Patrick S

For a while I couldn't decide between the banana cheesecake and the banana souffle. But I ended up listening to the angel on my shoulder and tried the much, much lower fat souffle. Okay, that's not entirely true -- I had actually set out some cream cheese to soften, when I realized I didnt have anything to make a cheesecake crust with. So, it was more of a matter of not wanting to go to the store for the second time in one day, and wanting to atone for having splurged this weekend. I'm happy to say that the souffles were great, and I'm sure I'll make them again. The only fat in the souffle is a single yolk, plus the butter in the ramekins. But they taste rich. Actually they seem rich and light at the same time. I like the sugar/buttery crust that forms on the inside of the ramekins. I did substitute lemon juice for the lime juice, because I didnt have any limes.

I give away as much as I can at work or to my family. I'm single-handedly responsible for wrecking the diets of dozens of people. Of course I eat some too, but usually not more than a serving a day. There have been times when I've thrown away quite a bit, but that makes me feel guilty so I try to avoid that.

Does the belief that the omniscient, omnipotent Creater of the universe disapproves of Jello consumption qualify as a food superstition? I did not have any Jewish or Muslim friends growing up, so until I started cooking, I had no idea that there were people who thought god disapproved of jello (because it is derived from pork). I know some muslims believe that if they consume any haraam (forbidden) food, like Jello, that Allah will not listen to their prayers for 40 days. When I was very little, my grandmother told me that water wouldn't boil if I kept taking the lid off to watch it. 'A watched pot never boils.' I wondered for a long time how the water could know I was watching!

The recipe calls for unsweetened cocoa, not untreated cocoa. I used Valrhona and the cake tasted wonderful.

Made the banana cakes tonight. They are easy to make, and unmold well. They are extremely moist and buttery. One thing I like about these cakes is the large ratio of banana to other ingredients. One thing I've found with fruit-flavored cake recipes is that they almost always contain too little fruit for my taste. This is true of almost all of the lemon and strawberry cake recipes I've tried anyway. This banana cake doesnt have that problem. In fact, there is about as much banana by volume as there is flour and sugar combined. And that makes for a bananalicious cake. I didn't make the rum sauce, partly because I'm not crazy about rum, but mainly because I already had some good caramel sauce on hand.

Thanks for taking all the time to translate the recipe and post the pictures too! The recipe looks delicious.

Thanks everyone! TurtleMeng, the custard/banana tarts sound interesting. If and when you find yourself in a mood to translate the recipe, I wouldnt mind seeing it. Rooftop1000, bananas foster sounds interesting and easy enough that I have no excuse not to try it. M. Lucia, I'm certain that at least 1 of those recipes you posted are gonna get made, particularly the steamed banana cake (not entirely sure about the rum sauce though). That sounds really awesome. I'll probably try the banana macaroons, and maybe the banana souffle too. Thanks for all the ideas! ludja, I have an ice cream maker that I haven't used yet, but when I do get around to using it, banana will be probably second on my list (just behind strawberry). Gary, I like the idea of banana marshmallow too. I think you're probably right that it would be a brown mess after a couple of days though. Maybe there is an acceptably tasty banana extract/flavoring that would work? hazardnc, what's a good way to use a banana chutney? I don't have much experience combining sweet and spicy, but this sounds interesting. Thanks to all of you for helping me go bananas! I can't wait to get started!

Some pasteurized whites are heated too high during pasteurization, and lose all ability to be whipped. I found this out the hard way with a liquid white product called 'All Whites.' The box said that it won't whip like fresh whites -- in small print on the side of the box. There is a liquid product called 'Eggology' that I am told whips just fine, and the powdered white product 'Just Whites' whip fine too.

I have a few pounds of bananas sitting on the counter, getting speckled and ready to cook with. I love banana cake, and make it all the time, but I want to try something new. The idea of a banana 'blondie' bar cookie is intriguing. Or some kind of petit four with a banana cream. I dunno. Other than cake and bread, I havent done much with bananas. I'd love to here any ideas/recipes, not just for blondies or petit fours, but anything you consider bananalicious. Thanks in advance!

