TWD: revisted

First things first, here's a big apology to the TWD crew. I'm stained by a huge dabble of guilt having not doing my weekly baking challenges for quite some time. *groanz*. If you hear me out, I could probably churn out a long story about how being on overseas placement has deterred me from participating... but I guess that most of you won't be interested. So yeh, here's my recent revisit to TWD, a long awaited come back with the coco-nana cake as picked by Steph of Obsessed with Baking. Now who could resist freshly baked banana bread? no one. And chocolate? rhetorical question ain't it? Put them together, my mind immediately drifts to an unimaginable combustion of powerful elements, a bit like an atomic explosion, of sweet satisfactiory proportions of course.



And this story has a happy ending of course with a lovely cake from the oven that I devoured slowly over a course of a week(yes, it keeps well too!) The best part, the cake was moist, and filled with lovely bits of chocolate chips everywhere, this made such a glorious breakfast for me. yum. Thanks Steph for choosing this recipe!

Cocoa-nana Bread
Dorie Greenspan

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup semisweet cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 stick unsalted butter at room temp
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, or 1/2 cup store-bought chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan and place it on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular baking sheets stacked on top of the other. (This extra insulation will keep the bottom of the bread from over baking.)

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and baking soda.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed for about a minute, until softened. Add the sugars and beat for 2 minutes more. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for a minute after each addition. At this point, the batter may look a little curdled -- it's okay. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the mashed bananas. Add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, mixing only until they disappear into the batter. Still on low speed, add the buttermilk, mixing until it is incorporated. Stir in the chopped chocolate. Scrape the batter into the pan.

Bake for 30 minutes. Cover the bread loosely with a foil tent to keep the top from getting too dark, and continue to bake for another 40 to 45 minutes (total baking time is between 70 to 75 minutes) or until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for at least 20 minutes before running a knife around the edges of the bread and unmolding. Invert and cool to room temp right side up.