One Pan Banana and Zucchini Bread

When I am energetic in the morning, I love to wake up and head right down to my kitchen and start making my lunch or breakfast.   This morning, I decided to make banana bread.     Start right at 5:15 am and finished at 6:30 am.     Here is a regular quick bread recipe that usually yield one loaf, but I made it into a banana bread and a zucchini bread.      Just when you are ready to pan the mixture in.     Separate half of the batter into a separate bowl and mix each bowl with shredded zucchini and the other with finger mushed banana (chunky)     Zucchini is peeled, but leave some green peel here and there and be sure to squeeze the liquid out (to remove bitterness and too much moisture).       Bake them in a square pan lined with parchment paper.    I sliced them up and took some to work to share with the co-workers.     But, soooorry.    They tasted so good, I almost ate them all by myself at my desk.    

 

Ingredients:

1-3/4 C AP Flour

1-1/2 heaping tsp  Baking Powder

1 Stick Butter, Soft - room temp

2/3 C Sugar

3/4 tsp salt

2  Eggs

1/2 C Sugar

1 C Zucchini - shredded & liquid squeezed out

1-1/2 Banana - in good shape - no over riped - separated into chunks with fingers

1 tsp Ceylon grounded Cinnamon

1/8 tsp grounded cloves

1 tsp Orange zest

Procedures:         Preheat oven to 375'F

Shift flour, salt, Ceylon cinnamon, cloves, and baking powder together.     Set aside.

Beat 1 stick soft butter till fluffy and pale with 2/3 C sugar.     Set aside.

Beat 2 eggs till pale with 1/2 C sugar.

Add egg mixture into butter and add orange zest.   Mix.

Add flour mixture and mix gently and thoroughly.    Separate into equal 2 portions.

Mix one portion  with banana.    Mix the other portion with squeezed zucchini.

Line 8x8 brownie pan with parchment paper.      Option:  Muffin cups or 2 loaf pans

Add both mixture side-by-side into the pan and bake till tester come out clean.

Tip:  Control one bowl mixing technique, my method of beating butter and eggs, separately, till fluffy and pale, then, mixing them together always result in a fine crumb cake for any of my basic cake baking.

Enjoy!     

Hello! Mom

Here is my mom with her spring garden.

 

Rustic Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I have my own special cake recipe that yields 'fine crumbs', but I thought I will give a try with this recipe from one of my favorite Alton Brown's cooking books.     The crumb turned out coarser than mine; it is moist and the taste of carrots and spices were appreciated joyfully. 
I used several different size spring form cake pan with parchment paper, so I can share some with my families.

 Cream cheese frosting.

 I had to put raisins in my carrot cake.     It goes so well with carrots.