{"id":1606,"date":"2006-10-10T05:52:00","date_gmt":"2006-10-10T05:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elitemporaryblog.wordpress.com\/2006\/10\/10\/big-bad-banana"},"modified":"2016-07-22T19:40:02","modified_gmt":"2016-07-22T23:40:02","slug":"big-bad-banana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2006\/10\/big-bad-banana\/","title":{"rendered":"Big, bad, banana"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was not an easy child. I was afraid of thunderstorms, and of the vacuum cleaner. My head was so big that I would wind up in tears when my mother tried to wedge it through a turtleneck. I was terrified of needles, so much so that nurses had to sit on me to give me my booster shots. Even sweet, wrinkly E.T.<\/a> scared the crap out of me, with his weird misshapen head and creepy glowing finger<\/a>. And on top of all that, I hated bananas<\/strong>. Kids are supposed to love<\/span> bananas \u2014 when all else fails, that, at least, is supposed to be easy. My poor, patient mother did her best. To ease her mind, she once consulted a psychic, who told her that I was a \u201cnew soul,\u201d that this was my first time on Earth, so quite naturally I was scared \u2014 of nearly everything. This didn\u2019t explain the turtleneck problem, but still, it was something. Bless you, Mom.<\/p>\n

But anyway, new soul, old schmoul: if little seven-year-old me could see what is in my freezer right now, she would shriek in horror. Lurking within its icy depths are no fewer than six ripe bananas: hard, frosty-skinned, dull brown boomerangs, a veritable stockpile of tropical fruit terror<\/strong>. And what\u2019s more, I love<\/em> them. Growing up is really a great thing.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not exactly sure of the chain of events that led to my conversion, but I\u2019m quite certain that it started sometime in my pre-teens, with a banana nut bread made by the mother of my childhood friend Jennifer<\/a>. Linda is a genius at quick breads, not to mention Christmastime sweet rolls and chocolate cream pies \u2014 this last being best, I find, if eaten straight from the fridge when your babysitter isn\u2019t looking. Such is Linda\u2019s talent that not even I, Scaredy-Cat Supreme, could resist her banana nut bread. It is persuasive, soulful stuff, and should be fed to all children in need of calming.<\/p>\n

So today, even though I am still not a big fan of bananas straight up, ooh boy, do I find it easy to tuck away baked goods made from them. Sometimes \u2014 don\u2019t tell anyone \u2014 I buy bananas for no real reason at all, just to bring them home and let them go brown on the countertop. I can\u2019t help myself. There is something profoundly reassuring about having a bunch of them at the ready, ripe and speckled and almost stinky<\/strong>. It\u2019s like hoarding gold bullion<\/a> \u2014 but the kind that needs to be stashed in the freezer, lest it start to rot. Never mind that I have to stifle my gag reflex every time I open a defrosted one and watch its slug-like contents ooze out; by god, I love<\/em> baking with bananas. They make baked goods miraculously moist and tender, with a sweet, wholesome fragrance<\/strong> that, I like to imagine, Betty Crocker herself might have worn.<\/p>\n

Lately, I\u2019ve been dumping banana pur\u00e9e into anything that will hold still long enough to let me, from this unusual cake<\/a> \u2014 which, like many sweets, tastes even better frozen \u2014 to an old favorite banana bread<\/a> with chocolate chips and ginger. I find that a girl really cannot have too much banana cake with chocolate ganache<\/a>, nor can her man eat too many bran muffins scented with the stuff. So great is my love for this once-loathed fruit that last weekend \u2014 despite several consecutive weeks of the above sweets \u2014 I felt compelled to bake up this delicious beauty.<\/p>\n


\nHumble, homey, and crowned with a fallen halo of coconut cream cheese frosting, this baby is a keeper. Its crumb is light and rustic, more coarse than fine, making for a good, unfussy foundation on which to spread a generous layer of frosting \u2014 tangy, fluffy, and barely sweet. With a subtle banana flavor and a soft, tender chew, it\u2019s the sort of thing that begs to be cut into big slices, and then later into sneaky, stolen slivers<\/strong>. If you\u2019re anything like me, you\u2019ll also follow that up with a careful licking of the fork \u2014 and, ahem<\/em>, knife. I would dare to venture that even seven-year-old me would have found it sort of tasty \u2014 maybe even frighteningly so.<\/p>\n\n

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Recipe<\/div>\n

Banana Cake with Coconut-Cream Cheese Frosting<\/h2>\n

Adapted from Gourmet<\/i>, December 2005<\/h3> \n \n <\/header>\n\n
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