Cardamom & Hazelnut Banana Bread

Thank you, Kristen Miglore…

Kristen is a founding editor at Food52. She is also the share-er of my favorite banana bread recipe - a recipe her mom discovered in a community cookbook. As the best recipes are, it seems this one is meant to be passed on and tweaked in all the amazing ways banana bread can be, with a change of nut here, and a dash of something unexpected here.

In this version of Kristen’s banana bread I use hazelnuts and a hint of ground cardamom to make a banana bread that’s just extra-extra special in all the right ways. Of course I hope you will try this recipe, as well as Kristen’s OG version here, which is an undeniably good classic. I’ve also made this using Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free AP Flour and it came out GREAT.

Cardamom & Hazelnut Banana Bread

Makes one 9”x5” loaf

  • 1/2 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for buttering the pans

  • 3 very ripe large bananas (frozen and thawed work great)

  • .87 cups (175 grams) granulated sugar

  • 2 large eggs

  • 1 1/4 cups (157.50 grams) all-purpose flour, or Gluten Free Baking Flour

  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1/2 cup (113 grams) finely chopped hazelnuts

  • 1/4-1/2 tsp ground cardamom, depending how much cardamom you want to come through

  • Turbinado or other sugar for sprinkling on top (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Mash your ripe bananas in a medium sized bowl using a large fork. Once mashed add butter, sugar and eggs. Mix until well-combined.

In another medium sized bowl add your dry ingredients: flour, salt, ground cardamom and baking soda. In lieu of sifting, whisk all the dry ingredients together to make sure there are no lumps, and that they are thoroughly combined.

Add dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet banana mixture. Stir until the flour is nearly all the way combined with the wet ingredients.n Add your chopped hazelnuts and finish stirring until no flour is visible, making sure to scrape down bottom and sides of the bowl.

Butter the sides and bottom of a 9”x5” inch loaf pan. Before putting in the oven, add this special, but optional, touch that I love from Kristen’s recipe - sprinkle the top with a thin layer of turbinado or other raw sugar.

Bake for about 35-45 minutes, until a cake tester, paring knife or toothpick can be inserted into the center and come out with no visibly wet batter (as Kristen says moist crumbs clinging are okay. If you use a shallower pan, bake for less time.

Once removed from the oven, let the loaf cool, 15-30 minutes, then unmold and wrap tightly in parchment and then a layer of tin foil or beeswax food wrap. Keep covered at room temperature.

Maple Citrus Plum Jam w. Ginger

Tangy, seasonal & sweet…

This plum jam recipe was born out of a collaboration with Fraiche Kiosk for their 2021 Seasonal Fruits & Vegetables Calendar. In July, plums are exquisite and now is the time to take advantage, so go on — get jammin’ [was that a dad joke?].

Print and digital copies of the Seasonal Calendar are still available here! 10% of proceeds from sales are donated to Rethink Food, a nonprofit working to reduce food insecurity in the New York area. Each month features seasonal ingredients, monthly recipes (including mine!) & Fraîche’s suggestions for a more environmentally friendly life.

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Maple Citrus Plum Jam with Ginger

  • 2 lbs ripe plums, Empress or other variety

  • ½ cup of maple sugar, or natural sweetener of your choice

  • ½ cup water

  • Juice of ½ - 1 whole lemon or lime, to taste

  • ½ - 1 tsp raw grated ginger, to taste

Thoroughly rinse your plums, then cut in half and remove pits. Make sure there are no small pieces stuck to the plum flesh. Cut plum halves into quarters and add to a med-large sauce pot. Add water and sugar or other sweetener to the plums, and mix. Start the mixture over a medium heat. When it starts to simmer, turn down to a low heat and cook, stirring very often to make sure the sugars don’t burn on the bottom of the pot.

Cook about 45 minutes - 1 hour, or longer, until jam has reached desired thick consistency. Test thickness using an ice cold spoon from the freezer — when the jam sets on the cold spoon it reflects how thick the jam will be once cooled. At this point add fresh squeeze citrus juice , strained of any solids, and raw grated ginger to taste. Mix thoroughly. Let cool before storing in a jar in the fridge.

 
 

Cool Rose Cardamom Pudding w. Coconut Creme & Raspberries

Cardamom and rose are an effortless combination.

I love to start my day with a bowl of this cool pudding, or have it as an easy dessert after a savory meal. Top it with anything you please, but it’s really wonderful with a spoonful of fluffy SoDelicious Cocowhip, these addictive pistachios, a quick raspberry mash & lemon zest.

