Vietnamese Banana Cake with Cashews

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             FOOD FUNNY
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Thanks to Rosemary Zwick for this one:

There were two good ol' boys from the South, who love to fish and they
wanted to do some ice fishing. They'd heard about it up in Canada, so
they took off up there. The lake was frozen nicely. They stopped just
before they got to the lake at a little bait shop and got all their
tackle. One of them said, "We're gonna need an ice pick." So they got
that, and they took off.

In about two hours, one of them was back at the shop and said, "We're
gonna need another dozen ice picks."

Well, the fellow in the shop wanted to ask some questions, but he
didn't. He sold him the picks, and the old boy left. In about an hour,
he was back. Said, "We're gonna need all the ice picks you've got."

The bait man couldn't stand it any longer. "By the way," he asked, "how
are you fellows doing?"

"Not very well at all," he said. "We ain't even got the boat in the water yet."

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             TODAY'S RECIPE
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Pastries and baked goods are rare in most Asian countries, but Vietnam
is an exception. In fact, some of the best French-style breads available
anywhere are baked in Vietnam as a legacy of the French colonial rule.
Of course, this recipe is more on the sweet side.

Vietnamese Banana Cake with Cashews

3 eggs
1 cup (250 ml) sugar
3/4 cup (180 ml) cream
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) flour, sifted
4 lbs (2 Kg) very ripe bananas, peeled and slightly mashed
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) coarsely chopped cashews
1 cup (250 ml) grated coconut
1 tsp (5 ml) Chinese five-spice powder*

* Available in finer supermarkets and Asian specialty shops

Beat the eggs and sugar together until thick and pale. Add the cream and
stir to combine. Add the flour, bananas, cashews, coconut, and
five-spice powder and stir just enough to combine the ingredients. Pour
into two greased and floured 8-inch (20 cm cake pans and bake in a
preheated 350F (180C) oven for about 1 hour, until the top is golden
brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Makes two 8-inch (20 cm) cakes.
Received on Wed Dec 10 18:13:15 2008