May through July are some of my most emotional months. There’s just so much going on. In those few months are my kids’ bdays, my closest friend’s bday, my cousin’s bday, and, of course, Mothers Day.
The warm walks, very long talks, and eating out together are some of my favorite memories with my mom. I didn’t know a day she raised her voice. With her calm demeanour and smile, she did everything the best that she could. If you’ve been in my space long, you know I always say this: “If I can become half as wonderful as her, my life will be fulfilled.”
Squishy talk aside. Something I will always remember is that she made sure to take off the whole summer when I had my holidays. We started our mornings late, showered late, sat on our thin four poster bed, and talked about everything. From my school (and later, college), to friends, to family drama, we talked about everything. How I’d dress as a bride, how the wedding should be… everything. We would take long naps. She would cook her fanciest food. The evening routine almost all the time was to put on a decent face and go for very long walks. The walks were some of my most amazing memories. Holding hands, leaning on each other, we would look at all the street vendors. Mumma would buy some greens and vegetables for our next day’s lunch. Then we stop at one street food shop and eat Pani Puri(golgappa), masala puri and some sev puri. If that wasn’t enough, we would walk more and have jalebi or hot gulab jamun. We justified all the crazy eating because we were walking so much. We burnt everything :).
The memories are alive and I cherish them. Although we don’t get to do that quite often now, we will always remain very close. Things change. We’ve grown and have tons of responsibilities of our own. Its easy to forget that we have something towards our parents but the fact remains, they understand. Parents are the best. Moms are the greatest everywhere. Cheers to all you moms out there.
This is a basic Banana Bread I make all the time with many variations and all the time it’s perfect, if I say so myself. Maybe not all the time, but most of the time. This is a special one, a special treat for moms with a sweet tooth. The rose water and pistachio add a lovely flavor. I’ve given few variations to the recipe in the box.
I am baking a virtual Banana bread/cake for my mom this year. What are your plans? Please share with me your happy thoughts/memories with your mom. I’d really would love to hear from you.
- 1 cup All purpose flour
- ½ cup Whole wheat flour
- ¼ cup powdered pistachios
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp rose water
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 2 small bananas or 1 cup mashed
- ¼ cup ricotta cheese
- ½ banana thinly sliced
- pistachios to garnish
- sugared rose petals
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a round 7 inch round pan with parchment or butter and flour it.
- Wash rose petals, dry it. coat it with some egg wash and generously coat with powdered sugar. Let it dry.
- In a large mixing bowl add the all purpose flour+whole wheat flour+pistachio powder+baking powder+salt. Mix and incorporate well.
- In a separate bowl beat the eggs and add the mashed banana, mix well. Add all the other ingredients, oil, ricotta cheese, rose water and whip well until it all incorporated. Then add the dry ingredients and mix well. Be careful not to over mix it. The batter will be thick.You can arrange the bananas neatly on top.
- Pour in the prepared baking pan and bake for about 50- 1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Mine took exactly about 1 hour. Take it out and let cool over a cooling rack before cutting in. Garnish with some pistachios or some sugared rose petals.
You can substitute the ricotta cheese with equal amount of butter milk. If you do not have buttermilk add yogurt.
Substitute pistachio powder for Cashew powder, Almond powder.
To make it chocolate based, add 2 tbsp of cocoa powder and minus the 2 tbsp from the all purpose flour.
You can omit the rose water and add 1 tsp of vanilla extract for normal bread or even ¼ tsp of almond extract when making almond based banana bread
BAKING: You can use any kind and size of pan you want. If you use smaller, then vary the times and increase the oven to 10 degrees more.
You can make individual loaves, cool it and wrap it for gifts.
Hey Asha, that was an awesome write and up about your mom, it brought old memories to my mind….I think those were the best days.. and thank you so much.
Thanks my dearest. They were some beautiful days. Love you to bits. xoxo
VERY interesting recipe Ash! Loved the tip for the cocoa for the base:)
Thanx for sharing it!
Thanks always for your support and kind words. xx
Loved reading this post Asha.
Thanks so much for stopping by my dear. xoxo
I loved this post Asha, such a beautiful read. And what about that cake??/ GORGEOUS!
Thanks so much Mike. I think I’m in love with banana bread, can’t stop making them.
I love this cake. Eat on my behalf some more. Thanks for the lovely wrote up and taking me to those memorable days. I wish those days come again.
Thanks mumma. You are the best.
What a sweet and lovely post! The cake looks perfect for the celebration and I am very sure my mom would love this too.
Thanks dear. Means a lot.
So, so pretty, Asha. Reading your post, I felt like I was taking a little walk down memory lane with you. What a special relationship you have with your mom; I’m so happy for you! And I just made banana bread this week…it is just the fragrant, soul-warming type recipe for moms and Mother’s Day. You have a wonderful Mother’s Day this weekend – enjoy the sunshine and your family! xo
Hope you had a great Mother’s day sweetheart. Moms are just so special. I always tear up that I can’t be close to her. xx
Aww your post made me all emotional. Yes mom are the best, I am missing my mom so much right now 🙁 Love the twist you gave to this banana bread, delicious! Have a wonderful Mother’s Day Ash 🙂
Love this post about your mother. so sweet. We are so lucky to have mothers and be loved by them. Mine was so amazing and she left us too soon. Thanks for the rich story about yours
xoxox
I’m so very sorry Teri. It must be so tough, but she remains in you and around you. So very glad to know you, you are an awesome mom. xx
Beautiful post, Ash, just beautiful! And this cake is worthy of a special Mother’s Day, and I hope you had just that. Your photos are so pretty and the cake looks just heavenly!
Thanks so much Marcie. Hope you are doing good.xx
You and your Mom’s relationship sounds so sweet and loving. Glad cooking brings back those memories 🙂 Love the recipe as always.
Oh, thanks so much.
What a nice tribute to your mom! Sweet posts and sweet recipes sure go together, don’t they? This is good stuff — thanks so much.
Oh totally, sweet things always go together. Thanks so much.
Thanks for sharing such beautiful memories of your younger days with your mom, Asha. And dear – thanks for this recipe. I love rosewater in baked goods and what a fantastic idea to add it to banana bread – tantalizing!
Yum-O! I’m going to have to find some rose water and try this recipe out!
Asha, Story sounds so soothing to mind,heart and soul It got me in tears n missed my mom I wish I can be that patient to my kids ;):)
Photos looks amazing n can’t wait to try rose water in banana bread
This is one of the prettiest banana bread I’ve seen, Ash! Looks gorgeous!
I am so honored. Thanks and Hugs
What an amazing post. I love everything you wrote and I can see how close you are to your mom. This cake takes a banana bread to a whole new level, love the addition of ricotta and rosewater. beautiful and definitely bookmarking. 🙂
Hi Asha, Any thoughts on how to make this wonderful cake eggless??
Hi Shruti,
You can definitely add 1 tbsp of flax seed powder for one egg Another thing, use applesauce, or even an egg replacer.
Hope it helps.