Banana bread

Got bananas going bad in your fruit bowl? Hate to see them go to waste? While I detest the sickly-sweet flavour of overripe bananas, that sweetness is the perfect ingredient to incorporate into some delicious baked goodies. My personal favourite would have to be banana bread. Sure, it's so unhealthy that it completely defies the point of eating fruit, but at least I'm not wasting bananas... Right?
It has taken me a few attempts to get my banana bread turning out the way it looks in cafes. I've found that a great result requires dark brown sugar, heaps of bananas (the riper the better, and if you have time, leave the mashed bananas sitting for a few hours to brown slightly), and a few hours for the loaf to settle after baking. The result? Deep brown, moist banana bread that slices like a dream.

Ingredients
270 g dark brown sugar
2 eggs
280 g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
500 g mashed bananas, browned
140 g unsalted butter, melted

mashed bananas

after a few hours, browned

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Grease a 23 x 13 cm loaf tin and dust with flour.
2. Combine sugar and eggs with an electric mixer, add bananas and beat until well combined.
3. Add dry ingredients and beat thoroughly again, before slowly pouring in the melted butter and beating until well combined.
4. Pour mixture into the loaf tin and smooth the surface with your spatula or a knife
5. Bake for around 70 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the loaf comes out clean. Cool in tin for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
6. This loaf is best left to rest for eight hours before slicing.

Tips

• The riper the bananas, the sweeter the bread.
• 500 g equals about five medium-sized bananas. If you want a lighter bread, simply use less bananas. The recipe will still work, but won't be as dark, dense or sweet.
• I find it easiest to "mash" the bananas on a plate using the back of a fork. Once they're mashed, I leave them on the plate to brown for a few hours. This isn't necessary, but I think it makes the bread a little darker in colour.
• To prepare the loaf tin, just grease it as normal then sprinkle with flour. Turn the tray gradually in one hand, tapping it sharply with the other hand to spread the flour around the surface of the tray. The flour will stick to the greasy surfaces as it moves around the tray. This step ensures that the loaf is very easy to remove from the tin after baking.
• Why leave the loaf to settle for eight hours after baking? It's not at all necessary, but I have found that the bread will be more dense, and the slices will be neater and look more professional. But don't worry if you can't wait, it will taste just as good fresh from the oven!