Elizabeth Prueitt, one of the owners of our wonderful SF bakery Tartine, was on Martha Stewart the other day making quiche. I love her style, which is laid-back but with meticulous attention to detail (she and her husband studied in France). You cannot cheat or improvise much in baking - it is truly chemistry. In order to get the desired results, you must follow exact measurements, methods, and cooking times with scientific accuracy. As a recipe-lover, this appeals to me - and I also love the level of difficulty that baking presents. I think that is why it is so satisfying when something turns out well, and so crushing when something fails.
I have to admit that I have had the Tartine cookbook for over a year, and while I have spent many hours pouring through its pages, I had yet to make a recipe. Some of them simply looked too involved (am I ever going to need to make croissants from scratch? Not unless I live somewhere so remote that they can't be bought - not very likely), and others had no pictures and therefore not as much appeal.
I had some ripe bananas and I had been considering the recipe for Banana-Date Tea Bread, so when I was at the store today and found myself face-to-face with a package of organic Barhi dates, I took it as a sign from the food gods that tonight I would finally pop the cherry of the Tartine cookbook and make a recipe.
Now, baking presents many challenges (no overmixing! fold, don't stir! have your ingredients at room temperature!), but I think that I have the biggest challenge of all in my kitchen, my asshole of an oven, that lies to me on a regular basis. I swear I can hear it snickering as it proudly trills "ready" and reads 350 degrees, when in fact it is at a mere 175!! So while most people cook at 325, 350, or 375, I cook at 273? 159? whatever it decides to be that day. And so cooking times can vary from an hour to three. In trying to see the bright side of things, I think that this has made me a better baker, as I have to use my intuition and ability to eyeball my baked goods to determine done-ness.
Well, all of my personal roadblocks aside, this is an excellent recipe. It's fairly easy with a minimum of ingredients, and the final presentation is impressive. I even managed to circumvent the usual raw spot in the middle by turning the pan 1/4 turn every 20 min or so. Take that, you cheeky oven! I will have my cake, and eat it, too!
Banana-Date Tea Cake
Ingredients:
1 C. all-purpose flour
2 T. cornstarch
1 t. ground cinnamon
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
3 med bananas, very ripe
2 large eggs
1 1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/2 t. salt
6 T. unsalted butter, room temp
3/4 C. + 2 T. sugar
1 C. walnuts, lightly toasted and coarsely chopped
1 3/4 C. dates, pitted and coarsely chopped
Topping:
1 med banana
2 T. sugar
- preheat oven to 325 degrees
- lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 9 X 5 loaf pan
- in a mixing bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda. stir to mix.
- in a 2nd bowl, place the peeled bananas and mash them with a fork
- add the eggs, vanilla, and salt to the bananas and stir to mix well
- in a 3rd bowl, beat the butter until light & creamy, about 2 min (use mixer with paddle attachment, or by hand with a wooden spoon)
- slowly add the sugar and beat until light & fluffy, about 2 min
- slowly add the banana mixture and beat until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula
- mix another 30 sec to make sure that all ingredients are incorporated
- using the rubber spatula, fold in the dry ingredients
- fold in the nuts and dates, scraping down the sides of the bowl to make sure all ingredients are fully incorporated
- transfer the batter to the prepared pan, and smooth the surface with a spatula
- to top the cake, peel and slice a banana, lengthwise and then lengthwise again
- lay the slices on top of the batter and sprinkle with sugar
- bake about 1 hour
- cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 20 min, then out of the pan right side up on the wire rack until cooled completely
