I love Yemenite soup. Lucky for me, I live pretty close to David’s and I can order it in any time. But like any foodie, I had to try to make it myself. The first time I tried, it was a major fail. It was too thin, not meaty enough, and I really just wouldn’t share the recipe. Fast forward a few months, and someone told me that the Taste cookbook had a great recipe, and I knew that I needed to find someone with a copy and look at the recipe. And I did. I changed the recipe just a bit, and prepped all the ingredients. Much to my surprise, the soup was SO easy to make! Except for the spice mix, but that was Zeke’s job.

As you can see, the hawaiij took a little bit of prep. We couldn’t find ground cardamom, so Zeke bought whole pods and spent some time peeling them and then mashing them with our trusty mortar and pestle. it worked out, and now next time we make Yemenite soup, we’ll have it ready. It’ll be super easy.

Basically you just throw the ingredients in a pot and let it boil for hours. It results in a thick, meaty soup/stew. Okay, it’s not the same as David’s. It’s definitely not as thick. But the flavor is definitely there. And I got to serve it with one of my favorite things, fresh cilantro; they don’t do that at David’s.

Yemenite Soup, adapted from Taste

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 pound flanken
• 6 cups chicken stock
• ½ tablespoon hawaiij*
• ¼ teaspoon curry powder
• ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
• ¼ teaspoon cumin
• A pinch of chili powder
• Kosher salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 large tomato
• 2 onions, peeled
• ¼ cup cilantro, finely chopped
• 5-8 whole garlic cloves, peeled
• ½ cup tomato sauce
• 2 idaho potatoes, peeled and cut in half

Directions:

1. Place flanken in a large pot and add the stock. Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 20 minutes.
Skim the foam from the top.
2. Add spices.
3. Cut an X on the tomato and add it to the pot.
4. Add the onion, cilantro, garlic and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat and simmer, covered for 2 hours.
6. Add the potatoes and simmer another hour.

**To make ½ cup Hawaiij spice mix, mix together 5 tablespoons cumin, 2 tablespoons ground cardamom, 5 teaspoons black pepper, 3 teaspoons turmeric, and 2 teaspoons ground coriander.

Yemenite Soup is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

Way back when this blog was just a baby (and before this baby was around), we shared a recipe for chocolate babka with you. We love this babka recipe. We double it to freeze some. We make it with chocolate, cinnamon, white chocolate, and just eat it up. We impress dinner guests and impress hosts with it. We make it all the time. And we love it all the time. And hope you do to. If you don’t, this is just a friendly reminder that you should.Well, back then we didn’t take such great pictures. I mean, they were nice and all, but we didn’t upload them in big. And we didn’t center all of them. And we shared some boring ones, or not enough pictures, or not final pictures, etc. And we feel bad about it. So today I’m reposting the recipe, but with cinnamon instead. And showing you a picture of the swirl (even though I served it in a tin. So what?).

This cinnamon babka is delicious. Amazing. It’s good as a Friday night dessert, and also makes a perfect breakfast any day of the week. Give it a try, it’s really not so hard. Don’t be scared – the recipe is very forgiving, even though it’s a yeast dough.

When you make the babka, be sure to really seal the edges, and that twist it a lot! The more you twist, the more swirly each slice will be. And doesn’t everyone judge the awesomeness of babka by the swirls?

I know in the original recipe we added a delicious streusel topping to the babka. It is definitely a giant plus to have a crunchy topping, but definitely not necessary. I skipped it this time. And I skipped the fake milk, opting for water instead. And it was still amazing. Don’t believe me? Try it and see for yourself already! (Also, I’ve never made this dairy. I can imagine it is even more amazing.) Yes, there are a lot of steps to this, but it doesn’t make it hard. Just time consuming (with two two hour-long rising sessions and some active time in between).

