Banana shortcake aka droopy stars

First ever whipped cream frosted cake! With droopy stars! Lesson: Whipped cream softens rapidly in sg’s unforgiving heat, so move fast. I could see the stars falling as I photographed them. This cream contains carrageenan, which gives the whipped cream a smoother texture. However, carrageenan-laced cream doesn’t taste as good as pure cream so that’s what I’d use if I’m going for the best flavor.

Low sugar genoise, v. 1

Genoise is a basic cake, it is a little dry and sturdy enough to be soaked with flavored syrups. Genoise recipes generally share these basic steps – Eggs and sugar whisked over a bain-marie until lukewarm and the sugar dissolved, then whipped to a pale fluffy foam. Flour is folded in, followed by melted butter, and baked at about 175C until it pulls away from the sides of the tin.

Roasted Banana Galette

Bananas take on a lovely deep flavor when baked, releasing their juices and caramelizing on top. There is nothing quite like a house perfumed by sweet roasting bananas. Too bad they look like they’ve emerged on the losing end of a fight, all soft, bruised and black in places. My gracious guests’ only comment was that it was very good. This is a dessert for people who can appreciate inner beauty.

Banana Breadcake

On day 1, I bought a bunch of ripe bananas for granola. By day three they had become soft, black and unloved. You could freeze them and turn them into ice cream, or make banana breadcake. A regular banana will do in a pinch but very ripe bananas will give a really intense banana fragrance.