#batterpuncher

What do you do when the (bunch of) bananas you got last week are too ripe and are all too brown? You make good banana bread. 

I always have a bunch of bananas in my pantry for my daily consumption - of course there would be one or two that I would not touch for a while. It is amazing how many recipes I can come up with that uses bananas. 

You can make Banana Fritters, Banana Cheesecake, Banana Nutella Puffs and the list goes on and on...

I like a higher ratio of bananas over the dry ingredients. This way, you will get a stronger banana flavour and aroma. And of course a more softer and moist cake. But please use ripened bananas that are brownish in colour. The unripe ones have a high water content and they tend to make bakes very tough. 

I love using brown sugar instead of white sugar for this because brown sugar gives off this caramel flavour (which really compliments the bananas). You could, if you want, use white sugar OR a half-half of both sugars.

Most recipes would call for vegetable oil but I like using butter instead. Butter gives the bread an added richness.

You will have lumps in the batter but that is fine because a lumpy batter = moist, light and fluffy banana bread. No one likes tough and dry banana bread.

Buttery Banana Bread Recipe:

120grams Butter (Softened at room temperature)

90grams Brown Sugar (You can use White Sugar instead OR half Brown - half White Sugar)

2 Eggs (Room temperature)

2 large Bananas (Mashed)

150grams All-Purpose Flour

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

Pinch of Salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 180degrees Celcius.

In a large bowl, whisk the All-Purpose flour, Baking Powder and Salt together until well mixed (These are the “Dry Ingredients”).

In another large bowl, cream Butter and Brown Sugar until pale, light and fluffy.

Add Eggs, mixing one Egg at a time until incorporated.

Add in the mashed Bananas. Fold.

Fold in the Dry Ingredients in ⅓ additions. Please do not overwork the batter at this point. Slowly fold in the Dry Ingredients. It is okay if the batter is lumpy.

Pour the batter into a buttered (or line with baking paper) loaf tin.

Bake in the oven for about 35-40 minutes until a skewer/toothpick/knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Cool for a while, take the bread out of the tin and cut them to serve.

This Banana Bread recipe goes stale pretty fast (they can only last up to a day before drying out) but I don’t think that is an issue as they won’t stay on the dining table for too long haha. I usually eat half a loaf while they are still warm - they are that good!

I remember going to this vintage bakery at the nearby market with my mother after our Sunday market-runs when I was young. They always have these little tarts filled with egg custard, jam, chocolate and even pandanus custard. My mother would always buy some for me for my breakfast. 

I really miss those tarts; they were buttery and delicious.

Making Shortcrust Pastry does not require difficult ingredients, it is the method that is. I only managed to perfect my own Shortcrust Pastry last year. It really took me a long time to get the texture that I like. You could (if you want) add sugar to the pastry dough but I find it unnecessary as most fillings are already sweet. 

Most recipes would want you to mix everything in a food processor to form the dough but I would say that it is better to use your hands so you can get the “feeling” and the right texture that you want.

I love this recipe of mine because the pastry dough is really versatile and they don't break easily. Sometimes (when I am not lazy), I would make miniature tarts in a variety of shapes. Other times, I would just roll and throw the entire thing onto a loose bottom tart tin.

You can fill it with whatever your heart desires. You could blind bake the pastry first and then fill it up with creme anglaise, salted caramel and chocolate. Or you could bake raw pastry with the filling together like egg tarts, fruit pies and savoury pies. 

Shortcrust Pastry Recipe:

250grams All-Purpose Flour.

125grams Butter (Cold and chopped)

1 cold Egg

A tablespoon of Cold Water

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix Flour with chopped cold Butter. Using your fingers, rub the Butter into the Flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Make a well (hole) in the center of the mixture and add the cold Egg and Water. Knead until the dough comes together. Dough is ready when it does not stick to your fingers after kneading. Add flour (if needed).

Form dough into a ball and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Roll the dough and press into your desired shaped tins and using a fork, prick holes into them. (It really helps to have a circle cookie cutter if you are making mini pastry. Cut out the dough pieces and simple press into the tins).

Refrigerate for 1 more hour.

Preheat oven to 180degrees Celcius.

Bake for 15 minutes. (Longer if you are baking it with a filling).

Cool completely before adding filling. 

Shortcrust Pastry dough can be kept for a week in the refrigerator and can be frozen up to 6 months.

Make sure the pastry(s) are well baked. You want a dry and cooked pastry bottom. They can be stored for a month in an airtight container.

I ate a lot of shortbreads growing up. I love how buttery and faintly sweet they are - and they literally melt in your mouth.

My mother would always buy a pack of Mcvities’ shortbreads from the nearby store. They are quite expensive to buy so I taught myself how to make my own shortbreads a few years ago. They are super simple to make and super tasty!

Like all baking recipes, the shortbread one is easy to manipulate. You can add whatever you like to the basic dough. Chocolate chips are a classic and so is orange peel with cranberries (my favourite) and pistachios are good too!

You can go a little crazy with your shortbreads too. You can bake them into traditional rectangles and “petticoat tails” or you can go modern and use a cookie cutter. Round shortbreads are delightful too. If you want, you can also dip your baked shortbread into melted chocolate - they're delicious!

You really need good quality butter and flour to get good shortbreads. You can use All-Purpose (Plain) Flour, but I use Top Flour because I love how superfine the flour is and superfine flour = light bakes.

But make sure they do not brown too much. They should be off-white with light brown sides and bottom (that’s why the oven temperature is low).

Basic Shortbread Recipe:

100grams Butter (Softened at room temperature)

50grams Icing Sugar

Pinch of Salt.

150grams All-Purpose Flour

Optionals:

50grams Semolina Flour (Gives the shortbreads a crunchier texture - reduce the All-Purpose Flour to 100grams)

50grams Rice Flour (Gives the shortbreads a grainier feel - reduce the All-Purpose Flour to 100grams)

50grams Chocolate Chips

Melted Dark Chocolate (If you want to dip your shortbread halves in chocolate)

50grams chopped dried Cranberries (Good with ½ tablespoon of Lemon/Orange Zest)

50grams of any chopped Nuts

Ground Tea Leaves from a Teabag

50grams of grated Cheddar Cheese

A teaspoon of Herbs (Rosemary or Chilli are good)

Directions:

Cream room temperature Butter with Icing Sugar and Salt in a large bowl until smooth, light and fluffy.

Add in the Flour and Optionals (if any) and fold the mixture until a dough forms. For cut-out shapes, form the dough into a ball and refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes. For traditional shapes, press the dough into a square or a round baking tin and prick holes with fork. And then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 160degrees Celsius.

For cut-outs, roll the refrigerated dough on a floured work surface (or on baking paper) into ⅓-inch thick and then cut out your shortbreads with your desired shapes. Repeat until all the dough is used up. Place the shapes onto ungreased baking sheets. Don't have to place them far apart as they don't rise much. For traditional shapes, they can straightaway be baked after refrigeration.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15minutes. Make sure they do not brown.

Once baked, cool them completely and store in an airtight container/jar. For traditional shapes, cut them into rectangles or triangles when they are still hot and then cool them completely before transferring them to an airtight container/jar. They do last for up to a month.