Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Brown Butter Wholewheat Pecan Banana cake

Thanks to Bosch, I recently received a new kitchen gadget from them! Fresh in the market, their brand new MaxoMixx handheld blender device. But before that, let me show you what I came up with using this new tool haha!
Not too shabby right? I can definitely go for a slice of this right now. But first, lets talk about this new exciting gadget I received!

This handy dandy new equipment is not your usual blend the chunky soup or pulverized the fruits function only tool. It comes with several different attachments which not only blends, whips, chops, grinds and even slice and julienne! Talk about multi-functionalities! 
Looks slick doesn't it? I love that metallic shine! Plus I am such a knuckle head when it comes to using new kitchen equipments, luckily it was really easy to use!

I was pretty much ready to try out all the different attachments but somehow that whisk feature seems to be calling out to me the most! Must be that baker mode in me I guess. :) Plus I was a little skeptical about the thin metal whisk...whether it is powerful enough to mix thick batters. So with that in mind, I finally settled on doing a simple cake. And since I wanted a recipe that anyone can relate with, I opted for a banana loaf cake: Brown Butter Wholewheat Banana Pecan Cake. Yup, anything with brown butter is a sure win!

Recipe for Brown Butter Wholewheat Banana Pecan Cake (makes a 9x5" loaf)
Ingredients:
90g unsalted butter
180g cake flour
80g wholewheat flour
150g soft brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
65ml buttermilk (if you can't find, substitute with 50g plain yogurt and 15ml fresh milk)
2 large or 3 medium really ripe bananas, peeled and mashed

1/2 cup roughly chopped pecans and 6 -12 whole ones to decorate
Dark Chocolate chunks about 80-100g (Optional)
  • In a heavy saucepan, add the butter in and cook at medium low fire till it starts to foam. It might splatter a bit so be careful. Once it turns into an amber brown colour and release that nutty flavor, remove from fire and set aside.
  • Grease and line with parchment paper a loaf pan. I used my William Sonoma Goldtouch mini loaf pans...so no parchment paper needed, yay! Preheat the oven to 180C.
  • Add eggs, buttermilk to mashed banana and combine well. Of course use MaxoMixx to do the job for me! There are two modes (Normal & High) MaxoMixx, be sure to try it out without the batter to check on the speed! Attach that whisk and press on!
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  • After that, add in vanilla extract, sugar and then the cooled brown butter. Again use MaxoMixx to incorporate everything properly using the normal speed whisking action.

  • In a separate bowl, sift in the cake flour, salt and baking soda. Then add in wholewheat flour and stir well.
  • Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk with the MaxoMixx till no visible lumps and smooth batter. Check out that whisk. ;) The regular speed was already "strong" enough to combine my thick cake batter nicely!
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  • At this point, add in chopped pecans and combine.
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  •  Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tins and then proceed to add your toppings or extra chocolate chunks if desired.
  • Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes to an hour till golden brown or when the cake tester comes out clean, If you are using a smaller loaf tin like myself, bake for 35-38 minutes.
  • Serve it when still slightly warm or it can be kept in the fridge for a good one week. Else freeze up to two -three weeks with proper wrapping.
Baking made easy with this new Bosch MaxoMixx! The cakes turned out beautifully tall plus a nice golden crusty exterior yet soft on the inside.

What I love most about this cake is the nutty buttery flavor from that brown butter. Yes, taking that extra step to cook the butter definitely pays off! The cake stays moist and soft because of the banana and buttermilk, so even with the addition of wholewheat, no one can really tell. And that added crunchy texture from the pecans and huge chocolate chunks are really delicious bonuses! Yay to success in first recipe trying out a new equipment!
Yes, one more close up of the delicious cake before I sign off...tempting tempting tempting. :))
Will be trying out more new recipes using the MaxoMixx, so do stay tune! Have a great day folks!


4 comments:

PH said...

Wah, nice gadget! I always like kitchen/baking gadgets but everytime buy already never use. Haiz...I like your cake. Bookmarked to try!

My Little Space said...

Hi Bee Bee,
Hope you're all well. Its been a long while since you posted anything. Must be terribly busy.
Is it an untitled post?
Kristy

Angie's Recipes said...

Love Bosch products...they are usually very practical and the price is acceptable.
Your pecan cakes look spectacular!

said...

I don´t like banana in recipes, however, it looks amazing!