Recipe Banana Loaf/Carrot Cake

I was wondering if anyone had some good recipes as Canadian Thanksgiving is coming up and I want to bring a non-traditional dessert to my brothers. I'm a fan of both and it would definitely like to branch out in sweets...

 

S found a SPECTACULAR banana bread recipe. I'll post it for you. So much better than carrot cake
Or you could make a Bailey's Cake... I have that recipe, too.

 

anything would be useful.... I want to show off my new found cooking prowess....

 

If you go with bananas just make sure to wait until they don't look like something you'd want to eat anymore. It seems counter-intuitive but terrifying looking bananas are at their most flavorful and sweet for baking instead of still being somewhat starchy. I made the mistake of trying to cook with "fresh" bananas once, plenty fine to peel and eat directly but it was just too bland for baking.

 

yeah.... my mom at least taught me that much... to freeze or use over ripe bananas for a loaf instead of trying to save a dying cause.... so to speak...

 

It's amusing at work periodically when the bakers will yell at a new guy for trying to throw away a box of what LOOKS like spoiled produce.

The question here is do you want a bready/loafy or a fluffy/cakey recipe?

 

OK, this is more or less what I use for carrot cake-- all measurements are rough, since I usually go by eye and nose. This is a nice cake, full of spicy goodness, and very moist. I like it because it uses kind of Persian influenced spices, and when baking it, I often substitute zereshk (Persian barberries) for half of the raisins. If you wanted to do so, but were unable to get zereshk, dried cranberries (unsweetened) would probably do nicely.

Mrs. Levite loves this cake....

6 cups freshly grated carrots
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup maple sugar
1 cup golden raisins
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup canned mandarin orange segments, well-drained
1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
1 1/2 vanilla bean
2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground mace
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground clove
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup chopped roasted unsalted pistachios

1/4 cup coconut rum (optional)

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
zest of a lemon, finely grated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.

Take the mandarin orange segments and pulse them a couple of times in a food processor to crush them.

Take the vanilla beans and scrape them carefully, discarding the scraped-out pods afterward.

In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, sugar and the freshly scraped vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in raisins and nuts. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. When cool, pierce cake several times with fork, then drizzle lightly with coconut rum, if using, and let sit for 10 minutes.

To make frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and lemon zest. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Frost cake with mixture.

 

Both... I'm a baking newbie and I want to learn what I can...