Chestnut Banana Bread

Chestnut Banana Cake.jpg

Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas to me without a lot of recipes with chestnut on the table.

I have a home-made chestnut cream that I did last week, so I decided to bake my regular banana cake recipe and add it to it, the results were simple and delicious.

I know this recipe is a keeper and definitely worth to share with you.

Chestnut Banana Bread

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose-flour, sifted
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, diced
  • ¾ cup brown sugar
  • 3 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 small mashed ripe bananas
  • 3 tablespoons chestnut cream
  • ¼ cup milk

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F. Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
  1. In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  2. Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, continue beating about 3 minutes.
  3. Add bananas followed by chestnut cream and beat until combined.
  4. Gradually add dry ingredients; flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
  5. Beat in milk.
  6. Pour batter into pan and bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.
  7. Allow bread to cool for 10 minutes, then turn it out and let it cool completely on a wire rack.
Advertisement

Caramel Chocolate Tart

 

Chocolate Tart PinkLR.jpg

Don’t you hate when you invite guests over and hear them cheering, drinking, having a blast while you’re stuck in the kitchen, running in all directions, heating dishes and making sure everything is perfect?

Thinking of this makes me have second thoughts about how much I truly love (or not) Christmas!

This is exactly the time when, I appreciate recipes like that. Recipes that can be done entirely the day before and requires minimum manipulation on the day of the event.

  • This tart requires no baking.
  • If using a round tin, then 20cm would be required.
  • The base can be done with Chocolate Oreo or Speculoos biscuits.
  • Crush biscuits in a food processor or in a plastic bag using a rolling pin.
  • As for the filling, semisweet chocolate can be replaced with dark chocolate and two more tablespoons of sugar, or use milk chocolate and omit the sugar.
  • For coffee lovers: caramel sauce can be replaced with 1 tablespoon instant coffee powder.

Merry Christmas food lovers!

Caramel Chocolate Tart

Ingredients

For the base

  • 32 chocolate biscuits or Oreo Biscuits, crumbled
  • ½ cup / 50g butter, melted

For the filling

  • 150g semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 2 tbsp caramel sauce
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 25g corn flour
  • 1/3 cup milk

Directions

  1. To make the base In a food processor, pulse biscuits, butter and salt until you have a moist sandy mixture. Press biscuit mixture into a tart tin and refrigerate for 3 hours.
  2. To make the filling In a saucepan, on low-medium heat, pour the chocolate chips and the cream and stir until the chocolate melts. Add sugar, caramel and salt. Stir to well combine.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk corn flour and milk together and, off the heat, add to the chocolate mixture and mix. Return sauce over low heat and keep stirring 5-7 minutes or until sauce thickens. Leave to cool 15 minutes.
  4. Take out the base-lined tart tin, pour the chocolate mixture evenly on the top and return it to the fridge to chill overnight.

Sweet Chestnut Dip

Sweet Chestnut Dip .jpg

Ingredients

  • 250g chestnuts, roasted and peeled and cut in 2
  • 3 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 250 ml / 1 cup cream
  • 2 tablespoons Cognac or Irish Cream liqueur

Preparation

  1. Place all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat and stir with a spoon until sugar dissolves.
  2. Let simmer for 10 minutes or until chestnuts have softened.
  3. Off heat, blend the mixture until soft and smooth.
  4. Refrigerate overnight or until firm and serve with apple slices or your favorite crackers.