burnt toast

Banana bread. The end.

I feel that encompasses pretty much everything to be honest. I was going to leave it at that, but then I remembered that I should perhaps add a tablespoon of publicity and a couple of pinches of justification, because, well, this is banana bread. I wouldn’t dare say that my recipe is better than your grandma’s, oh no. However, it does solve all your dilemmas about having to wait till those bananas are ripe, because lets be honest, I only ever buy bananas when I want to bake them in something, and I want to bake it now, and for some reason it is near impossible to find any black-splotched ones at the supermarché. And I can’t wait, I won’t. I want banana bread and I want it now, with a dollop of sour cream, in my mouth, yes. La solution? Slice those suckers and fry them in some butter with a sprinkling of sugar, until they’re golden and sticky. And then wack them in together with some browned butter – because everything tastes better with browned butter – and banana bready ingredients, and you will be rewarded for those good intentions, yes sir. Double caramelized goodness. And your housemates will love you.

The Banana Bread

250g unsalted butter

2 bananas, sliced into ½ cm rounds

2 Tbsp caster sugar

2 cups/300g plain flour

1 cup/220g caster sugar

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp salt

¾ cup/180g sour cream

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla essence

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a 30 cm loaf tin with baking paper. In a large frypan, melt the butter and cook on a low heat until it turns a nice nutty brown. Remove from the heat and cool. Transfer into a jug but for 2 Tbsp – you’ll need this to fry your bananas in. Using the same frypan (less dishes to wash) and lay them out in the pan in a single layer. Fry them on a low heat for about 1-2 minutes, then sprinkle with the 2 Tbsp of sugar and turn them. Once all the slices have caramelized to a nice golden colour, they’re done. Transfer to a plate and give them a mash. It’s up to you how smooth you want it. I personally hate chunks. Anyway. Let the banana mash cool while you get on with the flour. Combine it with the sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a big bowl. Now go get your jug with the cooled butter, and whisk in the banana, sour cream, egg and vanilla. Pour into the flour mixture and similar to a muffin batter, only stir as few times as necessary. The mixture will be very thick, so it will be easy to scoop into the prepared baking tin. Smooth the top and transfer into the oven, and bake yo baby for 1 hour. Check on it every 15 minutes to see if it’s browning too quickly – if yes, cover the top with some tin foil. Once it’s done, take it out of the oven and cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then transfer it onto a wire rack to cool completely. Or not. I reckon you should cut off an end bit, because it’s the best bit really, and watch out, it’s quite crumbly when warm, and then eat it with guiltless pleasure.