Recipe: Chocolate-Banana Marble Bread

Ingredients 

-3 very ripe bananas

-½ cup of buttermilk

-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

-2 cups of cake flour

-1 teaspoon baking soda

-¾ teaspoon baking powder

-¼ cup of unsweetened cocoa powder

-4 tablespoons of boiling water (plus more if needed)

-1 ½ sticks of unsalted butter, softened

-1 cup of sugar

-2 large eggs at room temp

Directions 

-Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan

-Strain the flour, baking soda, and baking powder into a medium bowl and then set        aside.

-Peel the bananas into a food processor. Process to a smooth puree, should yield about 2 cups of puree. Pour into a new bowl.  Add the buttermilk and vanilla, whisk, and set aside.

-In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, consistently scraping the sides of the bowl.

-With the mixer on low speed, start adding the flour mix and banana mix; Start with ⅓ of the flour mix, and then ⅓ of the banana mix. Repeat until all of the flour mix and banana mix is combined with the butter/sugar mixture.

-In a separate bowl, make the cocoa paste. Pour the boiling water over the cocoa powder and stir until it is liquidy. (If it is too thick, add more boiling water).

-Now, back to the banana/flour mixture in the electric mixer. Pour ½ of the banana/flour mixture into a new, separate bowl. In that same bowl, pour the cocoa paste and blend it into the batter.

-You now have 2 batters--one purely banana, and one chocolate and banana. Alternate pouring these batters into the buttered loaf-pan. At the end, swirl around with a knife to “marble.”

-Bake the bread for 55-65 minutes.