The Perfect Banana Bread Recipe With Caramel Sauce

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

1. Chop the walnuts in small pieces. You should have about 1/2 cup after chopping.
2. Toast them in 1/2 tsp clarified butter or without it, in a pan.
3. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a bowl: all purpose flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, coffee powder. Keep aside.
4. Take a 9 inch x 5 inch a baking dish, put in the mashed bananas, eggs, olive oil, vanilla essence, sugar.
5. 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.
6. Add the walnuts and chocolate chip to it. Give it a last gentle mix. Your batter is ready.
7. Preheat the oven to 175 degree C for 15 minutes
8. Then, put the batter in the oven at 175 degree C under convection bake mode.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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

1. Put 1.5 cup sugar in a saucepan and turn the stove dial to low-medium heat
2. Let it continue to heat, till the sugar starts to release it’s water.
3. Once you see the sugar release a bit of water, stir it gently
4. 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.
5. The mixture in the saucepan will slowly turn into an amber colour and also start becoming a liquid.
6. Wait for it to turn golden from amber. Don’t wait too long till it becomes a very dark shade of golden.
7. When it turns adequately golden, turn off the heat.
8. Let the saucepan stay on the stove, and add the fresh/heavy cream (unsalted) and 2 tbsp of salted or unsalted butter
9. Stir well till you get the saucy consistency.
10. Use immediately.
11. If you want to store it, keep it in a bottle and store upto 3 weeks.
12. 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.