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!