Okay, I’ll stop teasing you. And now the recipe:

Cinnamon Babka, adapted from here:

Makes 2 or 3 babkas, depending on the size of your loaf pan

• 3/4 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup plus 2 teaspoons sugar
• 3 teaspoons active dry yeast (or two 1/4-oz packages)
• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting
• 2 whole large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) Earth Balance, or your favorite pareve butter substitute, cut into pieces and softened
• 5 tablespoons Earth Balance
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Directions:

1. Make the dough: mix the water with 2 teaspoons of sugar. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes, or until it foams.
2. Combine 1/2 cup of flour to the yeast in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
3. Add the eggs, vanilla, salt, and remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and beat at medium speed until combined.
4. Switch to the dough hook. Reduce speed to low and slowly mix in the remaining 2 3/4 cups of flour.
5. Increase speed to medium and beat in Earth Balance, a few pieces at a time. Let it beat until the dough is shiny and stringy, about 4 minutes.
6. Scrape the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Let it rise at room temperature for about 2 hours, or until doubled.
7. Grease and flour 2 (or 3) loaf pans.
8. Combine the cinnamon and sugar.
9. Punch down the dough and cut in half (thirds)
10. Roll out on piece of dough on a well-floured surface into a 12x8ish rectangle (or just as thin as it will get without tearing or sticking) with the long side facing you.
11. Spread half the Earth Balance over the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border at the top.
12. Sprinkle half of the cinnamon sugar mixture over the dough.
13. Roll the dough into a tight log, making sure to pinch the edges to seal
14. Bring the edges together (like a snake eating its own tail!)
15. Twist the circle twice (or more times) to form a twisted circly log/figure 8/awesome twisty dough and place in the loaf pan.
16. Repeat with remaining loaf/loaves
17. Cover loosely with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise for two hours, until the dough puffs up.
18. Brush with egg wash.
19. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, until the top is nice and golden brown

Cinnamon Babka is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

Happy birthday to our big sister, Rayna! This year, instead of a birthday cake, you get a birthday challah:

We already have a few of challah recipes on this blog, but I always like to try new ones. This recipe splits up the process into two days, but I’m pretty sure you can use the same process for most other challah recipes; just make the dough and let it rise overnight in the fridge rather than a couple of hours at room-temperature.

Here, I display my loaves, one 6-strand braid and one 4-strand circle, on my beautiful new challah board that my Aunt Joyce made.

Ever since I saw this post, I wanted to try the egg yolk challah. I could always use the leftover egg whites 1) as the egg wash and 2) to practice my French macaron skills! But, as usual, I waited a long time to make it. Nossi beat me to it, which reminded me about it, but still, I waited and waited, until I could wait no longer!

Peter Reinhart’s Two-Day Challah, via Ruhlman.com

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups/510 grams lukewarm water (about 95 degrees)
• 1 ½ tablespoons/14 grams instant yeast
• 8–10 egg yolks or 170 grams depending on weight of yolks
• 5 tablespoons/71 grams vegetable oil
• 6 tablespoons/85 grams sugar, or 4 ½ tablespoons/96 grams honey or agave nectar
• 1 tablespoon/21 grams vanilla extract (optional)
• 7 ½ cups/964 grams unbleached bread flour
• 2 ½ teaspoons/19 grams salt or 4 teaspoons/20 grams coarse kosher salt
• 1 egg white for egg wash
• 2 tablespoons/30 grams water for egg wash
• 2 tablespoons/20 grams sesame or poppyseeds for garnish

1. Combine the water and the yeast in a mixing bowl or the bowl of a 5-quart mixer and whisk together to dissolve.  Add the egg yolks, oil, sugar, and vanilla, if using, and whisk together to break up then add the flour and salt.
2. Using the paddle attachment, mix the dough for 2 minutes on the lowest speed.  Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
3. Switch to the dough hook and mix on medium low for 4 minutes.
4. Use a floured bowl scraper or floured hands to transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, sprinkle the top lightly with flour and knead by hand for a couple of minutes until the dough is soft and supple.  It should be tacky but not sticky.
5. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, or divide the dough in half or in as many portions as you plan to bake,  and place in oiled bowls.  Cover and immediately place in the refrigerator.  The dough should rest at least overnight and can be kept refrigerated for up to 4 days.

