Baking is a reset for me, it’s a familial binder, something I’ve connected with every female in my family with. From my grandmother when I was a young child to lazy-weekend bakes with Boo. With the enormity of the uncertainty of the weeks and months ahead, we needed to lose ourselves in a mundane task… I cannot think of a more delicious take on mundanity than baking; our banana and chocolate loaf recipe is easy and satisfying.
In over a decade of blogging I do believe this is the first-ever recipe I’ve written – let’s not linger on either recipe or method, banana bread is a chuck-in-and-see bake; one that’s as fluid as the contents of my cupboards but that’s the beauty. I’ve yet to bake one that is inedible and my time at an online food magazine many years ago taught me that there’s always a substitution (goodbye buttermilk).
Our butter knife-come-banana-bread is probably one of the most joy-giving items I possess – it was originally my great-grandmother’s and is a hundred years old; it’s used daily by both of us and each time I pick it up I think of everyone who’s held it, a fleeting family reunion if you will.
Anyway enough of the family cutlery tree from me, you’re here for the banana and chocolate load recipe and who can blame you.
Ingredients
125g dark muscovado sugar
100g caster or granulated sugar
120g butter
2 eggs
3 ripe to over-ripe bananas
90ml milk
1tbsp lemon juice
Large handful of roughly chopped dark cooking chocolate
215g plain flour
1tsp baking powder
Method
Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6/ 200°C/ 400°F
Cream together the butter and both sugars (tip: I find the whisk attachment gives much better consistency even when creaming and have abandoned the beater altogether apart from when making biscuits) until mixed well and even consistency.
Add the eggs, bananas – no need to mash if using a stand mixer, milk and lemon juice (because let’s face it who has buttermilk lying around). We add the roughly chopped cooking chocolate, any type would suffice – but if you’re using a hand-mixer it might be best to wait until after adding the flour so as not to damage your mixer/make a mess.
Bit by bit add the flour and baking powder, we didn’t sift it and just left it to mix for a little longer.
Line a loaf tin and pour in the mixture – the best part is that there’s always enough left over for two muffin cases.
Bake the muffins for 25 minutes on the top rack and the loaf for anywhere between 50mins to 1hr and 10 mins on the lower rack. I cover the loaf after 45mins with foil so as to prevent a too-burnt top.
Remove from the oven and leave in the tin for 10 minutes (I’ve finally seen that this is important and does make a difference) then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Voila… slice and freeze, or devour in a day – our banana and chocolate loaf recipe may lack complexity but it’s ease and taste more than make up for it.
