Banana Bread

This is a great little recipe that is easy to do and will help you use up those browning bananas that live in that quiet void in your kitchen, where food gets forgotten about.

The best thing about Banana bread is its ease…

• Easy to make
• Easy to transport
• Easy to share

Making it a delicious little pick-me-up after an early morning cold water swim.

Mini history and things you didn’t know about Banana Bread

• Botanically speaking, bananas are actually berries, not fruit!
• It is speculated that banana bread first came into being in America. The popularity grew in the late 1920s/30 during the Great Depression when thrifty housewives were making use of kitchen perishables - nothing went to waste. This was also assisted by the mass production of baking powder for the first time to the wider population.
• Over the years variations of banana bread recipes have come out but the base recipe stays the same: bananas, flour, butter, sugar, eggs. Now some would say, “Well doesn’t that make it a cake instead of bread?” Turns out that it’s called banana bread due to the loaf tin that is traditionally used to bake it. It’s generally sliced like bread and if you want an extra treat, some people lavish their slice with a layer of butter.
• Are browning bananas the best ones to use? Sure! They are easier to mush up and have a sweeter taste. But don’t let that limit you. When the call of banana bread takes you, grab whatever banana you can find.
• We may take the humble banana for granted these days. Easily accessible from your local shop, but in the 1940s and 1950s they represented luxury and were the talisman of far-off exotic places that inspired hope. During the war, the government halted the import of bananas from 1941 to 1945. In its substitute British households used parsnips as their banana substitute! Next recipe… Parnoffee Pie?!

Banana Bread Ingredients

• 140g butter, softened, plus extra for the tin
• 140g caster sugar
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 140g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 very ripe bananas, mashed

Optional extras:

• 50g icing sugar
• handful of dried banana chips, for decoration

Banana Bread Method

1. Heat up your oven to 180c / 160c fan /gas 4.
   
   
2. For ease of getting your banana bread out of your loaf tin, get your grease-proof paper and smear some butter on it.
   
   
3. Whack in your butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until nice and fluffy. *Jenny’s recommendation is to use brown sugar as this gives a richer and more luxurious taste and colour to your cake mixture.
   
   
4. Add 2 large beaten eggs to the mixture.
   
   
5. In a separate bowl, add your 2 very ripe bananas in and mash up to a gooey pulp, then add to the main mixture along with your flour.
   
   
6. To guarantee a rise, add 1 tsp of baking powder.
   
   
7. At this point, now is your opportunity to add some creativity to your mixture. Some suggestions to amp up your banana bread; add a good heaped teaspoon of peanut butter, add sultanas or nuts or any fruit for that matter. This is your bake, let your freak flag fly!
   
   
8. Pour your mixture into your lined loaf tin and pop it in the oven.
   
   
9. Bake for 50 minutes. A good way to check that it is baked is to use a tooth pick to poke the middle. If it comes back out still looking gooey, the bake needs a wee bit longer in the hot box.
   
   
10. Once done, leave it in the loaf tin on your wire rack for about 10 minutes before removing it.
    
    
11. After it’s cooled, you can, if you want, decorate your banana bread with drizzling it with icing sugar and bejewelling it with glazed ginger or banana chips. The choice is yours!
    
    Then...
    
    
12. Pack up your swimming kit, cake and a hot drink. 🩱🍰☕️
13. Get in some cold water. ❄️💧
14. Get changed and warmed up super quick with a Changing Tube. 🧡
15. Enjoy your lovely banana bread with your swimming companions as you put the world to rights. 😊