While outside, I wandered about and ended up standing outside of our neighbor’s house.  Our neighbor, who was a lovely, generous lady, had passed away some time earlier and her son was then living there on his own.  Every other weekend or so, his 3 sons would come to stay with him.  His sons were there on this particular day, and as I hadn’t seen them in a while (we used to play together all the time as children), I thought I’d just quickly stop in to say hi.

The visit with these guys didn’t end up being so quick… we played some Nintendo (I believe it might have been Nintendo 64) – Super Mario Kart – and chatted a bit about what we were up to these days.  They had planned on going to see the movie In & Out that night and invited me to come with them.  I called my mom from their house and she said it was fine if I wanted to go with them.  I was relieved I wouldn’t have to pretend to be all cheerful and polite with my mom’s friends!

It ended up that night, before the movie, that one of those 3 sons, Jimmy, the oldest who was my age and who had seemingly had a crush on me for years when we were children, asked me if I wanted to go out with him.  He had a bit of help and encouragement from his dad though, because like me, he was dreadfully shy.  We sat next to each other at the movie, but can you believe we didn’t say a word to each other, or hold hands, or anything that might show that we were newly dating?  I’m sure it was on both of our minds, we were just too shy to act on our feelings.

Once back at home, I said goodbye to the rest of the boys and Jimmy walked me home (our house was just next door) like he always to do when we were children.  We just simply said goodbye when we got to my house, then he walked back home.  I was elated though, walking in the door of my house.  My mom’s friends were gone by then, thank goodness, and I had a tiny piece of leftover cake while I was checking my email.  I had so many butterflies in my stomach from that night that I couldn’t even eat all of the cake.

Despite how happy I had ended up that night, it is now one of the biggest regrets of my life…..

Because I had always had a crush on Jimmy too.  The reason I went to my neighbor’s house that night was to ask out Jimmy myself.  But it didn’t work out perfectly, with Jimmy’s dad basically doing all the work!  How embarrassing!  That’s not why I regret that night though.  The reason I regret it is that that night was the last time I was at their house and the last time I spoke to Jimmy.  I saw him and his brothers while driving past their house every once in a while.  Maybe I did talk to him or his brothers again, briefly, but if I did, I don’t remember doing so.  I didn’t know his phone number at his other house where he lived with his mom, so I couldn’t call him; the phone book didn’t help because he has the second most common last name in the US, so I didn’t know which of the listings in the phone book was his mom’s.

I regret it because if I felt so strongly for him, I should have done something about it to let him know that I really was interested in keeping him as a boyfriend.  And I didn’t do anything at all to let him know that.

Who knows if my life would have been different had Jimmy and I dated.  Or maybe it was supposed to have happened that way, if you believe in that sort of thing.  I’ve spent the last 5 years or so searching for Jimmy and his brothers.  On the very day before we left the US in November 2009, I finally found out where their dad was working and I called him at his work.  It was great to speak to him again, and to hear that his two younger sons had married and had children of their own.  But the news he told me about Jimmy was not what I wanted to hear.  He told me that Jimmy had been in a car accident and his back was broken, leaving him “completely disabled”.  I was speechless and in shock.  How horrible.  I couldn’t even ask anything more about Jimmy, about whether he was doing okay, or if he has children; all that I wanted to ask about Jimmy had been forgotten in a single moment.  Minutes later, after the phone conversation with Jimmy’s dad, it began to really sink in.  It’s hard to believe that someone I had so much fun with as children, someone who I had struggled to ask out on a particular night, was now paralyzed.  I can only hope now that he has someone close to him who is looking out for him and helping him.

This is the story that comes to my mind every time I ask someone to come over for morning tea, or lunch, or afternoon tea.  Can you believe that?  I wish the story had ended on a happier note, and not only for your benefit, but for mine and Jimmy’s as well.

