Spring break has already come and gone, in the blink of an eye. I spent mine at home in San Diego, with a brief stint in San Francisco.
San Francisco is amazing. I’ve been a few times, but I hadn’t spent time actually in the city exploring in a while, and oh man. It’s incredible! The food is just ridiculous. I could’ve spent hours in the ferry building, trying things from each of the amazing stores. I, of course, visited a ton of bakeries on my visit.
First stop was a place called Craftsman & Wolves. It’s gorgeous, so unique and interesting inside. I was meeting with another food blogger (Nicole over at Bowl Licking) and we tried some amazing stuff, including a cheddar and bacon muffin stuffed with an egg called the Rebel Within, a passionfruit sesame croissant which was ridiculous, and my favorite, a Carrot Cocoa Muffin, which I am determined to recreate since it’s not readily available to me. If you’re from the area or visiting: highly recommended!
Next was the famous Tartine. Lemme just say: lives up to the reputation. We got a pain a chocolat, a plain croissant, a lemon bar and a ham and cheese croissant. My favorite was the ham and cheese croissant, though it definitely had an edge up because it was fresh out the oven. Best croissant I’ve ever had in the US, easily.
Finally, we went to this incredible bean to bar chocolate store called Dandelion. Besides just that the chocolate tastes incredible, in the store you can watch each of the processes of making the chocolate. They literally turn it from the cocoa bean to the chocolate bar right there in front of you! And the chocolate is absolutely delicious, all made with cocoa beans from small farms around the world. Of course, we had to get one of their incredible pastries. We chose the chocolate caramel pecan tart. It had a dark chocolate shortbread crust, filled with a mix of caramel, pecans, and dark big chocolate chunks. It was SO GOOD. Seriously. One of the best chocolate desserts I’ve ever had.
We had some other incredible meals, but those were definitely the stand outs! It was a wonderful food filled week :)
Before San Francisco though, I was baking a ton at home! One of the stand outs from that was this cake, which was devoured more quickly than I care to admit, and that was after my dad and I refused to give out very much because we wanted it all for ourselves! It tastes homemade in the best way possible.
It’s ultra-moist from the bananas, with amazing flavor from both the brown butter and the banana. It’s rich and perfectly complemented by the deep, dark, silky chocolate ganache. The rainbow sprinkles add a fun touch! Ditch the banana bread next time you have overripe bananas and try this. It’s wonderful.
Enjoy!!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, browned (here's a good video on (how to brown butter|http://www.thekitchn.com/basic-techniques-how-to-brown-77018)
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 3 very ripe, mashed bananas (about 1 cup)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 1 1/2 cups (6.4 oz) flour
- 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup chopped dark chocolate
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Coat the sides and base of an 8 inch springform pan. Dust with flour.
- In a large bowl, combine browned butter, sugar, bananas, eggs and vanilla. Beat on medium high for 2 minutes. Add buttermilk and mix until combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Add into the banana mixture. Beat until just combined.
- Pour batter into prepared pan. Place into oven and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Leave to cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge if needed and remove the sides of the springform pan. Once cool enough, remove the springform bottom and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- In the microwave, combine the chopped chocolate and heavy cream. Microwave for 45 seconds. Stir. Microwave in 10 seconds increments, stirring in between, until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth and glossy. Let cool slightly (about 5 minutes) and pour over the cooled cake.
![Chubby Hubby Fudge [White Chocolate Malted Fudge, Chocolate Covered Pretzels, Dark Chocolate Fudge, & Peanut Butter Swirl!] | Bakerita.com](http://www.bakerita.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/IMG_1850-274x150.jpg)
