[02.025.01]
Preparation / Cooking time: about 1h 50m all told
This recipe was provided years ago by one of the Mammal's mothers; in the fullness of time, she managed to lose her copy so here you are, Ma—banana bread once more! Despite the name, it's actually really a cake rather than a bread, and is the ideal way to deal with those squishy, black bananas that you meant to eat but never got around to. According to the recipe, it tastes better if left for a day or two but it usually doesn't last long enough to enable a comparison to be made.
As usual, we have reduced the amount of sugar used, showing the original amount in square brackets: you would need a pretty sweet tooth to use the full amount, given the sweetness of the ripe bananas. There are three optional ingredients—raisins, glacé cherries, and walnuts: from the Mammal's point of view, it really benefits only from the inclusion of the walnuts.
One word of warning: though very straightforward, this is one of those cakes where you have to keep an eagle eye on the time, as the outside burns very quickly after even five minutes too long in the oven. If your oven tends to be a bit on the enthusiastic side, have a quick check 15 minutes before it is due to come out and keep a close eye on it thereafter.
Ingredients
8oz flour
1 tsp baking powder
half level tsp salt
4oz cold butter
4[6]oz caster sugar
*4oz sultanas / raisins [optional]
* 1oz chopped walnuts [optional]
*4oz chopped glacé cherries [optional]
2 eggs
1 lb very ripe bananas
9.5" x 5.5" baking tin
Method
– Pre-heat oven to Gas 4, 180°C, 375°F
– Sieve flour, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl
– Rub in butter
– Add sugar (and sultanas/raisins, walnuts, and cherries if required)
– Mash bananas with a fork
– Add eggs to bananas
– Mix the banana–egg mush well into the other ingredients
– Pour / spoon mixture into lined and greased baking tin
– Put in the centre of the oven and bake for 1h 30m
Turn out onto a wire tray to cool.
