The BEST banana bread.

Aug 2

I know everybody claims their banana bread recipe to be the best so far. And that may be true. I mean, I haven’t tried every banana bread recipe in the world. So I can’t know for sure if this THE best recipe in the world, but I do live in the banana bread capital of the world (again, no data to back this up whatsoever lol, except that Sydneysiders loveeee their banana bread and you can find them in literally every cafe, bakery & kiosk here). Given that I’ve had my fair share of banana bread samplings, I can safely say, this is in fact THE best banana bread I’ve had so far. And if there’s ONE thing you can trust about me is that I’ve got impeccable taste in desserts, if I may say so myself.

Let me tell you WHY this is the best banana bread recipe.

First up- the texture on this cake (because let’s face it, it really is cake) is mindblowing! So MOIST and tender- thanks to all those ripe bananas, brown sugar and a little bit of creme fraiche. You can have this straight from the fridge, and it is still so incredibly moist, despite being pre-dominantly a butter based cake.

Which brings me to my next point- flavour. You know I do not compromise on flavour and this cake is no exception. This cake lives up to the name so yes you can expect lots of banana flavour. But layering flavours is one of my favourite (and sneaky) ways to build upon to give you the most burst of flavour possible. There are a few things here.

I’ve used only brown sugar here as compared to a blend of caster and brown sugar, which adds a beautiful caramel-y undertone to the entire cake, to pair well with the bananas. Secondly, we’ve got cinnamon. Now you can’t taste the cinnamon in this cake. It is not to add spice as a flavour, but simply to enhance the banana flavour. At different stages of ripening, banana has different “spice notes”. An under-ripe banana is not “spicy” as to say, but as it ripens, you can faintly taste notes of cinnamon or clove. So adding a bit of cinnamon here is simply to enhance those already existing spice notes for a boost of banana flavour. And lastly, there’s salt. There is a lot of sweetness going on here with brown sugar, and naturally sweet bananas. A bit of salt goes a long way to balance out that sweetness without making your cake salty but also to make sure it is not sickly sweet to eat.

This is a simple, humble banana bread. That’s it. No gimmicks, no layers (except layers of flavours of course ;) ha ha), just a good ol’ banana bread that is extremely satisfying and comforting and makes for an excellent coffee companion.

The beauty of banana bread is that you get to call it a bread and eat it for breakfast. While in reality, everybody knows it’s really just cake. But hey, I don’t make the rules. And if you want to eat cake for breakfast, go for it! Life is too short to not enjoy good food and desserts <3

You can’t really go wrong with this recipe. It’s incredibly straight-forward and easy to make. Soooo, go bananas!

Recipe

Serves: 6

Ingredients

100g unsalted butter, soft at room temperature (28-32°C)
20g extra virgin olive oil (or sub vegetable oil)
144g light or dark brown sugar
80g whole eggs, at room temperature (28-32°C)
168g plain flour
2g baking powder
4g soda bi-carb
4g salt
256g very ripe banana, weighed after peeling (~approx. 2 1/2 medium banana)
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
24g creme fraiche (or sub yoghurt/ mascarpone)
50g chocolate chunks (please don’t use choc chips), optional
1/2 banana, sliced lengthwise
demerara sugar, to sprinkle on top, optional

Method

Preheat oven to 170°C (fan-forced) or 180°C (deck oven).
Grease and line an 8” loaf tin with baking paper. Keep aside.
In a bowl, sieve the flour, baking powder, soda bi-carb and salt together. Whisk to combine. Keep aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, add the soft butter, olive oil and brown sugar. Beat on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes or until soft and slightly paler in colour.
Add the egg and continue beating for 3-4 minutes or until the mix is well emulsified and looks homogenous.
While the mixture is beating, prepare your banana. In a wide bowl, add the peeled bananas and cinnamon powder. Use a fork to mash it well. It’s okay if you see a few small pieces of banana. (I don’t do this step too early as the banana will start to oxidise and turn brown if it sits for too long.)
Add the creme fraiche to the banana-cinnamon mix and give it a stir.
Once the butter-egg mixture is ready, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Add the mashed banana mix and mix until well combined.
Lastly, if using, add the chocolate chunks and stir to combine. It will be a thick batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and use your spatula to spread it evenly.
Place the half banana in the centre, cut side facing up. Sprinkle with demerara sugar- this adds a really nice crispiness to the crust.
Bake for 50-55 mins or until a skewer inserts comes out clean.
Cool down completely before slicing into it. This is best to eat the next day as the flavour develops overnight. Serve warm or toasted with butter or enjoy as is (my preferred method).

If you enjoyed that and tried it at home, please tag me at @myyummyspatula on Instagram so that I can see all your bakes! For more BTS stories, updates and fun, you can follow long here: