This recipe was inspired by and for my friend, and ex-coworker/supervisor, Ms. Sitha Ith. She was one of the few sane people in my department in a sea of crazies, so I immediately warmed up to her because of that. Since it was recently her birthday, and because I knew she loved banana bread, I wanted to make her that, since it’s my first time being able to celebrate her birthday properly since becoming good friends with her. Knowing that she loves chocolate chips, I decided to make the banana bread swirled, half with chocolate batter, and half studded with chocolate chips. To garnish, I decided to do caramelized banana chips, a misugaru-caramelized white chocolate ganache, and maple-comb (think honeycomb candy, but using maple syrup instead).

For the banana bread:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
8 tablespoons unsalted butter; browned
3/4 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 ripe, black bananas
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

Puree the brown sugar, butter, eggs, and banana into a smooth paste. Sift the salt, leaveners, and flour together. Then combine together all of the ingredients except for the chocolate or cocoa. Split the batter in half and then put cocoa in half and dark chocolate in the rest. Mix the two batters together and pour into a lined 6 inch ring mold. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes. Cool completely before unmolding.

For the ganache:
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
a pinch of salt
1/4 cup malted milk
2 tablespoons misugaru powder

Roast the white chocolate in a 350 degree F oven for 10 minutes. Once roasted, whisk into the malted milk and misugaru mixture and continue whisking over medium-high heat until the mixture thickens. Season with salt and then strain out lumps. Cool completely before using.

For the maple-comb:
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon light corn syrup or rice syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Simmer down the maple, sugar, water, and syrup with salt until the mixture begins to boil. Once the mix has boiled for 5 minutes, take off heat and add in the baking soda. Stir quickly then pour onto a lined baking mold to set for 20-30 minutes.

For the caramelized banana chips:
Banana chips
Granulated sugar

Sprinkle a tiny bit of granulated sugar onto the banana chips. Transfer to an un-lined baking tray and put under the broiler for 20-30 seconds, or until the sugar is caramelized around the chips.

For assembly:
Glaze the top of the bread with the ganache then garnish with the maple-comb and chips.