The new office that I am in are really healthy. So when they asked for a healthy cake I was stumped. As far as I’m concerned the two words don’t go together! So they suggested banana loaf.
I like bananas, but the idea of them all mushy in a cake wasn’t appealing. I have a funny thing with bananas…I can’t bite into them – I have to break bits off and put them in my mouth. I struggle to touch the stringy bits and there is no way I can touch anyone’s banana skin if they leave it on the side. But yeah, I had a go at making a banana loaf.
This recipe is adapted from the Hummingbird Bakery. And team…just don’t look at the amount of butter and sugar – it’s healthy, honestly! It has THREE bananas in it!!!
[callout title=Ingredients]
- 100g brazil nuts, roughly chopped (I only had walnuts and they worked perfectly fine)
- 200g unsalted butter
- 300g soft light brown sugar
- 4 eggs
- 300g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 3 ripe medium bananas
[/callout]
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 170°C and grease a 900g loaf tin
- Spread the chopped nuts evenly on a baking tray. Toast in the oven for 5 minutes
- Once toasted, remove and set aside to cool completely. Leave the oven turned on
- In a freestanding electric mixer with the paddle attachment cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition
- In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients and 60g of the toasted nuts
- Add the dry ingredients to the butter and egg mixture
- Mix on a medium speed making sure the ingredients are well incorporated
- Mash the bananas in a bowl using a fork then add to the batter and mix well
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin
- Sprinkle the remaining toasted nuts over the top (I didn’t have enough nuts so left this stage out)
- Bake for approximately 60-85 minutes
Allow the loaf to cool a little before turning it out of the tin onto a wire rack to cool completely, then cut into slices to serve
I had a little too much batter for the loaf so the I added chocolate chips to the left over mixture and made muffins. These went into the over for about 20 minutes.
The team loved it! Some ate it as it was and some toasted it slightly and added butter. The whole loaf was gone by the end of the day (and it’s only a small team!)
If you have some over ripe bananas this is a great recipe to use them up!
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