I want to put that aside for now though, because I’d like to introduce to you a perfect treat for morning or afternoon tea when you are entertaining guests.  This recipe for banana bread with honeyed ricotta comes from Issue #3 of MasterChef Australia magazine and is a masterpiece from Curtis Stone.  I’m not a huge fan of Curtis Stone’s, but this particular recipe has made me change my mind about him.

The recipe yields a very odd-sized loaf of bread – 8cm x 11cm x 30cm (3-inches x 4-inches x 12-inches).  It was so odd, in fact, that I had to just use an 8-inch x 8-inch square cake tin with high sides because I couldn’t find such an odd-sized loaf pan anywhere.  The preparation method for this banana bread is slightly different that most quick bread recipes, and I encourage you to have a read over the recipe below.  The end result is fantastic.  The bread/cake from my cake tin was moist and baked perfectly (it sunk in the middle slightly, but it was still baked through).  Its appearance was beautiful and rustic, with walnuts scattered on top of the golden brown bread.  It tasted amazing on its own…

But drizzle some warm honey on top of a slice of the bread and spread on a dollop of honeyed ricotta – it is perfect.  Never in my life would I have thought to spread ricotta on a piece of banana bread.  The addition of honey sweetens the ricotta, and a sprinkling of cinnamon warms it up.  It is a perfect pairing of flavors.  I will never eat banana bread any other way again.

Serve this banana bread with warm honey and honeyed ricotta, along with a cup of tea (I enjoyed Earl Gray with mine), and you’ll have guests knocking on your door, begging you to let them in for afternoon tea.  It is just that amazing.

Banana Bread With Honeyed Ricotta
Adapted from Curtis Stone, MasterChef Australia magazine, Issue 3
Makes 1 8cm x 11cm x 30cm loaf
Serves 8, approximately

Ingredients
250g (1 2/3 cups) self-raising flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
2 large eggs
275g (1 1/4 cups) caster sugar
125ml (1/2 cup) vegetable oil
3 overripe bananas, mashed (1 1/2 cups)
2 tablespoons Greek-style yogurt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
150g (1 1/2 cups) walnuts, roasted, halved
150g ricotta
180g (1/2 cup) honey, divided

Method
Preheat oven to 150C. Grease and line the base and sides of an 8cm x 11cm x 30cm (6-cup) loaf pan with baking paper. Sift flour, bicarbonate of soda, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon salt into a bowl.

Using an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar on high speed until thick and pale. Reduce speed to low-medium and gradually add oil in a thin, steady stream. Add bananas, yogurt and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Add flour mixture and three-quarters of the walnuts and stir until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan and scatter with remaining walnuts. Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool for 10 minutes in pan, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

Meanwhile, combine ricotta and 2 tablespoons of the honey in a bowl. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Place remaining 4 tablespoons honey in a small pan and warm slightly.

To serve, drizzle banana bread with warm honey. Thickly slice and serve with honeyed ricotta.

First of all, let me say that I’ve been planning these cupcakes for weeks.  It all started when I made the coconut pancakes with bananas, creme fraiche and caramel sauce last month, which was a recipe from Valli Little in delicious. magazine.  I loved those pancakes.  The combination of those flavors was like nothing else my tastebuds have ever experienced (probably mostly because I had never eaten creme fraiche!).  I started thinking that this flavor combination would taste great as a cupcake as well, and I haven’t made cupcakes in ages!

Over the past week I finally made up my mind as to how I would make these cupcakes.  I would use a banana cupcake recipe and stir sweetened shredded coconut into the batter.  The frosting would be something of my own creation, which turned out fabulous – creme fraiche whipped with confectioners’ sugar.  I made the same caramel sauce for these cupcakes as I made for the pancakes, except I replaced the thickened cream with coconut milk (I would have used coconut cream if I had had any).  This turned out fabulous as well, such a great flavor.

