Thanks to buddye for posting the Sourdough Banana Bread recipe the other day. I made it last night and it's wonderful -- lighter than traditional banana bread, but very sweet and moist. Plus, it helped me use up some spotty-looking bananas and a bunch of extra starter in my fridge. Thanks!

I posted a photo and recipe at Flour Girl, where I also share a few details about my first day as a culinary-school student (in the post below the banana bread ...).

I'll be posting every day after school, so feel free to follow along as I try not to embarrass myself too terribly.

Thanks and happy baking!

Flour Girl

I found a sourdough popover recipe online and I decided to run with it.  I use my whole wheat sourdough starter and regular unbleached all purpose flour.  The results were so-so because the popovers didn't open like those I had made before.  The crumb was too dense.  I can't say I was disappointed but there must be something I can do to improve the texture of the popovers.  Any suggestions?

The receipe I used:

1 C milk

3 large eggs

1/2 C starter (whole wheat)

1 C flour (unbleached)

Warm milk then add eggs and starter.  Mix just enough to the consistancy of heavy cream.  Fold in flour; no overmix.  Preheat muffin pan in oven to 450F, oil pan, pour mixture up to rim immediately.  Bake at 450F for 15 minuties; reduce heat and bake at 375F for 15 - 20 minutes. 

I have been playing around with multiple Banana Bread recipes and I have ended up with my own recipe that I personally enjoy.  It's mildly easy to prepare and takes about an hour and ten to make.  This recipe makes two small loaves.

Nevans Banana Bread (with chocolate streusel)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In one bowl mix:

• 1 1/2 cups of flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon of cinnamon
• 3-6 over-ripened bananas.  (this is a choice of taste, the more bananas, the more mushy your dough gets but the more flavor)

In another bowl mix:

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 a stick of butter
• 1/3 cup of dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup of white sugar

Mix these two bowls into one and add a handful of chopped walnuts or pecans if you choose, and even a handful of chocolate chunks is always fun.  Grease your loaf pans with butter and pour the dough.

Streusel Topping:

Mix this in a saucepan on the stove in order.

• 1/2 a stick of butter
• 1/2 cup of flour
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp of Cocoa
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• (optional) Handful of walnuts or pecans
• (optional) 1/2 tsp of ginger

Mix this well until butter is well mixed so that there is a crumbly feel.  Add to the top of the loaves, this amount should cover both loaves entirely.

Bake for 40 minutes.  Check at 30, if streusel starts to burn, add alluminum foil, hasn't happened to me yet.  After 40 minutes, shake the loaf pan to make sure that the loaf isn't liquidy on the top, this is another ten minutes if it is.

Let sit for 10 minutes to cool and finish cooking itself. 

To extract from the pan I seperate the sides with a spatula and then surround the loaf pan with foil and flip.  The foil allows you to flip the loaf back on to its bottom after you take off the pan.

Voila!  Enjoy a good breakfast, or snack.

Does anyone let their muffin recipe soak for 1-4 hours if using freshly ground flour?  I have done so and they seem to have a really nice texture.  Like in bread, perhaps, the flour needs time to soak up moisture. Would this make a difference or am I just wasting time?

Thanks

There I was, with one cup and a half of starter I've been collecting from my feeding routine. I wanted to use it (I hate to throw it away) and an idea started to take shape in my mind: initially, it was the idea of an orange quick bread. I had seen before citrus cake recipes that boil the fruit, be it lemons, oranges, clementines, etc., for an hour and then use all the fruit in the batter. I also wanted to achieve the miminum amount of fat and sugar ever used in a sweet batter. I have a son of 1 year and a half, and he happens to love these fruit breads, but I would feel remorseful if I gave him (and us) a quick bread loaded with sinful ingredients. It seems to me that wherever you look for a recipe there is this "sugar cult" that wants you to cover the natural tastes of fruit with an overload of sugar. As a disclaimer, I must clarify that this was an experiment and given that I have eaten with zesty delight two pieces of the final product, I feel daring enough to post it.

