EVENT: Various, from Writing Group to Halloween Party to Office Birthdays
TYPE: Simplicity Itself
GOODS BAKED: Carrot Cake Cupcakes; Pumpkin Pecan Chocolate Chip Bread; Double Apple Walnut Cake
I was sitting one night at my friend Sami’s, drinking and eating banana bread to celebrate our friend Jessy’s birthday, when I stopped for a second and realized that the banana bread was so, so good. Like, so much better than the one I’ve always made from a simple Joy of Cooking recipe. It was really gooey, not just with an excess of chocolate chips, but with a dense, butter-y, banana-y crumb. It reminded me of the best banana bread I’d ever had before this night—the one made by Phoebe’s mother, Sarah.
Jessy’s roommate Allie turned out to be the baking culprit, and, as she explained when I showered her in compliments, she doesn’t follow a recipe at all. “I just remember it by 1, 2, 3,” she said: “1 part butter, 2 parts sugar, 3 parts flour.” Allie adds an egg for good measure, some vanilla extract for flavor, an extra banana, and something to make it rise—that’d be baking powder or baking soda. Add a pinch of salt and any fancy mix-ins, and suddenly there’s a loaf pan full of batter cooking in your oven.
Thinking about it later, I realized that Allie’s simple equation not only covered the basics of banana bread, but of all its sister breads as well: zucchini walnut, pumpkin pecan, apple raisin, carrot cake—and on and on.
Of course I got to experimenting, mixing various fats for the 1 part, sugars for the 2 part, and flours for the 3, to the point where you almost couldn’t make out the proportions anymore. But beneath my creative liberties-the canola oil instead of butter, or maple syrup substituted for some of the sugar-you can just discern Allie’s pattern. And of course underneath all that versatility is also tastiness itself. Below are the recipes for three renditions of this recipes, but playing around, the variations are endless.
From my small kitchen—where who needs recipes when you can count on your fingers?—to yours,
Cara, THE QUARTER-LIFE COOK
**Recipes**
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Makes about 20 cupcakes
You can also make this in a loaf pan or a 9×13″ sheet pan, but then you’ve got to bake it for anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour.
Ingredients
2.5 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1.5 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoons baking soda
4 eggs, beaten
2 cup sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup vegetable oil
3 cups shredded carrots
1 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup raisins
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and line a 12-cup cupcake pan.
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and soda. In another bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar, vanilla, and vegetable oil until thick. Fold the dry ingredients into the beaten mixture until well blended. Stir in the carrots and the nuts and raisins. Pour into buttered and lined cupcake pans and bake for about 15 minutes, until risen and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting. Garnish with a few extra walnuts as desired.
For the icing:
8 oz cream cheese
8 oz butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 tablespoons milk as needed
Beat all the ingredients until fluffy, adding milk as needed to achieve desired consistency.
Pumpkin Pecan Chocolate Chip Bread
Makes 1 loaf
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 baking soda
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 can pureed pumpkin
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a loaf pan.
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and soda. In another bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar, vanilla, and vegetable oil until thick. Fold the dry ingredients into the beaten mixture until well blended. Stir in the pumpkin and the nuts. Pour into the prepared loaf pan or pans and bake 1 hour, until it tests done. Remove from the pan and cool on a rack.
Double Apple Walnut Cake
Makes 1 loaf
The double apple contains both applesauce and diced apple. Together with the syrup and nuts, they make this version of the cake deliciously rich.
Ingredients
1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 apple, peeled, cored, and diced
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a loaf pan.
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt, baking powder, and raisins. In another bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar, vanilla, applesauce, and vegetable oil until thick. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet just until well blended. Stir in the apples and the nuts. Pour into the prepared loaf pan or pans and bake 1 hour, until it tests done. Remove from the pan and cool on a rack.
