Wednesday 1 June 2011

I Went Banana!!!

The weather in Kuala Lumpur has certainly gone bonkers. It's so freaking HOT and then some days its super windy coupled with thunderous storms especially in the evenings. Not only trees were uprooted but some innocent children were killed in one of these fierce storms.

Capt'n Hook had bought a couple of bunch of Dole bananas where the skin are still green. They were left there to be ripen but after 2 days, the skin is still greenish but my goodness when I touch them, they're all limp aiks!!! I peeled one omigosh it has over ripen *sobs*

I was so upset that I ranted on with my friends and some started to give suggestions on how to make use of them. And that really got me on a roll! Within the hour, I've got myself some banana jam, ice cream and a banana cake! So glad I managed to salvage the expensive bananas into something thanks to my friends otherwise I would have dumped them all away.

banana jam (2)

For the banana jam, just slice the banana into large chunks and add in some lemon juice. Cook on medium low heat and keep stirring. Since the Dole bananas were quite sweet, I tasted them and just needed a little sugar. Just cooked the bananas into a thickish paste and if you prefer chunks in your jam, try not to stir too hard. Cool down and store in containers. Serve immediately or store in fridge covered. Try to eat them up within the next couple of days but seriously the jam is so good that you'll finish them rather quickly!

banana jam spread

Next, I sliced up some bananas and squeeze some lemon juice all over to prevent them from turning dark. Then I use my handheld blender and blitz the bananas up until they're creamy. Placed the covered container in the freezer and after about 2 hours I've got myself some really yummy and creamy "ice cream"! It's all natural without any cream nor sugar yay!

frozen banana ice cream

Since there were so much bananas, I've baked 2 loaves of Banana Cakes using Low-Fat Carrot and Nut Cupcakes recipe with some tweakings. What a lovely banana cake this recipes make. My cake looked very dark all cos I've used a very dark brown organic sugar which lend the cake a rather fragrant caramelly taste.

banana cake with banana ice cream & banana jam


Low-Fat Banana Cake
Adapted from 500 Cupcakes & Muffins, By Fergal Connolly book (published by PageOne Publishing), page 310

225g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ground mixed spice
150 g dark brown organic sugar
100 g roughly chopped walnuts
300 g mashed bananas
2 lightly beaten eggs
175 ml vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 175C. In a large bowl, combine all cupcake ingredients. Beat on a low speed with electric whisk until ingredients are combined. I've just use normal whisk, worked as well.

I've poured my batter into 2 lined loaf tins but they turned out quite low, I guess if you prefer one tall loaf, just pour all into one instead. Bake for about 45 - 55 minutes depending on your oven and the size of loaves. Remove tin and cool for 5 minutes. Remove cakes and cool on a rack.

I'm so happy with the results that I don't wait for such incidents to happen again but instead but extra bananas to let them ripe and turn them into such beautiful creations ;-)

18 comments:

  1. Banana jam - wow, that i gotta try!

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  2. how i wish i had that many bananas at my disposal, i finish them all as is!

    bananas in australia are now at an all time high of aud12-14kg..thats rm30-40pls!!

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  3. Oh boy - you really went bananas! But in a very good way. ;)

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  4. wow, i've never heard of banana jam before! can most fruits be turned into jams? i want mangosteen jam! :D

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  5. i just threw away 6 limp dole bananas, 10 mins ago. came online and saw your posts .... rushed to the bin and rescued my bananas. there was nothing else in the bin - in case you are wondering :) xoxo

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  6. i have banana envy and withdrawn symptoms now... they are so ex here that it is impossible to have them often. Hubby actually ratio my breakfast oat porridge topping of banana!! so this post is making me drool! argggggh

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  7. Pureglutton, please do, you'll sure love it!

    Joe & Daphne, is it because it's winter now???

    Kenny, you din see how despair I was until I got all these ideas :p

    Sean, am not sure about mangosteen cos like how to remove the seeds?

    hahaha Celine, you really funny la, I hope you really made use of those expensive limp bananas!

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  8. Your banana cake looks so moist and delicious. But this is the first time I heard of banana jam, I am skeptical unless I try it. :P

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  9. Thanks LCOM, do try the jam, it's really good

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  10. Banana jam, that's a marvellous creation, must admit I've never heard of it. Good that you can salvage those bananas and thanks for sharing!

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  11. Interesting. Lazy me usually just mash over-ripe bananas spread over peanut butter bread and that is my "banana jam"! ;p

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  12. oh yummm!!!! such a clever idea! ps. i want to buy a hand held blender now...heheheh

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  13. I tot only Penang's weather is crazy, didn't know KL also the same. The weather is so so so hot till you didn't want to step out from the house! :(

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  14. bonkers over bananas! Low fat cake summor.. u so clever one:D

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  15. You're most welcome No-Frills Recipes ;-)

    Tigerfish, try this next time, can keep for a few days in the fridge.

    NKOTB, same here!!!! :(

    C&C hahaha not I clever but thanks to my frens for the suggestions

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  16. Rita, it's very good investment esp when you have limited storage space. Would be great too to blend baby food for Marcus ;-)

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  17. Exactly, I found Malaysia was very HOT while travelling, that closed to the temperature here when it's in summer.
    Love banana cake so much, and miss it so much as well. The banana prices skyrocket. Too bad.

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  18. hahaha Christine, it's HOT 365 days here! So sad to hear how expensive bananas are to you :(

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