The assembly was easy.  The creme fraiche frosting was a perfect consistency and instead of using my piping bag I just used a Ziploc bag, snipped a corner off and piped a small mound on top of each cupcake.  I wanted the coconut caramel sauce to be concentrated in one spot, as opposed to just drizzling it over the frosting) so that it’d be able to be tasted and the only way I could think of to do this was to use a baby spoon to make an indentation on the very top of the frosting (see photo below this paragraph) and fill it with the coconut caramel sauce.  I then placed a slice of banana on top of the hole and gently pushed it down to cover the pocket of sauce (and threw on a bit of extra sauce just for the fun of it).

I’m very pleased with how these turned out.  They very closely match the flavor of those coconut pancakes, which is what I was aiming for.  The creme fraiche is slightly sweet with the addition of some confectioners’ sugar, yet still slightly tangy.  These cupcakes are best served on the day of baking due to the creme fraiche, as well as the use of fresh sliced bananas, which can turn brown quickly.  Be sure to place the sliced bananas on top of the cupcakes just before serving.

If you are interested in making these cupcakes yourself, I realize that the main problem you may have is in finding, or even affording, creme fraiche.  Creme fraiche is not available at every grocery store.  Luckily I can find it at my local store, but it comes at a price.  It is $6 for 250g.

Don’t despair though, you can make your own creme fraiche.  I haven’t done it myself, but it is so easy that I may just do this in the coming weeks.  You can find the instructions at joyofbaking.com.

I’d also like to point out that you can use whatever banana cake/cupcake recipe you prefer for these cupcakes.  I chose one of the first ones I came across that I had all the ingredients for!

And yes, you guessed right, I am watching too much MasterChef – look at those silly “artistic” blobs and smears of coconut caramel sauce on the plate!

On a sort of related note, I’d like to say how shocked I was to find the above chocolate-brown cupcake liners at my local grocery store!  This particular color of cupcake liner is very much sought after.  I bought a pack of 100 for $2.65 at Woolworth’s (in Sydney, Australia).  Awesome!

Anyway, here are the recipes, enjoy!

Banana Coconut Cupcakes
Adapted from Food Network
Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter (113g), softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 large ripe bananas, peeled, and mashed
1/2 rounded cup sweetened, shredded coconut
1 fresh banana, sliced, for decoration

Method
Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Line 1 (12-cup) muffin pan with paper cupcake liners.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, add the butter and the sugar. Beat with a hand-held mixer until combined. Add the sour cream and the vanilla extract. Slowly beat in the eggs, 1 at a time. Incorporate the dry mixture and wet mixtures together until thoroughly combined. Add the bananas and shredded coconut, being careful not to over mix. Using an ice cream scoop, fill each cupcake liner 3/4 way full. Bake in the preheated oven until the tops turn golden-brown and when a toothpick, inserted in the middle of the cupcake, comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the oven to a wire rack and let cool before frosting.

Creme Fraiche Frosting
Adapted from myself
Makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes, plus some leftover

Ingredients
250g creme fraiche
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

Method
Combine creme fraiche and confectioners sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whisk until thick and creamy, being careful not to overmix or it may become grainy. Use immediately.

Coconut Caramel Sauce
Adapted from delicious. magazine, November 2009
Makes about 2 cups, you’ll have plenty leftover

Ingredients
50g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1/2 cup firmly packed (100g) brown sugar
3 tablespoons honey
150ml coconut milk or coconut cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method
Stir all ingredients in a pan over low heat to dissolve sugar, then simmer for 5 minutes, until thickened. Cool to room temperature before using on cupcakes, otherwise it will melt the frosting.

Use leftovers for pancakes, pies or ice cream.

Assembly
Pipe a small mound of creme fraiche frosting on top of each cupcake using a plain round tip, or a Ziploc bag. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Using a small spoon or butter knife, insert the tip into the very top of the frosting and turn in a circular motion while pushing down to make an indentation, or pocket, in the frosting (see photo above). Fill this pocket with cooled coconut caramel sauce. Place a piece of sliced banana firmly, but gently, on top of the pocket of sauce to completely cover it. Drizzle a little bit of the sauce on top of the banana. Serve immediately.

