Sunday, October 23, 2011

Rum Banana Bread

A friend of mine has banana trees here in Cali. She brought some over to make some banana bread. When I saw them, I said "what are those?" Organic home grown bananas. Look:

They look different, but are extremely sweet and are perfect for banana bread.
So when my friend came over to have a day of baking I told her I knew just the place to look for a good banana bread recipe. BrownEyedBaker is my favorite place for on the fly recipes. I always trust that it will turn out good, even if I have to adapt it to be gluten free. You can view her original recipe here for Bananas Foster Bread. I didn't change much. I changed it to gluten free and also changed the nuts, mostly because I had pecans and didn't have walnuts. You can also omit the nuts if you have nut allergies.

With all these amazing gluten free flours out on the market now, it sure makes my life easier! My top 3 gluten free flours are Maninis, King Arthur and Better Batter. The key is finding ones that already have a binding agent. Like Xanthan Gum or Guar Gum. I also sift and make my own flour when needed. If you do not have the brands listed you can sift your own and add xanthan gum or guar gum. My recipe for flour is here. However, it is just as costly to buy all the different flours and sift them yourself, not to mention messy and time consuming. With gluten intolerance on the rise products are becoming more and more available that cut down on the personal work you have to do, with the same result.

2 cups gluten free all-purpose flour (Today I used Better Batter)
1 tsp xanthan gum if your flour doesn't contain it.
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup canola oil
2 eggs
3 medium bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons milk

Topping:
1½ cups chopped pecans
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup dark brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons butter

¼ cup (4 tablespoons) butter
2 tablespoons water
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup rum

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease your pan. We used a bundt pan.

Combine ingredients for the topping in a medium bowl and mix thoroughly to create a crumbly topping with the butter evenly distributed.

In another bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, xanthan gum and baking powder in a small bowl to combine.

On medium speed, beat the sugar and canola oil to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each until combined. Add the mashed bananas and vanilla extract; beat to combine. Alternatively add the flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat just until the flour is incorporated and finish mixing with a spatula.

Spread batter into the prepared pan.
Sprinkle the topping evenly over the batter. Bake 60 minutes.

To make the rum glaze, combine the butter, water and sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.
 Immediately reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the rum. Set aside and cover to keep warm.

Cool the cake on a wire rack for 5 minutes.
 Then, poke holes all over the top of the loaf. Spoon about ¼ cup of the rum glaze all over the loaf. Let the cake sit for about 5 minutes and then spoon the remaining glaze over it, a little at a time, until it is all absorbed into the bread.

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