Banana Chocolate Oven Melts Food

MARBLED BANANA BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan generously with butter or nonstick cooking spray.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just combined. Add the mashed bananas, sour cream and vanilla extract and beat until just combined. Do not overmix.
• Place the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. Cook on high power in 20 second intervals, stopping to stir in between, until about 80% melted. Stir until smooth, letting the residual heat in the bowl melt the remaining bits of unmelted chocolate. Add the cocoa powder and stir until dissolved. Add one cup of the banana bread batter to the melted chocolate and stir until well combined.
• Spoon the plain batter and chocolate batter alternately into the prepared loaf pan. Swirl the batters together with a knife (don't overdo it or the colors will get muddled -- up and back 4 to 5 times should suffice). Bake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes, then remove the loaf from the pan and set on the wire rack to cool completely.
• Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The bread can be frozen for up to 3 months. After it is completely cooled, wrap it securely in aluminum foil, freezer wrap or place in a freezer bag. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

FROZEN CHOCOLATE BANANAS

Steps:

• Set an empty egg carton, upside-down, on a baking sheet. Cut 8 small holes in the top of the rounds to hold the pop sticks.
• Put the chocolate into a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave the chocolate on HIGH, stirring occasionally, until melted, about 1 to 2 minutes, depending on the power of your microwave. Stir in the oil and cool slightly.
• Skewer the bananas with a frozen pop stick. Dip the bananas into the chocolate mixture, freeze until the chocolate sets slightly, about 2 minutes. Roll the chocolate bananas in the nuts, and freeze until firm, about 4 hours. Serve frozen.

CHOCOLATE & BANANA CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin with baking parchment (allow it to come 2cm above top of tin). Mix the sugar, flour, bicarb, cocoa and chocolate in a large bowl.
• Mash the bananas in a bowl and stir in the whole egg plus 2 yolks, followed by the oil and milk. Beat the egg whites until stiff. Quickly stir the wet banana mixture into the dry ingredients, stir in a quarter of the egg whites to loosen the mixture, then gently fold in the rest. Gently scrape into the tin and bake for 1 hr 10-15 mins, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
• Cool in the tin on a wire rack. To make the icing, melt the chocolate and soured cream together in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Chill in the fridge until spreadable. Remove cake from tin, roughly swirl icing over and scatter with the banana chips.

CHOCOLATE BAKED BANANAS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 (or a BBQ). Make a slit through the skin of the bananas along one side - making sure you don't cut all the way through to the other side. Poke in the chocolate buttons along the cut. Put each banana onto a sheet of foil and crimp the edges together to seal into a parcel. Transfer to a baking sheet and cook for 25 mins until the bananas have turned black (or pop straight into the BBQ embers for 15 mins).
• Serve with a scoop of ice cream and any melted chocolate that has escaped!