Tuesday, January 26, 2010

TWD - Cocoa-Nana Bread


This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe is Cocoa-Nana Bread, chosen by Steph at Obsessed with Baking. I love Steph's blog, and she's such a fabulous baker. It's fascinating to me why people pick their recipes. It's a window into their personalities. I have over a year before I get to pick but I'm sure you'll learn something about me when that happens. I can't wait to read Steph's post and learn what about it spoke to her.

I love chocolate, and one of my coworkers' favorite Dorie recipes has been the banana bundt cake. This cake is the opposite of that one. The bundt cake smacked you with its banana-ness, and this one knocks you over with its chocolatey-ness. It was easy to put together, and it smelled amazing while it was baking (I imagine it made my Twitter buddy Kayte a little nauseous...she can't take chocolate). I used half white whole wheat flour, and there was no way you could tell with all that chocolate!

This recipe was a huge hit with my coworkers, one of whom declared it the best dessert he had ever had. I thought it was very good, but the small bits of banana distracted me from the simply incomparable chocolate flavor. I want to make this one again, but with less or no banana, because I want to enjoy the deep chocolate flavor without the distraction of the banana. I know, I know, I have a problem with chocolate.


Pop over to Steph's for the recipe, and check out what the other TWD bakers thought. You can find all 300+ of them here.

25 comments:

natalia said...

Ciao ! I loved it but my bananas were not detectable !

Marthe said...

Looks perfect! I really liked this, couldn't detect any banana in mine

dharmagirl said...

i couldn't find ripe bananas because i didn't plan ahead...i think i'll take your advice and ignore the bananas and revel in chocolateyness when i do make it:)

Hindy said...

I added banana chips and still the chocolate won. I'd also like to try this as just chocolate bread.

Anonymous said...

I agree with your co-worker, more of a desert than a breakfast food.

Your bread looks delicious!

Mary Ann said...

It looks great. Definitely a dessert, not really a breakfast treat.
Nice of you to share!

Bella Baker said...

yours looks great!! I really enjoyed this one! Sounds like you weren't in love with it, but I'm glad that the others thought is was delicious!

Kayte said...

You forgot to mention that you were trying to get me to make TWO CHOCOLATE desserts in ONE DAY! LOL. I thought I was good getting this one done as it was very very chocolatey! Guys loved it and loved that you had me going on getting it done early. Fun baking it with you...maybe we make two non-chocolate desserts together in one day. Oh my, when will that be as the next three weeks are chocolate, I do believe! Yours looks great. Love that plate, too.

Katrina said...

I love all things banana, but even I thought this one would just be better without, that or with MORE banana, so it's actually noticeable. Love your snowy looking loaf though!

spike. said...

yay- glad it was a hit!

Unknown said...

Isn't great when people love what you bake? Especially a new recipe? Congrats on your bread! I think it is really chocolaty too! I wish I had had the BS chocolate chips to put in. I think that is a great pairing.

Flourchild said...

Im glad the coworkers liked the bread!

Susan said...

My hubby is eating this at night as his dessert. I'm with you about making it without bananas, or better yet, with pumpkin! Yours looks amazing!

Mimi said...

Your loaf looks fantastic with that dusting of powdered sugar.
Mimi

Cathy said...

I agree - I'm not sure the bananas really ADDED anything to this. I think it would have been just grand as a chocolate loaf cake. But obviously the guy for whom this was the best dessert he's ever had would disagree with that! I think your cake looks fabulous!

Good point about how someone's TWD pick can be a window into their personality, BTW!!

Cakelaw said...

This turned out great for you! The banana didn't bother me - I couldn't detect it - and I loved the depth of chocolate flavour.

Unknown said...

I'd never really thought about it until you mentioned it, but I do enjoy reading about why everyone chooses the recipe they do for this group!

Love the dusting of powdered sugar on your loaf. Wish I'd thought to jazz mine up like that! I liked this recipe, but I think I prefer banana bread with chocolate chips instead of all this cocoa powder and intense chocolate flavor.

TeaLady said...

amazing how taste differs so much from one to another. Some loved this some didn't. Glad it worked for you. It looks deep, dark, and delicious.

margot said...

Beautiful photos, Leslie! I'm with your co-workers: I loved that banana bundt cake, I've actually made it at least one more time since it was selected.

I also love reading about how people make their baking group selections.

Andrea at Nummy Kitchen said...

Your loaf looks lovely with the powdered sugar on top! What a sweet compliment from your co-worker. I didn't really notice the banana in this one, I think you are right to try this one again without the banana, I can see it with a dark chocolate glaze too, yum.

vibi said...

Nice going Leslie... the loaf looks super moist with all that meling chocolate! Superb!

Teanna DiMicco said...

I'm glad it was such a hit with the co-workers! It was intensely chocolatey - which is a great thing for breakfast! HAha!

Steph said...

Thanks for baking along with me! I have to try baking with white whole wheat flour some time

Jules Someone said...

Yours looks lovely! Not a favorite at my house.

Nancy/n.o.e said...

I have to agree: cocoa and nanas are not a match made in heaven. But yours looks good and I'm glad the coworkers approved. I sort of wonder if what we choose for TWD when it gets to be our turns will say "well, not much left to choose from; picked the best of what's available!" Actually I get to choose in a couple of months.