I'm becoming a baking fool. Not that I am getting much better at it, mind you. I still need directions staring at me in the face to get it all right. But hey, who doesn't?

Since that last zucchini-carrot "bread," which I think we have all agreed was more of a "quick bread" or a "pan bread" than a cake, although we now know that across the pond it would have been known as a "cake,"(thanks for your input Sheila!), was SO good, and Paul raved about it all week until now there is only one tiny little sliver of it left, I went ahead and used my last zucchini and made another slightly different variation on the theme.

ZUCCHINI BANANA WALNUT PISTACHIO CAKE

Ingredients

1-1/2 cup all-purpose FLOUR

1/2 tsp. BAKING SODA

1/2 tsp. BAKING POWDER

1 cup SUGAR

1 tsp. SALT

1 tsp. CINNAMON (ground)

1 tsp. CHINESE 5-SPICE (optional)

1 EGG

1 cup MASHED RIPE BANANA (I used 2 bananas)

1/2 cup CANOLA OIL

1/2 tsp. RUM EXTRACT (called for Banana extract but I didn't have any)

1/2 tsp. VANILLA EXTRACT

1 cup GRATED ZUCCHINI (approx. 1 medium)

1/2 cup CHOPPED WALNUTS

1/2 cup CHOPPED PISTACHIOS


DIRECTIONS

In a large bowl, combine the first 6 (or 7) ingredients.

In a small bowl, beat the egg, bananas, oil and extracts.

Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

Fold in zucchini and nuts.

Transfer to bundt pan coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 325 F.for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

(I turned the stove off at 45 minutes but let the cake remain in the oven for another 15 minutes or so as my oven tends to cook slowly).

Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack or plate.

Note: This is a lower-fat recipe that I found and each serving contains approximately 175 calories. Not too bad. Most recipes called for 3 whole eggs but since I only had 4 whole eggs in the house this morning, I found a recipe calling for only 1. And it seems to have worked just fine!

Actually, I was on the phone with my friend, Mary, while my cake was cooking, and we were so into gabbing about every little thing on the planet that my timer went off and I hadn't checked for doneness, so I just turned off the oven and let it sit until we were done talking. Not professional at all, but IT IS WHAT IT IS, as I always say now-a-days.

It worked well because my toothpick came out clean. So there.

I substituted rum extract for banana extract obviously because I didn't have any of the latter. I'd never even heard of banana extract before! I'll have to google that now.

I had run out of baking powder yesterday when I made a new batch of doggie cookies (yes, the minty-breath cookies are gone and they needed more so I made them the old standby, peanut butter cookies with a little grated parmesan cheese added to the mixture which they seem to be loving a lot! With that recipe, I ran out of my baking powder for the first time in my entire life. Can you believe that?

When I came down this morning for my first cuppa, Paul came up from the basement saying he would run up to the store and get me some baking powder. What a guy! I told him I could do a substitute (I'd found on-line that you can use baking soda along with cream of tartar if you are out of baking powder) but he said he wanted the "proper" ingredients in his zucchini bread/cake/whatever.

I decided to make this recipe with a bundt pan, so there can be no question whatsoever that it is a CAKE I have made here and not a bread, not a quick bread, and not a pan bread. It's a cake. No frosting, though. But who needs frosting? This thing has two kinds of nuts in it!

I've already eaten that small piece you see below, and I can tell you -- it's heavenly. And crunchy. And moist as all get out but not overly moist or raw, but moist in a good way.

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I also asked Paul to get me 4 oranges because he is almost out of cookies (the last ones were those yummy molasses spice cookies), and I've decided to make him a batch of ALMOND BISCOTTI. Haven't had this type of a biscuit in years and those were from the store, I think. I found a great recipe that calls for a bit of orange zest and juice so I'm all set now.

More on that coming up.

For now, I think the house could use a good hoovering. Haven't done it in a week and those dogs have been shedding furs like there's no tomorrow.



Kippie-the-Pup

Cheers,

Bex-the-Baker

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"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened."

[Anatole France]

For a really good, albeit long, read, see "From Marblehead to Provincetown: The Loneliness of a Long-Distance Skater"