Bananas and chocolate

Bananas and chocolate are familiar, indigenous Caribbean flavours. The sweetness that bananas lend to any baked dessert, bread or cake when paired with bittersweet chocolate results in a flavour explosion of a higher level, especially when our local Trinidad chocolate is used.

The next time you are shopping pick up some extra bars of Trinidad chocolate and use them in your baking, look for chocolate bars with at least 70 per cent cocoa for an undeniably deep and intense chocolate flavour.

Caramelised bananas wrapped in crepes with chocolate sauce

For the crepes

1 cup cake flour

½ cup each milk and water

3 eggs

1 tbs sugar

2 tbs melted butter

Whisk together flour and water and milk, add eggs slowly, add salt.

Whisk in melted butter.

Rest 10 to 30 minute.

Cook crepes in a non-stick frying pan by using ¼ cup batter for each crepe.

Swirl batter to cover base of pan, and when set flip, cook for a few seconds more and remove.

Repeat for other crepes

Makes 8-10 crepes 4 inches in diameter.

For the bananas

6 bananas

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tbs butter

½ cup sugar

2 tbs water

Preheat oven to 350F

Slice bananas lengthways into 2. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Melt butter in frying pan, add sugar and cook until melted, add bananas and cook briefly, turning once.

Remove.

Roll bananas into crepes, brush with a little milk, bake for 20 minutes.

Remove serve with chocolate sauce.

Serves 4 to 6

For the chocolate sauce

2 tbs butter

1 cup chopped Trinidad chocolate

½ cup cooking cream

½ tsp cinnamon

Melt butter, add chocolate and slowly melt, add cream and cook until smooth and shiny, stir in cinnamon.

Double chocolate banana bread with tonka

2 large, over ripened bananas

½ cup sesame seed paste, tahini

¼ cup coconut oil

1 large egg

¾ cup brown sugar

¾ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup cocoa powder

½ tsp sea salt

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp grated nutmeg

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp grated tonka bean

½ cup chopped bittersweet Trinidad chocolate

Pre-heat oven to 350F.

Line an 8x4 loaf tin with parchment paper.

Mash bananas and beat in tahini with an electric hand mixer, add oil, egg and sugar and beat until light.

Combine flour with cocoa, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon and tonka.

Stir this into the banana mixture, when well incorporated stir in chocolate pieces.

Pour into loaf pan and bake for 40 minutes until cooked.

Makes 1 loaf

Banana cake with chocolate buttercream

½ cup milk

½ tbs lime juice

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp grated nutmeg

4 oz unsalted butter

1⅓ cups sugar

4 eggs

3 ripe bananas, mashed (1¼ cups)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Line and grease a 9-inch by 3-inch round pan.

Combine milk and lime juice, let stand for 10 minutes until curdled.

Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.

Cream butter with sugar on medium speed until creamy.

Add eggs one at a time beating well between additions.

Puree the bananas with the curdled milk and vanilla.

Beat the dry ingredients into the butter mixture alternately at medium speed in two additions.

Scrape batter into the prepared pan and bake for one hour until a wooden pick comes out clean.

Makes one 9-inch cake

Chocolate butter frosting

1⅓ cups butter

8 oz melted Trinidad chocolate (bittersweet)

⅔ cup Trinidad cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla

4 cups icing sugar

½ cup milk (approx)

Cream butter, add melted chocolate and cocoa, mix well.

Add icing sugar gradually and add milk just to smooth frosting if seems too dry.

Frosts 15 cupcakes or a 9-inch layer cake.