I hate bananas. I really can’t stand their taste or texture. Banana flavoured sweets and ice cream make me gag. However, this being said, there is very little I wouldn’t give up for a fresh slice of banana bread, spread with melting butter, a crust that crunches as you take your first bite, and a soft stodgy centre with black flecks, hinting at what you are about to consume.
As kids, we were very fortunate enough to have a mom who enjoyed baking, and one of our favourite treats was her banana bread, made with the bananas that were slowly blackening in the fruit bowl. No one wants to eat a blackening banana (least of all me – eugh), but their extreme ripeness lends them well to be smooshed up and added to a batter to make the most amazingly flavoured banana bread.
This recipe from my mom’s recipe book, is one of many that I’m glad to have the privelage of owning.
Ingredients:
125g butter/margarine
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
4 ripe bananas
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 tsp bicarb dissolved in 1/4 cup of water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F)
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together, until light and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs
In a separate bowl, peel and mash the bananas (a fork works best for this). Add to the mixture and beat again.
Add the flour, baking powder and salt, and mix together.
Add the bicarb and water mixture, as well as the vanilla extract and mix.
Pour into a greased loaf tin and bake for 45 to 60 minutes.
The banana bread is done, when a cake tester inserted in the middle, comes out clean.
Since today is World Baking Day, this is my contribution to the #caking phenomenon (a bit like planking, but putting a cake in random places and taking photos of it)
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