Ditto that. I've used thawed whites in lots of different recipes and never had a problem. They certainly whipped up like fresh whites, which would be the main concern with a souffle. OTOH, yours have been frozen "since summer," and I never had any frozen nearly that long.

Right, and this is also why boiling water will cook anything much faster than steam will.

Will steam being emitted from a pot of boiling water really burn you more severely that sticking your hand into that water? That doesn't seem correct to me. I agree that since steam is capable of being heated above 100C, it can burn you more severely in that case. ← Under the right circumstances, you can also heat water above 100C at normal pressure without it boiling. You can demonstrate this phenomenon in your microwave with a clean pyrex glass and some water. Check out the exploding water section of the Unwise Microwave Experiments site.

I highly recommend liquid bandage. It protects against infection very well, is a perfectly fine substitute for sutures in most cases, prevents the wound from being pulled open again while its is healing, and is available OTC. You can even do the dishes with no problem. Clean and dry the wound. You'll have to reapply every few days. I wouldnt be concerned unless you see signs of a serious infection.

A word of warning: If you make a ganache with just 99% and cream, it will be very bitter. If you are attracted to the bitterest end of the sweetness spectrum, you might like it. Otherwise, you'll want to sweeten the ganache up a bit. As far as other recipes, the sky's the limit. You can use it in any recipe that calls for unsweetened chocolate. Brownies, candies, cakes, cookies, mousses, hot chocolate, etc. Click here to see 260 recipes, sorted by user ratings, on Epicurious.com.

I have a good one, but I don't know if its been mentioned yet. I will never again crack eggs over a mixer bowl with the mixer operating. A little too much butter on the fingertips, and the egg shell is dropped into the mixer bowl, broken in a million pieces, and incorporated into the batter.

You're certainly welcome, CB. I enjoy doing it. No, I didn't make the icing, but from the recipe, I bet it's delicious.

Is it just me or does that link not work? With the power of google, I found another copy of the recipe and it looks great. I'm going to try it out for a surprise party--maybe not the best place for a new recipe, but it'll be fun nonetheless! ← Oops. Thanks for supplying a working link.

No, but it would qualify as a 'this is your brain on drugs' moment! The best outdoor bud probably does come from Humboldt, Mendocino and Shasta. But nowadays, geography is completely irrelevant, because so many people have moved to an indoor grow, and you can grow the same freakishly potent doobage whether you live in Alaska or Cali.

The Mrs. D's ''She Ain't Heavy'' Chocolate Cake, from Celebrate With Chocolate definitely has a lot going for it. The taste is as perfect as I could hope for. The high butter content (12ozs) plus Valrhona cocoa gives a sweet, creamy, chocolate taste with no hint of bitterness. Personally I would rank this one higher than the Wooley cake, with the caveat that when I made the Wooley cake, I used a nasty cocoa.

CaliPoutine, does the cake have a strong beer taste or is it mild? A cake with a strong beer taste doesn't sound all that appealing to me, but I won't knock it till Ive tried it, and if its a milder taste, I could see how it might be interesting.

The Herme cocoa cake is pretty good, depending on the cocoa you use. But I don't think I'd personally put it in the running for best chocolate cake. But it is good, and the Fauborg Pave which uses the cocoa cake is probably my favorite chocolate cake. Ive never tried that with another cake though.

Just to update, I want to point out that the last cake tastes significantly better the next day. So I'll give it 4 out of 5 rather than 3 out of 5. Right now I have Mrs. D's ''She Ain't Heavy'' Chocolate Cake in the oven. Its a fairly typical chocolate cake recipe, though a little on the sweet side (1.75C of sugar to 2C cake flour). Typical except for containing 12ozs of butter.

That is a perty lemon. But what can you do with a single lemon? Maybe vodka with a twist? Drizzle it on a piece of chicken maybe?

You're linking to the thumbnail rather than the picture. Here's the full-size:

I use a 5mp Gateway DC-M50, though I'm considering breaking the bank to buy a fancy schmancy Canon SLR camera. Yes, its plenty chocolately. But there is still 'something' missing, and I'm not sure what it is. Hershey's is great for the money. I like it better than Scharffen Berger. Hersheys dutched is pretty good too.