On Baking Day (keep in mind that you need about two hours before baking):

1. Remove the dough from the fridge.  Transfer it to a lightly floured surface and cut it into the desired number of braids you want to use or shape into loaves, or dinner rolls.
2. If you are braiding, flatten each piece with your hand, then roll into cigar shaped lengths.  Roll each piece once, then return to the first piece to roll it into a rope. Make sure it will fit on your baking sheet!
3. Roll each piece to the same length then braid. Place the loaves on sheet pans lined with parchment paper.
4. Make egg wash and brush each loaf with the wash. Reserve the rest of the wash in the fridge, and let the loaves rise uncovered for about an hour. They will not have risen much at this point. Brush the loaves again with the egg wash and sprinkle with poppy seeds or sesame seeds or a combination of both, if desired.
5. Let the loaves rise for another hour until they increase to about 1 ½ times their size.
6. 15 minutes before baking, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
7. Bake for 20 minutes, then rotate the pan and bake for another 15 to 30 minutes, until the loaves sound hollow when thumped on the bottom, If you used a whole egg wash, the crust will get darker than with the egg white wash, so don’t be fooled into thinking the bread is done until it passes the thump and temperature test.
8. Cool on a wire rack for at least 45 minutes before slicing and serving.

Recipe – Makes 2 large loaves or 4 small ones.

Variations: If you want to use whole eggs instead of yolks in the dough, reduce the water by 2 tablespoons (1 oz/28.5 g) per egg. The yolks are the key to the attractive color and also make a major contribution to the soft texture because they add fat and lecithin, which tenderize the bread. The whites add protein; while that’s a good thing, they also dry out the bread. Also, feel free to add another tablespoon or so of honey or sugar if you prefer a sweeter bread.

Two-Day Challah is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

Shabbat shalom!

Here’s a great Shabbat main dish for you, complete with two bottles of wine, in case you’re entertaining a bunch of friends who can’t agree whether to drink red or white wine.

When I sent this dish over to Gary at Royal Wine Corparation, he told me that artichokes are hard to pair with wine, and sent me an unoaked Chardonnay (Binyamina Reserve) and a fruity and acidic red (Ramon Cardova Rioja).

Ew, that’s some hairy chicken… I guess I missed a spot while tweezing.

What’s this hashkacha on the artichoke can? I always find the strangest ones at TJ’s.

Previous Royal Wine Corp. pairings: Whole Wheat Pasta with Lamb, Tomato and Cumin, Asian Salmon Lettuce Cups

Artichoke Chicken
serves about 4, depending on what else you’re serving.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken, cut into 8
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 3 tablespoons Earth Balance
• 4 ounces sliced mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2/3 cup chicken stock, veggie stock or water
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 cans artichoke hearts, drained (don’t use the marinated kind. frozen would work as well)
• salt & pepper, to taste
• flat-leaf parsley, chopped, to garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
2. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and brown on all sides in a Dutch oven.
3. Remove chicken to a plate and sprinkle with paprika.
4. Reduce heat to medium and add Earth Balance to the pot. Brown the mushrooms, stirring occasionally, and add the garlic. Season with salt and pepper after the mushrooms are browned.
5. Sprinkle flour over mushrooms and cook for a minute or so. Stir in stock, vinegar and rosemary. Cook, stirring until slightly thickened, then add the chicken and artichoke hearts to the pot. Cover and bake for 40 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.
6. Remove the lid and use tongs to place the chicken on top of the veggies. Turn on the broiler and crisp the chicken skin for only 3 or 4 minutes.
7. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.

Artichoke Chicken is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

You know how we feel over here about desserts that are pareve on purpose – that is, without fake dairy in them. This rice pudding is just that! Just mix some rice and coconut milk, a little bit of sugar and spices, and you have yourself a dessert in a couple of hours!

That’s right, it takes a while to cook, but it’s all unattended cooking time; all you have to do is stir once every 40 minutes or so. I’d imagine that this works well in the slow cooker, too. I’ll have to try that out!

