I had a bit of bad luck with the gorgeous banana walnut bread. It wouldn’t pop out of the bundt pan. Even though I greased it, I cooled it, I ran a small knife around all the edges, I whacked it with a wooden spoon, but it wouldn’t budge. I tired a few more *drastic* measures and it finally came out… in pieces. My pan is past its prime. But I was able to salvage exactly 2 slices in order to show you what a lovely banana bread this is. And to help convince you that you should make it. IF you have a reliable bundt pan. Which I will have because I’m heading over to the mall today.
This cake has all the hallmarks of fall…I love the deep brown color, and the nutmeg glaze adds a really distinctive spice note. The mahogany color of the batter is achieved with a touch of molasses, cocoa powder, and espresso powder. A little unorthodox, but it lends a richness that banana bread doesn’t usually have. The predominant flavors are banana and walnut, the rest make up the background. The glaze is optional, but I love it. I’ve been planning to make a nutmeg glaze forever, and this seemed the perfect recipe for it. I think simple spice glazes are amazing. If you don’t like nutmeg, try cinnamon.
For me this is ideal to have around on a weekend morning…or on any holiday morning. In my fantasy B&B, this is on the weekly rotation. (What? And fantasy basketball isn’t weird?)
I will make it again just to update with better photos once I get my new pan.
Banana Walnut Bread with Nutmeg Glaze
What You Will Need
- 1 cup well mashed banana (about 3 small to medium bananas)
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp molasses
- 1 Tbsp dark cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s Special Dark)
- 1 Tbsp espresso powder (instant espresso)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
- freshly grated nutmeg
- heavy cream
glaze
Instructions
- Set oven to 350F
- Beat together the eggs, oil, sugar and mashed banana until smooth. Make sure to get out any lumps of sugar or banana.
- Beat in the molasses, espresso, cocoa powder, and the spices. Beat until thoroughly combined.
- Whisk the flours, salt and baking soda together. Add to the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Fold in the walnuts.
- Turn into a well buttered or sprayed non-stick bundt pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out without wet batter clinging to it.
- Cool on a rack for at least 20 minutes before turned out of the pan.
- Make the glaze by mixing the sugar with enough cream to thin to a spreadable consistency. Add fresh grated nutmeg to taste.
- Drizzle over the cooled cake.
2.2
http://theviewfromgreatisland.com/2013/11/banana-walnut-bread-with-nutmeg-glaze.html
*Recipe from [The View from Great Island|http://theviewfromgreatisland.com] All images and content are copyright protected. If you want to use this recipe, please link back to this page.
By the way, I posted my stuck-in-the-pan dilemma on facebook and got some pretty terrific answers from readers…here are a few highlights in case this should ever happen to you—
- Turn it into a banana bread trifle.
- Hot towel wrapped around the pan for a few minutes & then try again.
- We’ve heard that freezing cakes can help.
- Bread pudding
- My Mother always turned cakes right over as soon as she took them out of the oven, said they slide out better when they are hot.
- My mom used to tell me to flip the pan over and put a wet/ warm towel on the bottom until it popped out. Worth a try perhaps. Good luck!
- This is why I’ve switched to a tube cake pan with a removable bottom. My bundt pan ALWAYS sticks!
- Pour a cup of coffee, grab a fork, and dig in.
I think I’m going with the bread pudding solution for rest of the cake. And by the way, we have a lot of fun on facebook, if you haven’t like TVFGI yet — click HERE to join in on the conversation, I highlight my favorites from other sites, as well as great recipes from my archives.