Banana Loaf

Banana bread is my culinary nemesis.  I don't know why.  When Krista asked me to put a banana bread recipe on the blog, I cringed inside.  I have two excellent banana cake recipes.  One is my mom's, the other is Allison's mom's.  They always turn out.  But Krista wanted loaf, not cake.

I started out with a recipe from my Rebar vegetarian cookbook.  I followed the recipe precisely, even though there was a niggling at the back of my mind that something wasn't right.

The cake overflowed the sides and burned batter littered the bottom of my oven. And while it was a perfectly acceptable cake Justin accurately opined, "It doesn't taste like bananas".


Next.

I've mentioned before that Food That Really Schmecks is a great source for cakes and that's where I went next.

The recipe seemed healthier – it  had 1/4 the sugar and half the eggs.  I followed the recipe scrupulously until the very end, when I threw in 3/4 cup walnuts.  I like walnuts in my banana bread.  What can I say?

I cooked it for the recommended 45 minutes, stuck a knife in it and was rewarded with a knife blade covered in raw batter.  Another 15 minutes.  Same thing.  What the heck, put the timer on for another half hour and fuggedaboudit.  Then I cooked it 5 more minutes.

This time my knife came out clean and I'm pleased to report I had a successful banana loaf! Paul grabbed a piece while it was still steaming and said, "It schmecks".

Krista dropped by later that evening and pronounced it bloggable.  And as I write this Paul is preparing his breakfast and singing "banana bread" as he cuts himself a thick slab.

I'll give you the exact directions - add the nuts if you want.  Cook it in your oven for the recommended time and if a knife inserted in the centre doesn't come out clean – be patient and cook it a little longer.

By the way. . .

Whenever I have bananas going black, I throw them in a ziploc bag and freeze them.  When I make banana bread, I take them out of the freezer and leave them out for 15 minutes to 1 hour. If you peel them while they are still frozen, you can cut them into chunks. 

If you leave them until they are too mushy, cut the tip off the end with kitchen shears and squeeze the insides out.  Don't try peeling them.
Then I put them on a plate and smash them.  They are a little runny and quite disgusting - but use the pulp and the juice.

For unfrozen bananas, just peel them, stick them on a plate and mash them with a fork.

For this recipe, I got out my immersion blender and pureed it with the milk - but a fork and some mashing will work too.

Another thing about banana bread or cake is that the instructions always say to alternate adding the flour mixture and the banana/milk mixture.  I am curious as to the reason for this and I don't always do it, but I did in this case.

As always, Paul is like the Princess and the Pea with baking soda - so I don't use soda - just put in an equal amount of powder.


If you don't have buttermilk or sour milk - you can make your own by adding a tablespoon of vinegar to the milk and it will go lumpy.  Purists will probably say you should use white vinegar - but I've used red wine vinegar, balsamic and in this case, malt vinegar.  Just so long as it sours the milk.

Banana Bread

2-3 ripe bananas – about 1 cupful; mashed
1/4   cup    shortening
1/2   cup    sugar
2                eggs
1/2  cup     sour milk or buttermilk
2     cups    flour
2     tsp       baking powder
1/2  tsp       baking soda
1     tsp       vanilla flavouring
3/4  cup      walnuts (optional)


Grease and line with parchment a 9x5 loaf pan.

Mix together flour, baking powder, soda.

Mix together mashed bananas, sour milk and vanilla.







Cream shortening, sugar and eggs.  Beat well.

Add half the banana/milk mixture to creamed mixture and blend.
Add half the flour mixture and continue blending.

Alternate adding the remaining banana/milk mixture and flour mixture blending well with each addition.



Stir in nuts, if using.

When well blended, pour into prepared loaf pan. 








Bake at 350º for 45 minutes to one hour – until knife inserted in centre comes out clean.  It may take up to an hour and a half, depending on your oven.

Let cool and serve with butter.