I flavored mine with a vanilla bean, because that’s what I had in my pantry, but next time I think I want to try a cinnamon stick. I also sprinkled it with this sugar-chocolate-coffee bean grinder that I bought at Trader Joe’s. It’s actually a perfect accompaniment, though I bought it as an impulse – I saw the hashkacha and had to have it!

Before cooking, it’s hard to believe that this mixture will turn into a delicious dessert. Also, I waited until everyone tasted and loved this before I told them it was made with brown rice!!

Coconut and Brown Rice Pudding
4 servings. About 2 1⁄2 hours, largely unattended

Ingredients:

• 1⁄3 to 1⁄2 cup long-grain brown rice
• Two 14-ounce cans coconut milk
• 1⁄2 cup brown sugar
• Pinch of salt
• A cinnamon stick, a few cardamom pods, a split vanilla bean, a pinch of saffron, or other flavoring, optional

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 300°F. Put the rice in a food processor and pulse a few times to break the grains up a bit and scratch their hulls; don’t overdo it, or you’ll pulverize them.

2. Put all the ingredients in a 2-quart ovenproof pot or Dutch oven. Stir a couple of times and put the pan in the oven, uncovered. Cook for 45 minutes, then stir. Cook for 45 minutes more, and stir again. At this point the milk will have darkened a bit and should be bubbling, and the rice will have begun to swell.

3. Cook for 30 minutes more. The milk will be even darker, and the pudding will start to look more like rice than milk. It’s almost done. Return the mixture to the oven and check every 10 minutes, stirring gently each time you check.

4. It might (but probably won’t) take as long as 30 minutes more for the pudding to be ready. Just trust your instincts and remove the pudding from the oven when it is still soupy; it will thicken a lot as it cools. (If you overcook the pudding, it will become fairly hard though still quite good to eat.) Remove the whole spices if you used them. Serve the pudding warm, at room temperature, or cold, alone or with your favorite topping.

Coconut Brown Rice Pudding is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

Now with an updated picture! Don’t hesitate to make this delicious meal for Shabbat.

Kibbe cherry is a traditional Friday night dish. Usually we serve it in a pretty bowl, but we couldn’t take the picture on Shabbat, so this is the picture you’re stuck with! Don’t worry, it tastes a lot better than it looks in this picture, we promise!

Not only is it one of our favorite ways to prepare kibbe, it’s also ridiculously easy. Unless you don’t have kibbe in your freezer, then you’re in trouble, or just stuck in the kitchen rolling the balls for a while. Besides the onion, there’s no slicing (and no pitting, ’cause we’re using canned cherries here). Plus, it’s a one-pot dish! Just make some rice and a salad, and you have an easy weeknight meal. Make about 10 other dishes, and you have a perfect dish for Shabbat dinner! Many people make one giant kibbe roll instead of the little balls, but we like this way better.

Kibbe Cherry, adapted from Deal Delights 2:

Ingredients:

• A few glugs of olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• About 20 kibbes
• 1 15-ounce can cherries
• 3 tablespoons oot
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1/2 cup prunes (optional)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Heat oil on medium heat and add onions and kibbe until onions are soft and kibbes are browned, about 10 minutes.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 30-40 minutes, until all the flavors mix together and the cherries and prunes are soft.

3. Serve over rice.

Kibbe Cherry is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

Turkey is something that we usually only ate when we had a lot of company for Shabbat dinner. And in that case, we’d roast a whole turkey with celery, carrots, onions, and spices. It was good, and really the only way I knew how to eat turkey. Stephanie and I used to baste it every so often, and then when it was hot, but cool enough to handle, carve it. I never actually ate turkey at the dinner table because I’d pick at it while carving. Oh, we also had turkey on Thanksgiving. But this was not made in our house, so I had no idea how it was made.

Well, the other day I was at the butcher looking for some Shabbat dinner inspiration, and I saw that they had a turkey leg and thigh – what a good thing to make instead of a roast chicken (although that dish IS amazingly delicious), especially when I’m only feeding two people.