If not serving immediately, I suggest frosting the cupcakes, and making the indentation beforehand. Store in the refrigerator. When it is time to serve, fill the indentation with the sauce and place the banana on top. Once decorated, the cupcakes are best eaten immediately.

I’m not sure how I found this recipe, it may have been FoodGawker or TasteSpotting, but as soon as I found it, I bookmarked it.  The photos from Food o’ del Mundo look fantastic, like the perfect banana bread.

The bread is spotted with chocolate chips, which isn’t much of a surprise, but it also includes the addition of crystallized ginger, which definitely surprised me!  I had never had crystallized ginger before so I made this recipe a high-priority.

And it is definitely delicious, I think.  The ginger keeps this bread interesting.  I couldn’t decide if I liked it or not, actually.  I definitely did not like the crystallized ginger by itself, but it did taste okay in the bread.  I probably would not choose to add crystallized ginger to banana bread again, however.  For a different sort of taste experience though, this bread is definitely a winner.

For our second quick bread, let’s go with coconut bread, from Almost Bourdain.  I probably found this recipe on FoodGawker or TasteSpotting as well, but can’t be for sure.  All I knew about it was that it look fabulous and moist and that I had to make it.

In fact, it was so delicious that this was the only photo I could manage to take of it.  That’s a dessert cookbook in the background, in case you were wondering.  This coconut bread tasted amazing with a cup of coffee.  It is now officially my new favorite quick bread – move over, banana bread!

For this coconut bread, I did not follow the recipe word-for-word.  First, I decided to use 150ml skim milk, and 150ml coconut milk, instead of “300ml milk”.  Next, I used 2 cups of all-purpose flour, but used 1/2 cup of almond meal to make up the “2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour”.  For the shredded coconut, I had to use some desiccated coconut that I had leftover in the pantry, because I didn’t have quite enough shredded coconut.  I also did not use the butter or icing sugar that the original recipe suggested for serving.

My bread baked up beautiful and moist, I absolutely loved it and will definitely be making this one again.

What’s your favorite quick bread?

Sources
Banana bread with chocolate chips and crystallized ginger: Food o’ del Mundo
Jamaican coconut bread: Almost Bourdain

While in France I did find some, and purchased it to bring home.  The funny thing is, after I tasted it, I didn’t like it!  I also thought it was strange to put chocolate on bread.  So I don’t think I even finished the small jar of it that I had brought home.

Years later, and I do mean years later, after I moved to Australia, I noticed that Nutella was plentiful in all the grocery stores.  I decided to try it again, because it sure did look nice, so maybe my tastes had changed over the years.  Luckily for my tastebuds, I loved it!  Unlucky for my waistline, however!  Nutella has nearly been a staple in our household since then.

I’ve tried plenty of my own Nutella creations in the past, including my popular peanut butter and Nutella swirl cookies, and Nutella-coffee frosting.

This is my second year submitting to World Nutella Day; this year I made a variation of the fried peanut butter and banana sandwich.

It’s a fried Nutella and banana sandwich with a cinnamon-sugar crust.  This has already had mixed reactions.  Some love the idea, some hate the idea and think it’s disgusting.  Someone even suggested that instead of frying the bread, to toast it in the toaster.

If I’m going to eat a banana with Nutella, I usually just spread a layer of Nutella on a naked banana, slice it into rounds, then eat it.  I’ve even eaten a plain un-fried Nutella and banana sandwich.  But, as I thought with the fried peanut butter and banana sandwich, the extra step of frying it brings a new depth to the taste.

Now, I wouldn’t go and make one of these sandwiches every day, but it does make a nice treat once in a while!

The recipe is below, but please note that I just estimated the amounts of what I used.  This is a recipe where you can use however much (or less) of anything that you like!