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Cool Rose Cardamom Pudding with Coconut Creme and Raspberries

1 Serving 

PUDDING

  • 1 cup whole milk

  • 6 whole cardamom pods

  • 1/2 Tbsp sugar (any kind will do)

  • 1 1/2 tsp rose water

  • 1 Tbsp cornstarch loosened with 1 3/4 Tbsp milk

GARNISH

Add 1 cup whole milk and 6 crushed cardamom pods to a small pot. Bring to a boil, mixing occasionally. Then immediately lower to a simmer, another 3-4 mins.

Remove from the heat to steep while cooling, 10 mins. Then using a fine mesh strainer, strain milk into another pot or a bowl. If you plan to use the same pot, just clean off any milk that stuck to the pot before adding the strained milk back to the pot. You don’t want any chunks in your pudding.

Mix a slurry of 1 Tbsp cornstarch and 1 ¾ Tbsp milk. Place pot with strained milk back over a medium heat & bring to a simmer. Add ½ Tbsp sugar & 1 ½ teaspoons rose water. 

In order to activate the thickening power of the cornstarch, the milk must reach a gentle boil before you add the slurry (cornstarch and milk). Once it is boiling, pour in the slurry while mixing. Turn the heat down and simmer, mixing frequently, 2-5 minutes. The milk should have thickened and it will continue to firm up more once cooled in the fridge.

Pour pudding into a small dish and allow to cool before putting in the refrigerator at least 3 hours.

When ready to serve, mash fresh raspberries (the more ripe the raspberries, the better) and add a spoonful to the top of the pudding along with some Honey & Za’atar Smokey Roasted Pistachios, lemon zest and edible dried rose petals if you have. Finish with a dollop of SoDelicious Dairy Free Coco Whip and enjoy immediately!

Honey & Za'atar Smokey Roasted Pistachios

Addictive and very snack-able.

These pistachios have found themselves a consistent presence in my fridge. I reach for them as a solo snack, tossed into nearly every salad I make, on top of morning kefir bowls and also crowning a soon-to-arrive recipe for Rose Cardamom Pudding.

 
Micole Rondinone Honey & Za'atar Pistachios
 

Honey & Za'atar Smokey Roasted Pistachios

1 Serving 

  • 1 cup raw shelled pistachios

  • 1/4 tsp smoked paprika

  • 1/2 tsp za’atar

  • Kosher salt

  • Honey

  • OPTIONAL: zest of a clean lime

Preheat your oven to 300 F

Put some parchment down on a half sheet baking tray.

Add 1 cup of raw shelled (or unshelled) pistachios to the parchment. Drizzle with honey and then sprinkle with 1/4 tsp smoked paprika, 1/2 tsp za’atar and a good pinch of kosher salt.

Use a utensil to give the pistachios a mix before flattening them into a single layer.

Place in the oven for 15-20 minutes. They should be fragrant!

You can finish them with a bit of lime zest if you want! Serve immediately warm, or bring to room temperature before storing in the fridge up to 2 weeks.

Watermelon Raspberry Juice w. Ginger, Lime, Mint & Cucumber

Nothing says summer like watermelon.

Okay, well maybe ripe tomatoes do, and cold gazpacho, and 8PM sunsets. But I digress. This watermelon juice from scratch tastes like a glass of summer and this labor day weekend, you’ll find me making a big batch and having it sans-alcohol first thing in the morning, and tinged with tequila come evening.

Micole Rondinone Fresh Watermelon Juice

Watermelon Raspberry Juice with Ginger, Lime & Cucumber

Renders roughly 32 oz. juice

  • ¼ of a whole watermelon

  • 1 large cucumber, peeled, seeds removed and cubed

  • 1 knob fresh ginger, roughly 2 inches

  • 10 raspberries, fresh or frozen

  • 2-3 limes

  • Handful fresh mint

To make this juice, simply run all ingredients though a professional juicer, if you have one. If not, use a blender or food processor and you can manually strain out pulp, which is only slightly laborious, but totally worth it.

Remove watermelon flesh from rind and dice into pieces that will fit into the body of your blender or food processor. Blend and then, over a large bowl, strain through a very fine mesh strainer, using a rubber spatula or just the back of a large spoon to press the pulp against the strainer, rendering all of the delicious watermelon juice. Do this a few times — you should be left with just a very small amount of pulp. Toss pulp.

