Banana Bread Loaf
Yields 1 Loaf
(1 cup = 250 ml)
Ingredients
- 2.5 medium sized Bananas (let them be completely browned/blackened from the skin, meaning they have to be completely ripe). When you mash these, you should have about 1.5 cups of mashed banana pulp.
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Almost 1.5 cup all purpose flour (Use a little less than 1.5 cups)
- 1.25 cups granulated sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder (1 tsp when the powder is smooth on the spoon and not in mounts)
- 3.75 tbsp olive oil
- 1.3 tsp vanilla essence
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp coffee powder
- 1/2 cup chopped and toasted walnuts
- 1/2 tsp clarified butter for toasting the walnuts
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Process
- Chop the walnuts in small pieces. You should have about 1/2 cup after chopping.
- Toast them in 1/2 tsp clarified butter or without it, in a pan.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a bowl: all purpose flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, coffee powder. Keep aside.
- Take a 9 inch x 5 inch a baking dish, put in the mashed bananas, eggs, olive oil, vanilla essence, sugar.
- Mix well with a serving spoon. You don’t have to whisk it particularly. If you’re using a whisk, don’t use it too aggressively and be very gentle – whisk very little. Let the mixture be thick and yet mixed thoroughly.
- Add the walnuts and chocolate chip to it. Give it a last gentle mix. Your batter is ready.
- Preheat the oven to 175 degree C for 15 minutes
- Then, put the batter in the oven at 175 degree C under convection bake mode.
- It should be done in 35-40 minutes, mine did. It might take 60 minutes too if you’ve used a 8.5 x 4.5 inch baking dish.
- Insert a toothpick into the bread after 35 – 40 minutes and check if it comes out clean after inserting. It’s baked perfectly if it comes out clean.
- Garnish with chocolate sauce/caramel sauce or have it plain with a side of vanilla ice cream!
Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups sugar
- 1/2 – 3/4 cups of heavy or fresh cream
- 2 tbsp of salted/unsalted butter
Process
- Put 1.5 cup sugar in a saucepan and turn the stove dial to low-medium heat
- Let it continue to heat, till the sugar starts to release it’s water.
- Once you see the sugar release a bit of water, stir it gently
- While cooking, keep taking the saucepan off the stove for a few seconds, moving it a little and then placing it back. This is done so that the sugar doesn’t burn.
- The mixture in the saucepan will slowly turn into an amber colour and also start becoming a liquid.
- Wait for it to turn golden from amber. Don’t wait too long till it becomes a very dark shade of golden.
- When it turns adequately golden, turn off the heat.
- Let the saucepan stay on the stove, and add the fresh/heavy cream (unsalted) and 2 tbsp of salted or unsalted butter
- Stir well till you get the saucy consistency.
- Use immediately.
- If you want to store it, keep it in a bottle and store upto 3 weeks.
- It’ll solidify after a while of being kept outside or even in the fridge. So to reuse the sauce, just heat 1/2 a glass of water in a saucepan and when it’s boiling hot (with bubbles), add the hardened sauce to it. It’ll become a liquid again and the flavour won’t change.