(My) Cookies

[infinite monkey]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

You know what blows my mind? It's cardamom, (not picking on you Lola, any copy-and-paster is absolved of responsibility, ) and awhile back on Top Chef Just Desserts not one but two of the pastry chefs kept saying "cardamon" in interviews. How can you be a professional chef and not know the correct name of a common spice?

Those cookies do look really good though, Lola.

The same way you can be president and say "nuke-u-lar."

[Lola Bunny]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

It's a savory spice, used a lot in Indian cooking. Very pungent. Can come as whole brown seeds, or ground up. Cinnamon probably tasted much better.

Ahhh....thanks. I usually don't cook Indian food. Maybe that's why I haven't encountered it much.

[Lola Bunny]

Chocolate banana bread....

I used Wolf's recipe that Sundae put up in her thread. Thought I'd put a picture here, although it's not a cookie. It was a bit dry, so I microwaved it a tiny bit before eating to make it a bit more moist.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

You know what blows my mind? It's cardamom, (not picking on you Lola, any copy-and-paster is absolved of responsibility, ) and awhile back on Top Chef Just Desserts not one but two of the pastry chefs kept saying "cardamon" in interviews. How can you be a professional chef and not know the correct name of a common spice?

Those cookies do look really good though, Lola.

you say cardamom, I say cardamon, let's call the whole thing off!

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

You know what blows my mind? It's cardamom, (not picking on you Lola, any copy-and-paster is absolved of responsibility, ) and awhile back on Top Chef Just Desserts not one but two of the pastry chefs kept saying "cardamon" in interviews. How can you be a professional chef and not know the correct name of a common spice?

Clod, it varies. Cardamon/ cardomom/ cardamom/ cardoman etc.
Anything which originates in a country that does not share a written alphabet with Europe is open to interpretation.

When reading an Indian menu I expect to see differences in the spellings of many popular dishes, let alone the spices they contain. Naan bread, nan bread, nann bread etc. And even variations of names for the same dishes, Chicken Ananas, Chicken Ceylon, Murgh Curry with Pineapple etc etc.

I feel your pain. But in this case I think regional spellings and pronunciation from a vast sub-continent should be celebrated. In order not to send you stark staring mad.

ETA - that post was a w-h-i-l-e back!
I hope you are still sane.

Lola that cake looks good even to me.
(as in banana hater)
Would you recommend a lower cooking temp or a shorter cooking time?
I might make a welcome back to school cake for after the hols. Just for old time's sake
My other fallback is a rainbow cake. More effort assemble but spectacular. And fun in a way, because... well it's a rainbow cake. Subliminal and all that and everything.

[wolf]

Slightly shorter cooking time, or a bit more banana. Or oil. I usually have more bananas available than the recipe calls for, and just use them.

[Sundae]

More banana
But of course I wouldn't be cooking for me.

[Aliantha]

When I think about a rainbow cake, it's usually where I separate the cake batter and put different colours in, then blob it into the cake pan, then swirl it a bit before baking.

I've made it twice lately because Max loves it.

[Lola Bunny]

Hmm....personally I would shorten the cooking time. This was my first time so I used the toothpick testing method. The other banana recipe I did before actually baked the whole 50 mins and was not dry, so I didn't think 50 mins. would be too drying for this one. The banana flavor was not too strong, so I may go with Wolf's suggestion by adding more bananas. And shorten the cooking time too! Whenever I bake brownies and chocolate cake (from mix, hihi), I usually shorten the cooking time and that would make them more moist.

[Aliantha]

I do that with some cookies and cakes if I prefer them a bit more moist, or sometimes just lower the oven temp a bit.

[Aliantha]

I have a question.

Is banana bread the same as banana cake?

I get the impression that some people call it banana bread, but it's really a cake. Am I right?

eta: I'm asking because I know people who make a cakey mixture, but it comes out more like bread and usually it is served with some kind of condiment/spread.

[wolf]

In America there's a difference between a quick bread and a cake, not sure about the rest of the world. "Bread" implies a denser end product. Cakes are lighter in texture. You could certainly do a banana cake, though.

Speaking of which ... The fact that this is a really dark batter makes it suck the heat in more efficiently, and leads to it drying out more if you overbake. I may just get lucky because my oven tends to run under the set temp.

Serving suggestion ... slather it up with butter and stick the slice in the nuker for 20 seconds. Don't eat until the butter is all melted in.

[Aliantha]

Yeah, that sounds about the same here. I was just wondering.

It's hard to tell textures from pictures.

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by Aliantha

When I think about a rainbow cake, it's usually where I separate the cake batter and put different colours in, then blob it into the cake pan, then swirl it a bit before baking.

Yeah, I'm thinking of going to whole hog and having a seven layered cake

Thin layers of course.
But it will take time as we only have two sets of two sandwich tins, so whatever size I choose will mean four quick changes!

[Lola Bunny]

Since I received lots of compliments on this recipe, I thought I'd post it here in case someone wants to try it. This banana bread is very moist. If I remember correctly, I only baked for 50 mins. But I could be wrong. My mind has been off lately. Do the toothpick test if you want to be sure.


Banana Bread

Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 1 Hour Ready In: 1 Hour 10 Minutes
Servings: 15

" Sour cream guarantees a moist and tender loaf. And bananas are sliced instead of mashed in this recipe, giving a concentrated banana taste in every bite."


INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 medium bananas, sliced


DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the melted butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla, mix well. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt, stir into the butter mixture until smooth. Finally, fold in the sour cream, walnuts and bananas. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool loaf in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.