This is an easy dish that I whipped up and threw in the oven on a very tiring Friday after work. When it was finished, I took a nap. I woke up, carved it, and threw it in the oven to heat up right before candles. It was a perfect quick main dish. And the onions I cooked it in were scrumptious mixed with rice and peas.

Roasted Turkey Leg and Thigh, serves 2:

Ingredients:

• 1 turkey leg and thigh
• 1 onion, sliced thin
• 1 carrot, cut into rounds
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• About 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

2. Place the onion, carrot, and garlic cloves in the bottom of a small roasting pan or Pyrex. Add about a tablespoon of olive oil. Then add salt and pepper and mix around.

3. Place turkey on top of the veggies.

4. Pat dry, then cover with a tablespoon of oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top of the turkey and be generous! There aren’t any spices in this recipe, so it needs the seasoning.

5. Place in oven, uncovered, for 1 hour (start checking at 50 minutes) until skin is browned and bubbly. Depending on the size of your turkey, it will take shorter or longer than this.

6. Remove from oven and cover loosely with foil for 15 minutes.

7. Carve slices from the thigh and serve the leg whole or in pieces. Enjoy!

Roasted Turkey Leg is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

There are a lot of things you can stuff with hashu to turn into a meal. This time, I used ground turkey and (half-cooked) brown rice to make a healthier mechshe.

Since our mom doesn’t like onions, this mechshe wasn’t something we ate much growing up, but it’s definitely still one of my favorites! I love the flavor of slow-cooked onions, which get sweet and caramelized in the oven, and the contrast with tart tamarind sauce is perfect.

Since stuffing these is quite a process, I like to make a double batch and freeze half, so that next time the cravings hits, I can cook up a batch right away; no need to defrost, just cook the frozen onions for a bit longer.

The onions

Ingredients:

• 3 large or 4 small yellow onions
• 1 pound hashu
• 1 cup of water
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup tamarind
• 1 teaspoon agave
• salt

Directions:

1. Remove the skin from the onions by cutting a slit from top to bottom.
2. Place the onions in a pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let simmer for 30 minutes, until the onions are soft and pliable.
3. Drain the onions and separate the layers.
4. Stuff the onion layers: place a spoonful of hashu into each onion layer and roll tightly. At this point, the mechshe can be frozen, or proceed to step 5.
5. Preheat the oven to 350.
6. Mix the rest of the ingredients together, place the onions in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and pour the mixture over the onions. Cover and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and let simmer for 30 minutes. Transfer to the oven and roast for an hour. Serve hot.

Mechshe Basal, or Stuffed Onions is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

I love biscotti! They are the perfect after dinner treat, and are a great treat in the morning to dip in coffee. These cookies are filled with dried fruits and nuts, which makes me think they’re healthy, too! I usually take my time and make teeny skinny biscotti, but these are great cut a bit thicker, since you get a mouthful of the dried fruit. Plus, it makes making the biscotti that much easier. I have to say that usually when making biscotti I look for recipes with absolutely no oil. This recipe had only three tablespoons, so I decided to try it, and boy am I happy I did. I keep these in the freezer and whip them out when unexpected guests arrive, or when I don’t have time to bake a fancy pie or cake for my host/hostess. I find that biscotti often impress others, though they’re actually pretty easy to make. I just wish I had a double wall oven…

The original recipe did not call for any whole wheat pastry flour, but as I’m trying to include more whole grains in my diet, including the all-important dessert course, I’ve been trying to substitute whole wheat flour whenever possible. In this recipe, you really can’t taste the difference when you use half whole wheat pastry. Next time I might try it with only whole wheat.

Because they’re inherently pareve, they’re a really smart dessert to keep around! Plus, it’s a pretty simple recipe so that can’t hurt, either…This recipe is easily adaptable. You can use different fruits and nuts than the recipe calls for – I know I did! The original recipe called for some almond extract, which I really don’t like the flavor of so I always omit. If you like the stuff, feel free to add half a teaspoon of it. It also says to add some lemon and orange zest, but I felt that with the two different dried fruits I was adding (the original only called for one) I didn’t really need the additional citrus tang. If you try it another way, let me know how it goes!

