Guilt Free Decadent Malted Marbled Banana Bread

Good ol’ banana bread. With swirls of malt. And studded with chocolate chips. Topped with crumble. A banana bread really can’t get better than this. That its low fat is just a bonus. 

The recipe for the banana bread/cake base is from: http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/11/02/polka-dot-banana-bread/

I changed it by:

1. Using sugar free maple syrup instead of agave or pure maple syrup
2. omitting the 1 stevia packet
3. using 1 cup cake flour + 1 cup whole wheat flour instead of 2 cups spelt flour 

The other changes, like marbling the bread/cake with milo batter are given in the following picture.

The ‘milo truffle’ mixture mentioned can be found here.

Recipe for milk crumbs was adapted from here.

I am submitting my post to Aspiring Bakers #22: Lightened Up Cakes (August 2012) hosted by Qi Ting of A Dessert Diet.

Aspiring Bakers #22: Lightened Up Cakes (August 2012)

Hi everyone! It’s my turn to organise Aspiring Bakers this time! Many thanks to Small Small Baker for giving me this chance 😀 

Okay, let’s get this straight. 

Everyone has a cake they love. Everyone. Whether they are a savoury or sweet person. But the problem is, stuffing your face (well, at least, if I stuff my face) with cake, you’ll pack on pounds. No difficult science around that. 

So! Seeing that, for the Aspiring Bakers theme this month, hopefully all the bakers out there would like to join in, baking healthily, or rather, healthier cakes! I’m really excited to see what you can come up with so please join in! 

Let’s eat Lightened up cakes this month! 😀

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Definitions

“lightened up” refers to either 1 of the below or preferably a combination of the following

1. reduced fat (by at least 30%)

2. sugar free e.g. using natural sweeteners like xylitol, stevia and maltitol, etc.

3. reduced sugar (by at least 30%)

4. use of unrefined flours (at least 50%) e.g. whole wheat flour, spelt flour, etc.

5. low GI

6. low gluten e.g. you can use glutinous flour, brown rice flour,  white rice flour, sorghum flour, millet, and teff. This option is similar to the previous Aspiring Bakers guidelines which you can find HERE. 

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Who can join?
Everyone! (if you do not have a blog, just send me a photo and recipe of your bake)

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How to join?

Step 1 :
Make a lightened up cake, whether sweet or savoury, in the month of August 2012 (thanks WendyinKK for correcting me!). This does not include stuff like carrot cake (kuih kind), yam cake (kuih kind), etc. i.e. No kuih, though things like ma la gao (馬拉糕) are allowed. 

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Step 2 :
Post it on your blog between 01 August 2012 and 31 August 2012.
Your post must include the recipe or link to the original recipe. If you are using a recipe from a book, please include the title of the book too.
Any entries that are posted outside the date range will not be accepted. 
Any entries that do not include a recipe or link to the original recipe will not be accepted too. 

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Step 3 :
Please mention that you are submitting your post to Aspiring Bakers #22: Lightened Up Cakes (August 2012) hosted by Qi Ting of A Dessert Diet and provide a link back to this post HERE.
Entries will not be accepted if the above is not included. 

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Step 4 :
Email to qiting93@hotmail.com in the following format:

Your name or nickname:
Your blog name: (omit this if you do not have a blog)
Name of your bake/dish:
URL of your post:
URL of your photo (one photo for each entry): 
(alternatively, you can attach your photo in your email).

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Please use “Aspiring Bakers #22” as your email subject. You may submit more than 1 entry.

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The roundup will be posted on 01 September 2012.

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If you are interested to find out what’s on the previous Aspiring Bakers #21: Gluten-Free Bakes (July 2012) entries, hosted by Hankerie, see the roundup HERE.

 

 

 

B-Caraibe (A Vanilla-Chocolate-Banana Entremet)

I don’t believe in hate.

Everyone has a good side.

When someone is hated, he was seen most for his flaws and less for his goods.

Loving everyone. Someday, that should be a rule.

