I still remember the first time I made this recipe...in it's original plain Banana Bread form. My roommate Katrina had given it to me, which she apparently got from some friend of hers named Alex, whose name is scribbled on the note where I have kept it all these years. I have a clear memory of making it at our apartment in college: I believe I tried to name our apartment "the nest" since my nickname was "the bird;" the name never stuck, but I like to think it did. It was in this apartment that I truly began to delve into the world of cooking and baking, well, that and Adam Woods' kitchen in Manayunk.
I will forever be indebted to him for instilling in me an enthusiasm for cooking, and more precisely, cooking for others. He used to cook us meals all the time, and I have vivid memories of going to the grocery store with him to pick up ingredients or swinging by the Italian Market in South Philly to find exotic spices. On one unfortunate outing, I had us running around to all the spice shops in town looking for a mysterious brazilian spice called "nails". Years later, when I learned portuguese better, I discovered that Brazilians {sneakily} use the same word for "nails" as they do for "cloves." Who would have known? I guess cloves do kind of look like little nails. Adam was always up to creating some new fusion of ethnic cuisines or sitting down discussing philosophical questions regarding food: if he had to pick one global cuisine he would have to eat for the rest of his life what would it be? He didn't think it could be Chinese because he didn't think he could survive without cheese. But it was the pleasure he took in preparing food for others that really struck me.
When my friend Thea's Mom was visiting us during my senior year, she told Thea that she thought I should become a cook. When Thea told me, I thought it was a little strange because her Mom didn't really know me that well and I wasn't even sure I had given her anything to eat, but she said she saw me baking up a storm in our kitchen {cornbread, en mass, in case you are curious} and could tell how much joy I got out of it.
This recipe brings back many of those memories for me, of living in that apartment and of being surrounded by such lovely friends. It has morphed over the years: I added brown sugar to the top, added walnuts, took off walnuts, added chocolate, added chocolate AND walnuts, made as muffins, made as a loaf, the possibilities seemed endless. My favorite is its latest version: Banana Chocolate Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Frosting. The recipe eventually made it's way into my "Cloud Cookbook" {so I can pull it up easily wherever I am in the world}, but retained the same name: Alex's Banana Bread. Who this mystery person is will probably remain a mystery, but their recipe has given delight to many-a-palette and even made it's way into someone's wedding.
Alex's Banana Bread
3/4 cup sugar
3 mashed bananas {the original recipe from Katrina says 3 mashed "nanners" which strikes me as completely fitting coming from her}
3/4 cup oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
a reasonable amount of chopped dark chocolate {4-5 ounces?}
8 ounces of butter, softened
2 ounces of Dulce de Leche
4-6 cups of confectioner's sugar
1/4 - 1/2 cup milk, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch-o-salt
Preheat oven to 325.
Mix the sugar, oil, & "nanners" in a medium bowl {I do it by hand and use a whisk}. Add the eggs, vanilla & salt and mix until just incorporated. Then add the flour and other little powdery things, and mix until just incorporated. Add the chopped chocolate and mix until...you guessed it, just incorporated.
Line a cupcake pan with liners and fill them about 2/3 full. Bake until they're done...yes, it is an ambiguous amount of time but such is life. I couldn't tell you how many minutes that is, because if you are making mini cupcakes it takes less time than regular size, if you have a crazy eastern european oven with indecipherable settings it might burn half of your cupcakes and leave the rest doughy, so you're better off just keeping an eye on them, watch their tops get golden, maybe poke and them about 10-12 minutes in and if your finger doesn't leave an indent and it kind of pops back out, they're done. Pull 'em out and let them cool.
For the frosting, beat the crap out of that softened butter, add the Dulce de Leche {make sure it is at room temp}, add the salt and vanilla, and slowly add the powdered sugar, alternating with the milk until you can get the frosting to a nice consistency, not too soft, not too firm. Pipe or spread on cooled cupcakes. You can drizzle melted chocolate and top them with banana chips if you feel inspired.
