14 May Coconut Bananas Foster Bread with Greek Yogurt Glaze
I really don’t know how to gracefully introduce this topic so I’m just going to come out and tell you: I got my first black eye.
I’m currently sporting a slightly puffy eyelid, blushed a ripe purple and twinged with that shade of greenish-yellow-under-translucent-skin that only human biology can produce. I like to think it means I’ve been initiated into a special club. One of bad asses and tough guys. Something along the lines of the Don’t Eff With Me I’m Packing Nunchucks Club.
But in reality, the only club I’m being initiated into is the Club of People Who Shouldn’t Ride Bikes, Especially in the Presence of Other People.
The whole situation is pretty embarrassing. I won’t go into too much detail, but let’s just say that I was riding my bike, there wasn’t anybody coming towards me, and then all of a sudden a runner came out of nowhere and… BAM!…there was face-to-face impact.
I really didn’t see this woman until she was right in front of me, looking behind herself (!!), oblivious to the fact that a moving vehicle was headed right at her. Needless to say we were both pretty confused in those seemingly slow motion, pre-accident seconds where you know shits going down but there’s no stopping it. Afterwards I just kind of stood there in shock, my hand over my eye, apologizing profusely and still wondering where in the hell did she come from?
I’ve gone over the play-by-play in my head a hundred times and cannot for the life of me remember seeing her until just before we hit. The only logical answer? She was hiding behind a bush, waiting to spring out in front of the next passing cyclist, inflict bodily injury and collect a fat insurance check. Facts, people. BUT it’s unlucky for her because she found herself in a head-on collision with little old me – tears streaming down my face, no ‘Insurance-for-novice-cyclists-who-run-over-pedestrians‘ in sight, and a freebie wayfarer indentation on her cheek.
It may have happened slightly differently but I have a head injury so I can’t be held responsible for embellishment.
Icing on the cake – Monday was picture day at work, AND my company is hosting a client-facing happy hour on Thursday.
Tis my life. Thank goodness for Photoshop. And tequila.
In all seriousness, I was pretty shaken up, and we were both very lucky that we were able to walk away from the incident, relatively unscathed. If you cycle (or jog) around your city, for goodness sake, pay attention to your surroundings and be careful!
On Sunday morning, in between licking my wounds and layering on concealer for Mother’s Day brunch, I made this Coconut Bananas Foster Bread. The bread itself is a moist, dense banana bread with a deep caramel flavor as a result of caramelizing the brown sugar and bananas prior to baking. A little rum adds a friendly kick and ties all the flavors together, making this as close as you can get to New Orleans style Bananas Foster without the flambé. Greek yogurt glaze takes the place of Bananas Foster’s best friend, vanilla ice cream, adding a touch of creaminess without the decadence. And since I’m obsessed (and it pairs so perfectly with rum + banana), I added coconut to the batter as well.
I fully intended to garnish the loaf with golden toasted coconut, but in the spirit of my accident-prone weekend, I tried to speed up the toasting process by heating the oven to 400F, forgot about it, and burned the last of my coconut stock to a smokey black. Note that you can toast coconut in the oven properly by doing the following: spread shredded coconut in a thin layer on a baking sheet and bake at 300F for about 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes to make sure that it browns evenly.
On a final note – this bread is sweet enough to be eaten as a dessert but hey, it’s still banana bread so I’m calling in breakfast, too. Whatever time of day, enjoy!
BE SAFE! XO, Katie
Recipe adapted from Cooking Light.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana
- 1 cup packed brown sugar, divided
- 5 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1/4 cup rum
- 1/3 cup plain greek yogurt
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp greek yogurt
- 1/2 tsp rum extract (or real Rum for a milder flavor)
- 1/2 cup toasted shredded sweetened coconut, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan and set aside.
- In a medium skillet or saucepan, combine banana, 1/2 cup brown sugar, butter, and rum. Cook over medium heat until mixture begins to bubble and caramelize. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
- Once cooled, place banana mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer (or large bowl) and add yogurt, remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar, and eggs. Beat on medium speed until well combined.
- Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl and whisk to incorporate. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients. Beat until almost blended, add the coconut and the beat until just combined.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and bake at 350F for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- To make the glaze, combine powdered sugar, greek yogurt and extract in a small bowl. Mix well to ensure there are no lumps.
- Spoon over cooled bread while it's still on wire rack (best if placed over parchment paper or a cookie sheet for easy clean up), to allow any excess to drain.
- Garnish with toasted coconut.
layla bb solms
Posted at 14:39h, 14 MayI just found your blog via pinterest. after quickly glancing over the first page, I think I might need to make ALL YOUR RECIPES 🙂
so glad to have landed in such a lovely, inspiring place.
layla bb solms recently posted…mother’s day is just around the bend
KWahlman
Posted at 15:55h, 14 MayThanks for the kind words, Layla! 🙂
miss messy
Posted at 15:14h, 14 MayI’m in the group of people who shouldn’t ride bikes and I’m useless when I run! seriously people watch out. I ran straight into a bus wing mirror the other day. Smart. This cake looks truly wonderful, so moist!
miss messy recently posted…Sesame Carrot and Chickpea Burgers #BettaRecipe
KWahlman
Posted at 15:56h, 14 Mayhaha maybe we should both just stick to the kitchen…or wear full body padding at all times!
Averie @ Averie Cooks
Posted at 04:53h, 15 MaySaw this on FG. Gorgeous & pinned!