Another week, another triumph in the kitchen! I like cooking as I tend to see it as a chance at experimentation whilst benefiting from the (hopefully) tasty food at the end of the project! And it’s, for me, a way to de-stress and escape from my life glued to the computer.
I am pleased to write about my mini adventure at baking a banana bread! 
First off, is it a cake… or a bread… or a loaf… or just a thingy you shove into your mouth and then go “Mmmmmm”? 
I would call it a “banana cake” but whilst searching for a recipe online, I found more references to “banana bread” and in some circles, it even goes by “banana loaf”. It essentially boils down to what is the base recipe: are you making a butter cake with some added mashed bananas or are you making a bread/loaf mixed with some banana chunks?
There’s an interesting article that I came across that tries to answer that question plus it throws in some scrumptious photos and lovely recipes to inspire you! I’m already eyeing the nutella version! 
(Note: look away for those on a diet!)
Secondly, I am super chuffed to say that I’m no longer a baking virgin! I have broken through the mental blockage, overcame the Lazy Brigade, climbed Mount Determination and emerged with a few added calories after a successful attempt. 
The banana bread recipe:
So, I had a look at two recipes (they came up tops in my search results):
- Recipe 1: no mixer required, quick and simple
- Recipe 2: a cross between a banana bread and a drizzle cake
They are both similar in the choice of ingredients but with different proportions (1 vs 2 eggs, melted vs softened butter etc). I went for Recipe 2 because it uses measures in grams (goooooo Metric System!) vs cups, which is so vague and the Lazy Brigade turned up and said “No!” to Googling what a cup meant.
But I did steal the vanilla extract from Recipe 1 and added it to my mix. And I got greedy and wanted to add extra stuff so my version of the recipe is as such:
- 140g softened butter (i.e. take it out of the fridge and let it soften naturally at room temperature… don’t let it completely melt away into a gooey mess); I also used unsalted butter (bad salt, bad!)
- 140g caster sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 140g self-raising flour
- 1tsp baking powder
- 2 very ripe bananas
- Some amount of icing (sorry, I didn’t measure this one)
- 1tsp vanilla extract (from Recipe 1)
- Some amount of dried apricots (a handful, chopped into smaller bits… not too small though)
- Some amount of almonds (a handful, crushed and pulverised into itty bits)
- Some amount of poppy seeds (a table spoon or so)
You can check out the link to Recipe 2 above for all the instructions! It’s quite easy to follow although I did hit a few speed bumps which I’ll cover below. I threw in the vanilla extract, apricots, almonds and poppy seeds into the mix in Step 4.
Ignore the smear at the side of the mold. It looks like the stain my cat leaves behind in her litter tray when she doesn’t aim properly during her bombing exercise, but it’s just browned and burnt batter.
It may look kinda dry like the surface of Mars but it’s actually quite moist.
And finally, the close up to my beautiful masterpiece that lasted seconds before it did a flip and dived into my belly. I love it! I can’t believe it’s that simple to make and so tasty too! 
Some lessons learned:
- I initially couldn’t work out what a 2lb loaf tin’s.) size is but it is essentially a loaf tin with a size of 8 (length) x 4 (width) x 3 (height) inches. I bought a silicon mold and used that instead as it’s easier to take the cake out and also to wash. As you can see in my pictures above, the batter doesn’t fill the mold and there’s plenty of room for the banana bread to rise, which it does slightly.
- I buttered my silicon mold to ensure the banana bread doesn’t stick to it but I think I put too much as the sides of the banana bread was quite greasy when I took it out. I guess, better safe than sorry?
- The additions of the dried apricot is lovely. It complements the banana flavour nicely.
- I mashed my bananas into a chunky pulp and deliberately made sure there were sizeable chunks in them but after baking, I couldn’t find any of the banana chunks in my banana bread. So maybe next time, I’ll add some slices of bananas instead.
- I initially used a pestle and mortar to try and break my almonds into smaller chunks (again, not too small) but it wasn’t very effective so I used a coffee bean grinder instead. Not a great idea because my almonds ended up in teeny chunks instead. You can buy almonds that have been pre-crushed and they are properly sized for cakes!
- In Step 3, the recipe states to “cream” the butter and sugar until it’s light and fluffy. Again, I was lost so one for Google to explain! Note: as you can overdo it and end up with a mixture that’s too “watery”, do check out the video/photos in the link.
- The poppy seeds adds a bit of crunch when you’re biting into the banana bread. If you don’t like that gritty “sand-in-your-food” feel, leave it out.
- I wasn’t sure about the glaze as I normally don’t find banana bread with them but I have to say, it really does make it nicer! I also intentionally didn’t add too much glaze (watching my sugar intake) and I didn’t realise just how easy it is to make it! Some recipes use water, some use milk! You can read here for some opinions on which is better and you can read here to find out about the differences between icing, glazing and frosting.
And that’s my baking phobia gone and conquered!
Update (09/03/2021)
I made a second banana bread a few days ago where I decided to make a Frankenstein version where I added figs, chopped my apricots into bigger chunks, added sliced bananas, crushed my almonds into bigger bits as well and then also add Lotus Biscoff spread in on half of the loaf and nutella in the second half! Let’s just say that there was a lot going on!!
Quick points:
- don’t add too many extra ingredients because the bread breaks up really easily when trying to cut it. Not enough of the ‘flour/cake’ material to hold it together
- I couldn’t taste the Lotus Biscoff but boy, the nutella works really well with the banana
- I definitely prefer having more and bigger chunks of banana
- The figs also work really nicely
- This recipe is so versatile that I feel like I can just swap apricots/figs with other fruits and it will still work well! So much fun!
Apparently, banana bread was hugely popular at the start of the pandemic/lockdown because folks have tons of ripe bananas that they didn’t know what to do with! I’m just slowly catching up to the craze! So, have you made banana bread before? Do you have your own version of the banana bread? Are there any tips on how I can improve on mine? Do you have any suggestions on what I should try next? Do share your thoughts and feedback in the comments below! Enjoy!! 
Note: A couple of weeks ago I made soufflé pancakes and you can read about my attempts in this post. 
I’m not exactly sure what my next dish is going to be! What’s the vinegar for? I’ve seen it used in some recipes but it feels a bit odd. And no, I’ve not even heard of an ice cream bread. Is it like an ice cream cake i.e. a cake made out of ice cream?