A (disastrous) rum, chocolate & banana cake

My worst cake attempt… for now.

When I was out with Jumper the other day, I talked abit about my kitchen experiments and he was very enthusiastic about trying them. I decided to be laid back and do a idiot proof banana cake. I would think its idiot proof because the banana breads I made so far are so simple and virtually needs nothing more than mixing up the ingredients in a bowl. This time, I wanted to try it with rum and chocolate, and in a bundt pan instead of the usual loaf pan. Hoping to get a more cake like consistency (unlike quick breads which are more moist and have a tighter crumb), I decided to try out the recipe I found online. I did my usual modifications, a splash of rum here, and chopped chocolate there. In the end it turned out like the photo above. I was horrified. I don’t take my kitchen failures very well. It seems that the older I get, the harder I take my failures. Not too sure why, perhaps I am just a sore loser. A very sore one. I have never had such a flop in my kitchen attempts. Parts of the cake even got stuck on the bundt pan resulting in ugly holes in the already ugly cake. Somehow, the cake turned out really black too. It is not burnt though, just black. My wasted Ghiradelli. =( To be fair, the cake taste okay, if not a little too moist. Its edible. Just ugly. That in itself is a crime (to me). No recipes this time. I am not sure if you people out there wanna try out this. I hope I don’t get nightmares tonight. Sorry Jumper, no cake for you this time round. This is certainly not the type of impression I hope you have on my baking skills…

My Inspirations

I tend to read up other baking blogs from around the world, and my favourite ones so far are Tarlette and Cannelle Et Vanille . After looking at the wonderful things they make, I get really inspired to improve my skills. I get alot of ideas from Tastespotting too, which showcases the finest things people produce in their own kitchen. Some are really impressive. It was also through extensive reading that I came across this few books which I feel that I got to buy. Was really happy when they finally arrived (from Amazon.com)….. I wanna try out all the recipes in them!!! 

Peanut Butter Criss Crosses

I was in a cookie making craze after my Chocolate Chunk Cookie success. I came across Peanut Butter Criss Crosses in my new cook book and felt that I definitely must try it. Especially when I have seen numerous blogs raving about it. I love peanut butter, so I decided to pick up a small jar of Skippy’s at Shop ‘N’ Save to try out Dorie Greenspan’s recipe. I omitted the chopped peanuts and opted for creamy peanut butter because Patty Star (aka Mr Double Chin) can’t take them at this point in time. As usual, I started really late in the night as I was busy catching up with my beloved Hong Kong drama serials with Mom.

The recipe was pretty easy to follow, and I did it in 3 variations, the original, coated with coarse sugar and with chopped chocolate. The result was a cookie with the taste of peanut butter (but not overwhelming) that crumbles pleasantly in your mouth. I used up a whole jar of peanut butter (300g) and a large dollop more. I like the ones with chocolate the best, as I feel that chocolate and peanut butter are best friends. The addition of chocolate gives it a deeper taste and the mixture of gooey chocolate and cookie in your mouth is pure heaven. Patty Star was absolutely estatic over it and ate 4 at a go. Here is my adaption of Dorie Greenspan’s peanut butter cookie

Peanut Butter Criss Crosses (Adapted from Baking: My House to Yours)

(This makes a large batch of dough, you may consider halving it)

Dry Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt

Wet Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
1 jar of peanut butter (300g) + 1 large dollop
1 cup of light brown sugar
1/3 cup of granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups of salted peanuts (optional)
4oz of roughly chopped chocolate (optional)
Extra 1/2 cup of coarse sugar for rolling (optional) 1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Line baking sheets with parchment or cooking spray.  

2. Whisk the dry ingredients together. Beat the butter on medium speed in a mixing bowl until smooth and creamy. Add the peanut butter and beat for another minute. Add the sugars and beat for 3 minutes more.

3. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for one minute after each addition. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to fully incorporate the sugar and eggs.

4. On low speed, add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they just disappears.

5. Mix in chopped peanuts or chocolate if you are using them.

6. Pour the 1/2 cup of rolling sugar into a small bowl. Roll the balls of dough into your desired size and drop the balls, a couple at a time, into the sugar. (My hands are rather warm, so the dough got really sticky when I was making cookie dough balls so cooling my dough in the fridge for a little bit helped to make the dough easier to work with. )  

7. Roll the balls around in the sugar to coat them (I only coated the top of my cookie), then place on the baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between them.

8. To make the criss crosses, use a fork and press down on top of the sugar crusted cookies.Bake for about 15 – 18 minutes, depending on size of your cookie. When done, the cookies will be lightly colored. Let the cookies sit on a wire rack to cool down. 

9. As the house was rather warm, I cooled my cookie dough in the freezer for about 5 – 8 min before shaping them. They worked much better that way. Also, if the dough seemed abit too soft, you can also add in a bit more flour (A tablespoon at a time).