Nutella & Banana Sandwich With Cinnamon-Sugar Crust
serves 1

Ingredients
2 slices wholemeal bread, or bread of your choice
Approximately 1/2 teaspoon butter
Cinnamon-sugar, you can buy this at the store or make it yourself
1 ripe banana
Approximately 1 tablespoon Nutella, or similar

Directions
Heat a skillet over low-medium heat.  Meanwhile,  spread a thin layer of butter on one side of each slice of bread.  Sprinkle a good amount of cinnamon-sugar on the buttered side of each slice.

Slice the banana into enough rounds so that you can layer the unbuttered side of one slice of bread with the rounds.  Spread Nutella on the unbuttered side of the other slice of bread.

Carefully place the bread with the bananas, buttered side down, into the skillet.  Immediately place the other slice of bread, Nutella side down, right on top of the bananas.

Fry until golden brown, then flip the sandwich over and fry until golden brown.  Keep your eye on it, it can burn easily!

Let cool, slice diagonally if you like, and enjoy!

So what are you waiting for? Go celebrate World Nutella Day!

See Ms Adventures In Italy, Bleeding Espresso and World Nutella Day for more information.

I placed my order in October for a Chocolate Chip Off The Ol’ Block, and a Banana Butterscotch Bad Boy.  I was so excited to try them, but unfortunately there was a problem with the shipment and I did not receive it in the specified time frame of 2-3 days.  I emailed customer service, and also phoned the post office.  Apparently the shipment had not been scanned from the sender’s post office, so tracking was telling me that it wasn’t even in transit yet.

Bangerang Bake Shop was so kind and reshipped my order about a week later, but surprise, my first order arrived before the second did!  I was a little wary about their freshness, as it had been a week since these cupcakes were shipped.  I put them in the refrigerator and hoped for the best.  A couple of days later, my second order arrived in the specified time frame.  Now I had four Bangerang cupcakes-in-a-jar!

I knew I’d like the chocolate chip one the best, so I saved it for last and tried the banana butterscotch cupcake first.  Bangerang even included two plastic forks!

The first thing I can tell you about this cupcake is that there is no mistaking that this is banana!  It’s obviously made with tons of real bananas, and the butterscotch is so rich and creamy.  Delicious!  The cake itself was definitely delicious, but it wasn’t as soft and moist as I had expected.  It was more of a muffin texture, but a very yummy muffin!

Next up, the chocolate chip one.  This was one of the Cupcakes For A Cause, where the proceeds would go to the CancerCare For Kids program, so it included a sugar smiley face.  This program has ended, so the smiley faces are no longer included in this cupcake.

As I expected, this was definitely one of the best cupcakes I’ve ever eaten.  It’s the only chocolate chip cupcake I’ve had that actually tasted like a chocolate chip cookie.  The cake was softer and moister than the banana one.  The vanilla bean buttercream is to-die-for.  The addition of the mini chocolate chips brings everything together and you get one of the most amazing tastes that have ever entered your mouth!  This is an amazing cupcake, I was so glad I had two of these babies!

I kept my cupcakes in the refrigerator and reheated them in the microwave before I ate them.  I really recommend doing this yourself as well, as it makes the cupcake taste like it’s almost straight from the oven.

If you are looking for a big yummy cupcake for yourself or someone else as a treat, Bangerang Bake Shop‘s cupcake-in-a-jar would definitely be the way to go!  :)

Note that I have not been paid from or asked by Bangerang Bake Shop to write up this review, I just wanted to share my experience with others!

The original recipe asked for pecans, but I used walnuts instead.  What I really did like about this recipe is that it uses cream cheese.  It is creamed along with the butter and sugar, so it is thoroughly incorporated through the batter.

The texture is absolutely perfect and so moist!  It almost mimics the taste of those yummy Otis Spunkmeyer muffins that I love.

These muffins were fantastic for breakfast and were so filling that I told my mom that this might be my only banana bread recipe!

