Spiced Banana Bread

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1/4 cup dried cherries or currants

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

2 large eggs, beaten

1/2 cup avocado oil

1/2 tsp Kashmiri Garam Masala

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup organic white sugar

1 banana, very ripe and mashed

1 plantain, very ripe and mashed

1 tbsp wheat bran (optional)

Cook’s Notes: Kashmiri Garam Masala is replaceable by 1 tsp of ground cinnamon. For more richness, remove 1 tbsp of oil and add 1 tbsp of ghee.

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter and flour a 9-by-5-inch metal loaf pan.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk the 1 1/4 cups of flour with the baking soda, salt, garam masala, and dried cherries or currants.

3. Slit the plantain and take out the middle black seeds before mashing.

4. In another bowl, whisk the eggs with the avocado oil, sugar and mashed banana and plantain. Stir the banana and plantain mixture into the dry ingredients.

5. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the center of the oven for about 50 minutes, until the bread is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

6. Transfer the pan to a rack and let cool for 15 minutes, then turn the bread out onto the rack and let cool completely.

Gingery Spiced Molasses Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup wheat bran (unprocessed)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

1 tsp fresh finely grated ginger

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tbsp kashmiri garam masala

1 stick unsalted organic butter at room temp.

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 unsulfured molasses

1 large egg at room temp.

1/3 cup hot coffee (freshly brewed or espresso)

1 tbsp confectionery sugar (for decoration)

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place the rack in the center of the oven.

2. Butter a 9 inch round cake pan and prepare the pan by lining it with the parchment paper.

3. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, finely grated ginger, and kashmiri garam masala. Keep aside.

4. Using a stand mixture with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and the brown sugar together on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Add the molasses and beat for another 2 minutes. Add eggs and mix for another 2 minutes.

5. Add the flour mixture and pulse to incorporate with over-mixing the flour.

6. On low speed, add hot coffee and mix until the batter comes together. Scrape the batter into the pan.

7. Bake for 28-33 minutes.

8. Take the cake out into a rack, and gently peel off the parchment paper.

9. Invert out into another rack and cool to room temperature.

10. Dust with confectionery sugar.

Garam Masala Spiced Cranberry Cake

Serves 8 - 10

Ingredients:

2 cups/8 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon water
1 stick, unsalted butter
2⁄3 cup light brown sugar
1⁄2 cup whole milk
1⁄2 cup maple syrup
1⁄4 cup unsulphured molasses
1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon Kashmiri Garam Masla
1⁄2 teaspoonbaking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1⁄4 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (from 1-inch piece)
1 tablespoon orange zest

Procedure:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9-inch square or round baking pan with parchment.

2. In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan, stir together cranberries, granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon water. Stir the mixture over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved and the cranberries form a sauce that is syrupy and bubbling thickly, about 10 minutes. Do not crush all of the cranberries but have about half of the cranberries more or less whole.

3. For the batter, stir together the butter, brown sugar, milk, maple syrup and molasses over medium heat in a separate saucepan. Bring the mixture to just barely a simmer and then remove it from the heat. Do not let it come to a boil, or the mixture may curdle.

4. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, ginger, garam masala, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Beat in the butter-maple syrup mixture and then beat in the eggs. Stir in the ginger and the orange zest.

5. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Drop large dollops of cranberry sauce onto the surface of the cake batter. Drag a long, slender knife through the batter in a swirly design, as if you are marbling a cake and tracing large "S"s in the batter. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake it until the top is firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire baking rack and let the cake cool completely before eating it.