Banana Bread

Photo taken from Apples for Jam

There are a bazillion recipes for banana bread out there, and I'm sure they are all good in their own ways, but this is the ultimate, numero uno, forever faithful all time favorite.  Trust me!  The bananas need to be so over ripe they're almost black.  Although it's called bread for alliterations sake it is definitely cake, decadent enough for pudding and also simple enough for afternoon tea and cake.  And maybe even for breakfast - it's almost fruit after all.  A testament to its deliciousness is that I didn't have time to take a photo before it was all gone!

Banana Bread

120g (4 1/2 oz) butter
180g (6 1/2 oz) dark brown sugar
350g (12 oz or about 4 medium) ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
250g (9 oz) plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 tbs warm milk
2 tbs demerara sugar

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F/Gas 4 and butter a 12 x 4 inch loaf tin.
2. Cream together the butter and brown sugar until smooth and then whisk in the mashed bananas.  Add the eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and a pinch of salt and whisk.
3. Mix the bicarbonate of soda into the milk and stir into the batter
4. Scrape the mixture into the tin and sprinkle the demerara sugar over the top.  Bake for 50 minutes until crusty on top and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Turn out onto a rack to cool.

Adapted from Apples for Jam, by Tessa Kiros.