if you like it better.

Meg said...

I didn't care for this one either...glad to see I am not the only one! I like the idea of the ice cream to help it out...maybe a trifle too! :)

Anonymous said...

Wow that's black! I skipped this one, so I can't quite imagine what it would taste like. I do like chocolate chips in banana bread.

Pamela said...

That is some rich and dark cake you've got there. And those bananas are SCARY ripe! Sorry it wasn't what you were hoping for.

TeaLady said...

That is the darkest chocolate I have ever seen. Talk about chocolate.....

Megan said...

I am dying to try the black cocoa from King Arthur - I love the color!

That said, I've heard the same sentiments several times regarding this bread - it just didn't have a lot of flavor.

Katrina said...

Wow, that is black!
I love all things banana and didn't love this either. I thought it seemed just like the cocoa buttermilk cake, but with a little banana. I didn't care for the cake either. Oh well, it's fun to try all these recipes.