This couple of days, I’ve been finding excuses to drag my bike out for a ride. It keeps me sane. The drones of the cars pleased my ears for they seem to prevent others from reaching that voice inside my head. Anger, frustration… that angel and devil commonly featured spinning around the protagonist of stories, I regret to say, do exist in real people. The devil encourages my anger and displeasure, my sadness, tears… while the angel encourages me to run away from reality, to create a soul that’s not my own. Put the two of them together, and a full blown war implodes in every fibre of me. It hurts all the time. The strikes happen at wrong times. Untimely. Like in most wars, its hard to tell who’s really right and who’s at fault. I would love a forward button that can let me skip all of the pain and unhappiness, and bounce me straight onto a happy life I hope I’ll eventually get. If its death, let it come quickly. If it isn’t, God, if all of these are the reasons I’m alive, please concentrate it, cram it into one intense short time period so that I can be happy again. You’ve never let me feel true happiness, smile a real smile, laugh a genuine laugh, feel real closure and really enjoy life for 6 years. I can’t remember how those feel. Please help me experience them again. Nobody, not even Hitler (I presume he’s evil), deserves do go through what I have and am going through. Its not fair to me. You of all people/beings should know that. This is me, saying ‘stop’. Right now. I honestly can’t take it anymore. You’re not helping.

Pray for me, friends. I’ll continue believing in Jesus. Its my only way out.

And thanks for the emails. I got some pretty hilarious ones. They made my day.

For those expecting something sweet…

It is an entremet with banana mousse, vanilla chantilly whipped cream and chocolate tofu cream sandwiched between springy almond sponge. The banana layer almost gave me a heart attack (though unlikely). I used some really ripe, soggy, close to rotting bananas that were just barely swimming in their own juice. I added lemon juice, blended the damn thing and went out to get something unique for about 3 hours, and when I came back, the mixture was stinky. It smelt like something had died in the blender and the bananas were cocoa brown. I freaked out in a small part of my brain, kept my composure, and tasted it. You can imagine how relieved I was when it tasted absolutely normal and even kinda delicious. After the cooking, the banana layer was fine and terrific.

The sponge. Best I’ve ever had. Moist, soft, easy, almond-y, has a nutty texture (because of the almonds, yet not so tense that it overpowers the sponge), no eggy at all. A dream! Definitely a to-go sponge cake.

And speaking of sponge cakes, I’ve recently got a hang on the whole beating egg whites till shaving cream business (stiff peaks of egg meringue). Now its easy! I used to not like it because it made me waste eggs. If you’ve had and are still having trouble, here’s my suggestion to you; the method I figured out after wasting CARTONS of eggs. Listen up.

All credits for the recipe goes to Foodagraphy, aside from the small tweak in the chocolate layer.

Bread Pudding Tart with Brown Sugar Crumble (low fat & whole wheat)

Dear Barney, or Mr Stinson (Recovering Mentally Unsound human being, Whatever you prefer I call you),

You’re handsome, hot, surprising sensitive, sometimes hilariously dumb, an insult to Barney the Dinosaur (since you two share the same name), terribly rich, gorgeously well-dressed and would totally win a Girls’ Choice Award. Unfortunately, I chanced upon your patent for “back boobs”. Seeing that its an atrociously disgusting idea, I take back everything I said.

Yours sincerely,
Representative of all who are grossed out by your warped ideas.

*wrote this draft last week but didn’t want to waste it. sorry if he took back the idea.
only if. 

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This Bread Pudding Tart enriched with cinnamon, the nuttiness of whole wheat flour, addictive crunchy brown sugar crumble and hints of apple is one of my most favorite creations. It may look not at all appealing, but be rest assured that its as flavorful as I described. Topped with custard-y vanilla goodness, its hard to resist!

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recipe notes:

Tart Crust is adapted from: 2至4人， 低脂轻量蛋糕甜点
author: 小欣子 

Brown Sugar Crumble ia adapted from: Crusta Bakes

Bread Pudding is adapted from: All Recipes

Vanilla Sauce is adapted from Oven Haven

brown sugar crumble: 46g whole wheat flour 70g whole wheat flour