cake

Hazelnut Banana Bread

in ,

A video recipe for hazelnut banana bread

Hazelnut Banana Bread by Jason Schreiber.

HAZELNUT BANANA BREAD

Originally published in FRUIT CAKE: RECIPES FOR THE CURIOUS BAKER

MAKES 8 TO 10 SERVINGS  

The bananas and plantains for this recipe need to be soft, dark, and basically mushade, because that’s when they are the sweetest and most full of flavor. The plantains, which are starchier than your typical banana, don’t break down completely, forming little pockets of intense banana flavor scattered throughout the loaf.

The original recipe from FRUIT CAKE uses walnuts instead of hazelnuts. Both versions are delicious.

Pan Goo (below), for greasing the pan
2 (240 grams) large, very ripe, very mushy bananas
2 (450 grams) large, very ripe, very soft sweet plantains
¾ cup (160 grams) granulated sugar
1 ¼ cups (178 grams) all-purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons (3.8 grams) coarse salt
1 teaspoon (2.5 grams) ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon (4.5 grams) baking soda
1 pinch ground mace
4 tablespoons (57 grams) unsalted butter
½ cup (4 ounces, 113 grams) cream cheese
2 teaspoons (10 milliliters) pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup (128 grams) toasted hazelnuts (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) with a rack in the center position. Brush a standard 8 ½ x 4 ½-inch loaf pan with Pan Goo.

2. In a large bowl, mash the bananas and plantains together until the bananas have almost totally disintegrated and the plantains have broken into pieces about the size of modest grapes. Add the sugar and continue mashing it all together until the sugar more or less dissolves. Set this mixture aside to macerate for about 15 minutes.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, and mace.

4. In a small saucepan, melt the butter, then remove it from the heat. Using a rubber spatula, stir the cream cheese into the butter until it’s mostly dissolved, then whisk to combine. Whisk in the vanilla and eggs, one at a time, until the mixture has lightened to the consistency of melted ice cream.

5. Stir the wet mixture into the banana mixture with a rubber spatula. Add the dry mixture and gently fold it all together as you might pancake batter, being careful not to overwork it or leave any dry pockets behind. Store in the nuts, if using, and then pour the batter into the prepared pan. It will be almost completely full.

6. Bake the loaf until it’s deep golden brown, springs back to the touch, and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 80 to 85 minutes.

7. Transfer the pan to a wire rack. Let the loaf rest in the pan for just about 15 minutes, then unmold it onto the rack until—here comes the hard part—it’s completely cool.

STORAGE
You can probably keep the loaf in an airtight container for 4 to 5 days, but good luck with that.

PAN GOO
¼ cup (62 mL) neutral oil, such as safflower
⅓ cup (47 g) all-purpose flour.

In a small container with a lid, whisk the oil and flour together until combined. Brush onto baking pans in place of parchment paper or cooking spray. Keep it in the fridge for a couple of weeks. A month seems like maybe too long

From FRUIT CAKE: Recipes for the Curious Baker (William Morrow, 2020).

 

A Very Dramatic Apple

in

A very dramatic apple reads the opening poem from my book FRUIT CAKE: Recipes for the Curious Baker (William Morrow, 2020).

“First to show was sweet Clement
Richard often came and went
Unlike Sal who settled in
Instantly becoming kin
Thinking there was room for more
Florence flitted through the door
Leon, Gerald, Evan, Ray—
It seems their numbers grow each day
Exhausted as I try and try
Still these fruit flies will not die”
— Fruit Cake

Cornbread Disco

in ,

A video recipe for cornbread

Cornbread Disco by Jason Schreiber. Music by Jess Damuck.

MAPLE ORANGE CORNBREAD

MAKES 10 TO 12 SERVINGS  

Each November, an email exchange between my mother and me resurfaces. The conversation goes back more than ten years, which is a testament to both our forgetfulness and the resilience of modern technology. The subject: cornbread, and how. Each year the recipe is tweaked and changed, adapted and scaled. No more. I have put it down in ink now, for my mom and yours

FOR THE CORNBREAD
Pan Goo (below), for greasing the pan
2 cups (284 g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (115 g) stone-ground cornmeal
1-1/2 tsp (4.5 g) coarse salt
1 tsp (3 g) baking powder
1/2 tsp (3 g) baking soda
2 tsp (4 g) finely grated orange zest (from 1 orange) 3/4 c (159 g) granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1/4 cup (84 g) pure maple syrup, preferably dark and robust
1/2 cup (1 stick, 113 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup (250 mL) buttermilk, room temperature

FOR THE GLAZE
1/4 cup (62 mL) freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tbsp (42 g) pure maple syrup, preferably dark and robust
1 tbsp (14g) unsalted butter
coarse salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) with a rack in the center position. Brush a 9 x 2-inch square cake pan with Pan Goo.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, and set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, use your fingers to rub
the orange zest into the sugar, releasing all the fragrant oils. Whisk the eggs into the sugar one at a time until well combined. Slowly whisk in
the maple syrup, followed by the melted butter. Finally, whisk in the buttermilk. The mixture should be very smooth.

4. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the wet ingredients. Use a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon to gently stir the dry ingredients into the wet as you would pancake batter. Be careful not to overmix or the cake will become tough; leave some lumps of love. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

5. Bake until the top springs back when gently pressed and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs, 35 to 40 minutes. 

6. Make the glaze while the cake is in the oven: In a small saucepan, combine the orange juice, maple syrup, butter, and salt. Set over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture boils. Continue boiling without stirring for 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat.

7. Transfer the cake pan to a wire rack. Brush the top of the cornbread with the maple orange glaze as soon as it comes out of the oven, then let it cool completely in the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

STORAGE
Cornbread is really best eaten the day it’s made but will keep reasonably well at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

PAN GOO
1/4 cup (62 mL) neutral oil, such as safflower
1/3 cup (47 g) all-purpose flour.

In a small container with a lid, whisk the oil and flour together until combined. Brush onto baking pans in place of parchment paper or cooking spray. Keep it in the fridge for a couple of weeks. A month seems like maybe too long

From FRUIT CAKE: Recipes for the Curious Baker (William Morrow, 2020).

 

New Work: Delish Cookbook

in , ,

Food styling at Delish is always fun because the team there strives to create work that is playful, unexpected, and (in the words of site-director Jo Saltz) “just a step below disgusting”. I was once told to make a photo look like a raccoon had gotten onto the set. In addition to my regular duties as a food stylist, I’ve donned a gorilla glove, a Santa suit, and made cheeseballs the size of some house cats in their kitchens.

Above all, the team at Delish produces. They create more content on a daily basis than any other group I’ve worked with, and there is no question that they have quickly become one of the most successful digital lifestyle brands. Recently, Delish broke away from the internet to publish their first hard-bound cookbook, and I was happy to help! Some of my favorite images from the book are below.

Deconstructed Desserts with Jenna Gang (Part One: Chocolate)

in

I partnered with photographer Jenna Gang to create a suite of images playing off the photographic vernacular associated with cosmetics advertising. This personal project was a perfect opportunity to experiment creatively by stripping away the constraints of a traditional shoot, allowing me to play the role of food stylist, as well as co-art director, and to learn new techniques from the world of beauty styling.

This first group embraces the idea of an exploding palette of warm chocolate tones, arranged in a grid typically used to showcase powder-based cosmetics.