For the applesauce (yields 1 cup)

2 large apples (I used a tart apple and a sweet one, both big, otherwise, you might use 3 medium)

Juice of a lemon

Dash of cinnamon

For the cake

3 sweet oranges

75 grams dried apricots

75 grams currants

1 cup dessicated coconut

1 1/2 cups starter

1 cup wholewheat flour

1/2 cup cake flour (or as I did, a mixture of white and cornmeal)

2 eggs

2 tablespoons of butter

1 tablespoon of olive oil

6 tablespoons of brown sugar (this is up to you -you can add the amount you feel comfy with-, I was afraid it was going to lack sweetness, but I found it more than enough)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Vanilla or rum essence or whatever essence or spice you feel like or have at hand.

Cut the apples in chunks, cover them with the lemon juice, dash'em with the cinnamon, put'em in an oven dish, cover it with foil and pop it in a preheated oven (175 Cº) for 1 hour. Puree them. The aim with the applesauce is to have 1 cup: you will use 3/4 of a cup in the batter and the rest (or more if you want) for serving with the cake instead of whipped cream or ice cream, unless you want to go that way.

At the same time, bring to the boil the 3 oranges and then simmer for 1 hour. Puree them and let them cool down - (and remember to take out the seeds from the oranges).

Add to the still hot applesauce (3/4 of a cup) the butter until melted and the olive oil. Set the fruit aside to cool down.

Mix dry ingredients (flour, chemical leavenings, sugar, salt, coconut). I sifted the flour.

When the fruit is cold enough, mix with eggs, starter and essence.

Mix dry ingredients with fruit mixture.

Fold the soaked dried fruit. I soaked it in some limoncello I had at hand.

It made quite a lot, so I used an oven dish and a bread tin.

I baked at 175Cº for 1 hour (My oven is not so reliable, and no, I haven't been able to buy the oven thermometer...mea culpa...)

The cake is very moisty and with a very orangey taste. I thought also of substituting some wholewheat with oat flour.

Serve with applesauce, whipped cream, ice cream, etc.

I wanted to add some sunflower seeds but I held it back. I might, next time. I had the temptation to add chocolate chips but I wanted it freakly healthy so I didn't do. Variations are endless.

I wanted to take a picture but my husband took the camera with him. I might, later, if the cake is not gone.

I hope to have given a good recipe. So far I've had 3 (!!!) pieces, LOL

In my constant search for uses for my excess sourdough starter, I tried this recipe for scones, and they were very nice.  I used margerine and added a bit of honey and vanilla soy milk  to get the right consistency.  I also left out the spices as I wanted them very simple.   They are soft, and not dense as scones usually are. 

 Great with a cup of hot tea.

Marni

Does anybody have a recipe for pumpkin waffles,  I'd love to find a sourdough waffle recipe that works and pumpkin seems like a nice addition for this time of the year

I'm currently trying to understand cake recipes, and I see both types of recipes, the 'mix it all together in a large bowl', and others that want you to cream the butter and suger together first, then add eggs, etc.  This 'creaming' is supposed to give the cake 'fluffyness'.   However, I find it hard to belive the others wouldn't be 'fluffy' too, otherwise, the recipe wouldn't have lived.. 

So, after getting my mixer home, and even after a night spending too much time drinking to many drinks at the local watering hole, I get home and throw the ol' kitchenaid up on the counter that I just got and tell the girlfriend, "this is how you cream butter and suger" (because I learned recently, and she had made some cookies the other day and didn't do it right either).  I threw in a stick of butter, mixed it to a paste, then threw in suger until I got the light fluffy stuff...  from there I just kept throwing things in, not following any recipe, nor was I measureing anything at all.  I tossed in two eggs, some baking soda, then milk, then some flour, then cococa...   She thought I was crazy, but I didn't care, I was to tipsy to care, plus, even if it didn't turn out, the 50 cents I spent on the ingredients was worth it just to try out my new mixer.   I tossed the 'batter' in a pan, baked for a while, brought it out, tasted it... and it actually worked great!!! ( although it was a little too rich).   She was amazed...   and when she asked what do I call it, I told her, it's 'the bastard cake' (because it didn't have a recipe, measurements, etc). 

In 'baking across america', most of the cakes recipes start out with 'cream together 2 cups suger and 1 stick of butter. Am I crazy or is this a little difficult considering the massive amount of dry ingredients to butter. I mean, when I do it, I only get 'moistened' suger, that's still in granuals, only the granuals are now translusent because of the butter. Any 'creaming' effect would probably come from the mechanical heat generated that 'melts' the suger, from any further attempt at creaming....

Are the recipes bad or am I bad in the understanding???