Cherry Apricot and Pistachio Biscotti, adapted from Bon Appetit (May 2011)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup dried sour cherries
• 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
• 1 cup shelled pistachios (unsalted, if possible)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or spray with nonstick spray.

2. Combine flour, sugar, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Blend on low for 30 seconds, until everything comes together.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs.

4. Then, add the oil and vanilla and mix well.

5. Add the egg mixture to the flour and beat until combined.

6. With a spatula, fold in the dried fruit and nuts.

7. On a lightly floured surface, divide dough in half and shape each half into a 16-inch long log.

8. Place logs on baking sheet about 5 inches apart and flatten them until they are 2 inches wide.

9. Bake, rotating the sheet halfway through, for 30 minutes.

10. Transfer to a drying rack and let cool for 15 minutes.

11. Reduce heat to 250 degrees.

12. Using a serrated knife, cut each strip diagonally into 1/3 inch thick slices. Arrange them on a baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes, until crisp, rotating halfway through.

13. Let cool on drying rack and enjoy!

Cherry Apricot and Pistachio Biscotti is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

The problem with making desserts for Shabbat is that we can’t take pictures of the final project…I mean, you can see the cake and how it looked right out of the oven, but you can’t see it sliced and on a plate, which is too bad because this cake was pretty. Okay, the pan is a little bit messy, but at least my counter is clean! Oh, and the other problem is that you have to make the desserts pareve. Which means no cream cheese frosting! Those who dare to eat pareve whipped topping dolloped some on top of their cake. I ate it plain and it was amazing just the way it was.

I bake a lot of banana breads, cakes, cookies, and muffins. Why? Because my bananas always turn brown, no matter what! Even when I hang them on my banana tree (I mean, my dough hook that hangs from the cabinet). I often freeze the almost-bad bananas for smoothies, too. Well, when I realized how many banana desserts I made, I decided to test a bunch of different cake recipes just to see if banana can make an awesome cake for dessert, not a breakfast quick bread. And it worked! Ina saves the day yet again.

This was definitely more cake-y than other banana cake recipes I’ve tried, though not perfect. I added some chocolate chips, just to make it more like dessert. And that definitely helped. The frosting would have probably made it 100% dessert. Oh, not that my family didn’t devour the entire thing. They did. Did I mention that it’s awesome, even when pareve? Of course, this is an Ina recipe, though you won’t find it on the Food Network site. There are plenty of bloggers out there who tried it and loved it, though. So you can see their final pictures and comments if you want some more inspiration or the original recipe.

The original recipe called for sour cream, and while I know that I can easily buy Tofutti brand vegan sour cream, I did not want to add hydrogenated oils to my banana cake. So instead I figured that it was in there for moisture and fat content and decided to just add more fat in the form of Earth Balance shortening. It worked out well. The texture was still great and the cake was still moist. And no one mentioned that there was anything strange about the cake. And no one commented that there way way too much fat in it. Maybe next time I will try it with apple sauce.

Did I tell you that I snuck in whole wheat pastry flour and no one even knew? Well I did. So ha!

Old-Fashioned Banana Cake, adapted from Ina Garten:

Ingredients:

• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed (that means it should come out of the cup without having to bang it like crazy)
• 1 stick Earth Balance shortening
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• Grated zest of 1 orange
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips or chunks

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 inch round cake pan (with 2-inch high sides)

2. In the bowl of your stand mixer, Mix the bananas and sugars until well combined.

3. Add the shortening and cream with the sugar and banana mixtures.

4. With the mixer on low, add the oil, eggs, vanilla, and orange zest. Mix until smooth.

5. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix until just combined.

6. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula.

7. Transfer the batter to the prepared cake an and bake for 45-50 minutes (mine actually took 55 minutes – stupid oven temperature!) or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cook completely.

Old-Fashioned Banana Cake is a post from: The Kosher Foodies