Banana

You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to make a good banana cake. I’m talking about a sheet cake that tastes like banana bread, but not too dry, not too tough, and not dense and fudgy, like the dead center of banana bread can be at times. For weeks, maybe even a month, we worked on a banana cake in the basement of Ko. It felt like a lifetime—and still we weren’t getting anywhere close. That is, until Emily, our extern, came in with her mother’s sacred banana cake recipe. We adapted it, but this recipe belongs to the heart of her family. Mrs. Kritemeyer, we love you!

Like the candy bar pie, this banana cake is a doozy to make, but it’s here because it’s a bestseller at Milk Bar—so much so, that in two years, it is the only cake that has never been rotated out, based on season or popularity. It is Oprah’s favorite cake, and it will be yours too.

You have to plan ahead for this one. Buy bananas that are ripe and then let them get nearly black/brown before accepting them as the rrrrrripe bananas needed for this recipe. Another great option: at the bakery, we peel just ripe bananas, freeze them, and let them finish developing flavor in the freezer for 2 days or up to 2 weeks. Said rrrrrripe bananas are the difference between having your banana pie tasting like banana Laffy Taffy and the most delicious, deep banana cream pie ever.

Sandwiching two slices of bread with a mixture of bananas and walnuts results in French toast with a surprise filling. Try other favorite nuts in place of the walnuts, if you like. Accompany the French toast with bacon, ham, or sausage.

No electric mixer needed here—just mix in a bowl by hand.

These bananas—crispy on the outside and soft on the inside—are wonderful served with baked ham, pork chops, or lamb.

This naturally sweet fruit topping is very good on oatmeal, pancakes, or French toast. Be sure the banana you use is nice and ripe.

This side dish is a great accompaniment to Bubby’s Granola (page 206), Crunchy French Toast (page 133), or, even simpler, seven-grain toast and jam. Try to buy Greek yogurt, which tastes richer and creamier than regular yogurt.

A sophisticated dessert or even a sweet main course, these crêpes feature two favorite flavors of kids everywhere: bananas and chocolate. Using bittersweet chocolate cuts the sweetness of the banana and makes these crêpes quite elegant.

These extra-special pancakes are filled with toasted walnuts and topped with caramelized bananas—a perfect combination. While adding syrup may seem over the top, we always slather these with some anyway, for extra decadence. Serve with yogurt and fruit.

Packed with all kinds of good ingredients, these muffins make a densely flavorful treat that, if paired with yogurt, could almost be a light meal on its own. Buckwheat flour is made from the dry fruit seeds of the buckwheat plant, and is available at most health food stores.

This recipe could almost be labeled a health bread, except that it tastes too good. It’s packed with a generous quantity of bananas, plus an assortment of mix-and-match dried fruit. Spread the bread with any of our fruit butters (pages 270–272) and serve at a fall or winter brunch.