Special Banana Nut Bread
Adapted from Taste of Home
Makes 1 loaf, 6 jumbo muffins or 12 regular muffins

Ingredients
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup mashed ripe bananas
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped walnuts, divided

Method
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add egg, beating well.  Beat in bananas and vanilla.  In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture.  Fold in 1/2 cup walnuts.

Transfer to a greased 8x4x2-inch loaf pan or greased muffin tin.  Sprinkle with remaining walnuts.  Bake at 350F for 1 to 1 1/4 hours for a loaf, 30 minutes for jumbo muffins or 20-22 minutes for regular muffins, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

I’ve had peanut butter and banana together before, and in a regular unfried sandwich as well.  But it tasted quite different fried and warm.  I can’t say it’ll be a regularly made sandwich in our house, but at least I’ve finally tried it!

Personally, I prefer unfrozen smoothies, but my daughter prefers them in frozen form, which is just as well.  I’m glad she likes this healthy treat – she can barely even wait for them to freeze!

Strawberry-Blueberry-Banana Smoothies
Can be frozen or simply drank fresh from the blender!
Makes approximately 3-4 cups

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups whole, fresh or frozen strawberries, mostly thawed
1 banana, sliced
1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, mostly thawed
1 1/2 cups low fat milk
1 cup low fat yogurt, any flavor (I used vanilla)
3 teaspoons sugar

Method
Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.  Immediately enjoy, or pour into popsicle molds to freeze for a cold treat.

With three different fruits, plus milk and yogurt, this frozen smoothie pop makes a great healthy treat for the kids.

If you prefer, you can strain the smoothie through a fine sieve to remove the strawberry seeds and tiny pieces of blueberry skin.

And they are really yummy!  The cupcakes: they ended up more muffin-like in texture than I expected; they are soft and moist; they did not rise much while baking; they have an extreme banana taste; they don’t need frosting on them, they taste amazing.  The frosting: was a little bit daunting, seeing as how there are so many steps, but was actually quite easy as I went along; is actually a caramel Swiss meringue buttercream; is best prepared with a stand mixer; tastes beautiful.

Just a tip for the buttercream… the directions say to make the caramel first.  I had read on the comments section of the recipe that the caramel becomes hard by the time you add it to the buttercream, which is the very last step.  Of course you want the caramel to be cool, but you also don’t want to hard bits of caramel in your frosting.  What I did was stir the caramel occasionally as I went through the steps and kept it near, but not on, the burner I had cooked it on, to keep it a little bit runnier.  It was quite cool by the time I added it to the buttercream, but chunks of caramel still formed in the buttercream.  This was basically solved by just beating with the mixer at a speed higher and beating for a little bit longer, although there were still a few caramel chunks.  Personally, I don’t mind them, however – this caramel is simply dreamy!

And one other tip – the more caramel buttercream you put on the cupcakes, the better!  The banana and caramel combination is a lovely taste.

Recipes at marthastewart.com – banana cupcakes and caramel buttercream.

Now, I didn’t have any sour cream so I substituted with organic vanilla yogurt. I don’t know if this was my problem, but all of my “pies” turned out flat.

I couldn’t figure out why, so I came up with the idea of putting the batter into my cupcake pan. I piped the batter in the bottom of each of the cups in the pan, just enough batter to completely cover the bottom but of course in a thin layer and baked them this way. I found that I needed to bake them for less time in the cupcake pans.

But, they came out exactly how I wanted them to look!

They’re very nice, they’re moist and banana-y. I’m not a huge cream cheese fan, so that put me off slightly, but I do think that these whoopie pies are a nice treat. I’m interested now in making the original whoopie pies, pumpkin whoopie pies, and my own idea of cherry whoopie pies (chocolate pies with cherry filling).

I didn’t use all of my flat pies, just the one pictured above to show you what I meant by “flat pies”. I have leftover filling so I think I might try to use that as a filling in chocolate cupcakes later this week.