24 October 2018

Bake!

We had two over-ripe bananas but I didn't wish to throw them away so instead I decided to make a banana loaf. It was the first one I had ever made.

Eschewing all recipes, I was determined to bake instinctively. I poured a couple of handfuls of self-raising flour into a bowl. Then I broke in two eggs and added the soft bananas.  Next I threw in about twenty sultanas and some crushed walnuts. A little caster sugar followed along with some demerara sugar and a dollop of maple syrup.

Shirley's good at baking and I think she was appalled that this was my approach to baking a cake. She said, "Baking is a science you know!" and "Why aren't you following a recipe?". 

"Because I can't be bothered. I am happier just to make it up," I grinned like the insane antithesis of Paul Hollywood - he of "Great British Bake Off" fame.

I whipped my mixture with a fork until it was nice and creamy with no dry flour to be seen and then at the last minute I decided to chuck in some small chunks of butter.

The mixture was poured into a lined medium-sized loaf tin and I stuck it in the oven for forty five minutes or so. The kitchen was soon filled with the pleasant aroma of  baking bananas and of course when the oven door was finally opened my banana loaf was a wonderful sight to behold.

It was light and airy and it tastes even better. Not too sweet and not too rich. Just right. Easy peasy! Eat your heart out Hollywood!

27 comments:

  1. Congratulations! Never in my life have I tried to bake instinctively and if I had, it wouldn't have worked.

    Time for a cuppa and a thick slice of banana loaf

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    1. It's funny - my son is making a name for himself through recipes - but I hardly ever refer to recipe books. I just make it up as I go along and draw from past experience.

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  2. I like banana bread. It's a great way to use up overripe bananas, of which we always have plenty! Bananas are a staple in this house.

    Quick breads are very forgiving, but it's easy to end up with a dry loaf. I'm glad yours turned out well!

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    1. A TV company have approached me to host "Cooking With Pudding". Should be fun!

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  3. Beginner's luck, you braggart!!

    Well done, seriously. It's easy to mess up baking, more so than cooking. There IS science behind it; Shirley is right. But apparently there's some art to it too.

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    1. I guess I am a braggart when it comes to banana loaves!

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  4. Wow! I'm not sure I could do that. I'd have gone straight for a recipe!

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  5. I've only attempted banana bread once and it came out stodgy and too sweet. Clever you.

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    1. I find that when we bake cakes the cakes take on the character of the baker!

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    2. Who you calling stodgy!

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  6. Sometimes the best recipes come from trial and error. I think Bakewell Tart was the result of adding something by mistake. Maybe you'll be on the next Bake Off.

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    1. If I am on the next "Bake Off" viewing figures will shoot up when I ask Paul Hollywood to step outside the tent. I'll make mincemeat of him!

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  7. Well since I like banana loaf I wish I was there to help you eat it.

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  8. Wow, I've never tried baking something like that without a recipe. You are either lucky or good!

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    1. Baking shouldn't be rocket science. People baked things successfully for many centuries before recipe books came along.

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  9. I made a Toad-in-the-hole and an apple crumble like this on Tuesday, both came out fine. I used to mess about measuring every thing out but no longer, age brings freedom, lol
    Briony
    x

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  10. Looks a bit overdone to me

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  11. Ah-ha!! Ian got the gene from you!! My daughter has turned into a fine British baker and sent a picture on FB this morning of English pasties that she made last night. Some to eat, some for the freezer.

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    1. Do you mean pasties - like Cornish pasties or pastries with an "r"?

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  12. Looks yummy!
    The Duchess of Sussex made a Banana Cake to take to morning tea at a farm here in Dubbo Australia last week, she was reported to have said that you don't go empty handed when invited. I thought that was really a sweet thing to do. particularly with hers and Harrys hectic schedule

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  13. I was just about to write similar to what Elle B wrote. I, too, thought it was a wonderful gesture by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

    I was taught as a child never to go empty-handed...and I still abide by that rule.

    Banana loaf/cake is delicious. I often make them...adding walnuts to them, too, as well as dates...sometimes sultanas, raisins or cranberries...as the mood takes. Maple syrup is always part of the equation...and I always pour some over the top of the loaf immediately upon removing it from the oven...while it's still hot.

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