Peel a large cucumber and cut in half long ways, scooping out seeds. Loosely cube remaining cucumber and add to the body of your blender. Remove skin from large knob of ginger and cut into a few pieces. Add a handul of clean, fresh mint and fresh or frozen raspberries.

Blend, and then repeat above process, straining through your fine mesh strainer into the bowl with your watermelon juice, making sure to completely drain the pulp of all liquid before tossing.

Add juice of 2-3 limes, depending on your preference and amount of juice your limes render.

Adjust to taste, adding more ginger, mint or lime as you see fit.

Enjoy solo over lots of ice with muddled mint and raspberry, or with the addition of tequila, or your spirit of choice. Cheers!

Warm Black Sesame Cardamom Pudding w. Toasted Coconut

Can you believe this is my first published dessert recipe? Admittedly, I’m usually more of a savory gal, but when I was approached to collaborate with Three Trees and Learn From A Chef on a delicious recipe and fun, virtual cooking class, I could not turn down the opportunity. Their Black Sesame Nut & Seed milk is lightly (& naturally) sweetened with dates, has no fillers, gums or additives and gave me the perfect base for this delicious pudding. Infusing the milk with whole cardamom, one of my favorite spices, makes it feel really fresh, aromatic and nourishing. Also, did I mention this pudding is 100% plant based? In this recipe, we harness the magic of cornstarch to achieve a thick, creamy pudding and top it all off with a freshly toasted coconut topping. And as always, you can feel free to add anything else that makes your heart sing! I want you to make this recipe yours…

And in case you missed the live class, you can rewatch and learn the recipe with me here!

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Warm Black Sesame Cardamom Pudding with Toasted Coconut

1 Serving 

  • 5 oz black sesame milk

  • 2 oz full fat coconut milk

  • 1.5 tbsp cornstarch, loosened with 2 tbsp water

  • 1 dash vanilla extract

  • 6 cardamom pods

  • 1-2 tsp maple syrup, to taste

  • 1 tsp coconut oil

  • 1 cup coconut flakes

  • Black sesame seeds

Measure out Three Trees Black Sesame Milk and full fat coconut milk in a measuring cup, mix to incorporate and set aside.

In a mortar and pestle, or on your cutting board, gently smash 6 cardamom pods to expose the seeds. Place a small saucepan over medium heat. Once pan eminates heat, add cardamom pods and gently toast, swirling around in the pan, about a minute until fragrant.

Pour in mixture of sesame and coconut milk. Mix to combine, and then let warm just until bubbles start to form around the edges of the pan. Then remove from heat, cover and let sit anywhere from 10-30 minutes, depending how much cardamom flavor you prefer.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, create a slurry: combine cornstarch with cold or room temperature water and whisk, scraping the bottom and sides, until you form a uniform, creamy liquid. Set aside.

Measure out 1/2 cup of coconut flakes for your topping. This renders more than 1 serving, so you can keep what remains to use in granola, on top of yogurt, or just as a slightly sweet snack. Get out a small to medium sauce pan, cast iron is great, but you can work with whatever you have at home.

Strain your infused milk through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl to remove cardamom and loose seeds. Rinse your saucepan and dry of any excess water. Add the strained milk back to the pan and bring the temperature back up over medium heat. When the milk starts to get warm, add a dash of vanilla extract and maple syrup to taste and mix, gently scraping the bottom of the pan to make sure it’s fully incorporated. Taste and make sure it’s as sweet as you want it!

If your slurry has separated, give it a good whisk before adding. When your milk has just started to reach a gentle boil, a few bubbles coming to the top here and there, while whisking, slowly pour in the cornstarch. Your milk must be sufficiently hot for the cornstarch to activate. Once added, you should immediately see your milk turn into a pudding like texture. Remove from the heat as you continue to whisk. Add to a medium sized bowl and set aside to cool. 

While that cools, we quickly prep our coconut topping. In your pan, heat 1⁄2-1 teaspoon coconut oil, or neutral oil over medium heat. Once the pan is warm, add coconut flakes, mixing constantly to ensure they don’t burn. When most of the flakes have turned a golden color, remove from the heat and put into a small bowl. For a delicate sweetness, add a pinch or two of sugar while warm, and toss to coat the coconut flakes evenly.

Give your cooled pudding a mix before plating, to ensure a smooth texture. Top with warm toasted coconut, and any of your other favorite toppings, like seasonal fruit!

 
Micole Rondinone Black Sesame Pudding