Cocoa-Nana Bread

I am not a great baker.  I don’t know why, maybe it’s because I’m not too terribly worried about getting measurements right or something.  However, there’s no reason I can’t get better at it. I have what seems like a jillion cookbooks, so this time I pulled out a baking cookbook by Dorie Greenspan.

My first choice was chocolate banana bread that she called Cocoa-Nana Bread.  I thought, chocolate and bananas, it’s gotta be good.  I had some bittersweet chips from Scharffen Berger and some cocoa from my favorite spice shop.  Good quality ingredients for a good start.  The recipe didn’t say that the batter should reach the top of the pan, but my gut tells me the loaf pan should not be that full.  I also placed the loaf pan on other sheet pans to protect the bottom from getting overcooked/too dark, and then tented the pan after 30 minutes to keep the top from getting too dark. The end result:  The edges tasted slightly burnt, probably because the batter swelled and baked over the top of the pan.

Despite the burnt taste, it was very moist.  I really liked the melted chunks of chocolate, and I might even recommend some nuts in it as well, but there was something about the banana-chocolate combo that neither of us cared for.  It probably won’t be something I bake again, but the more I practice, the better I’ll get.  Right?

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