Banana Loaf is a great way to use up over-ripe bananas and the resulting cake is moist, tasty and travels well. This recipe uses the all-in-one method and is quick to make in a food processor.
Banana Loaf
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This is a very ordinary-looking cake, it’s definitely not winning prizes for looks. But it is a very handy recipe to have in your repertoire as it’s lovely and moist because of the bananas. If you don’t like the taste of ripe bananas (and I don’t) you’ll find the flavour of the banana bread isn’t overpowering. This is an easy and quick method for making Banana Loaf. If you don’t have a food processor, it still works – it will just take a little longer.
If you only have one or two bananas that are too ripe, put them in the freezer until you have 3-4. then make the cake. If you have loads of bananas – as you sometimes do in warm weather – make two cakes and freeze one.
Pitfalls to avoid:
- Blitzing the nuts to bits – Chopping nuts often puts me off using them in cakes, so here you just pulse them a few times. Just be careful not to overdo it!
- Cooking the eggs with hot butter – This recipe uses melted butter (about 30 sec. on HIGH in the microwave), and the all-in-one method. Don’t put the eggs on top of the hot butter in the bowl. Either put sugar or flour between them or don’t let the butter get too hot. Either way, don’t let the ingredients sit around in the bowl.
- Leaving big chunks of banana – This only happens if your bananas aren’t totally ripe. If they are ripe, they only take a few pulses to combine with the mixture. If they’re not quite soft enough, you’ll get chunks. If it happens, just mash with a fork and mix in.
Banana Loaf travels well and is ideal for taking on a self-catering holiday to sustain yourself in the car, and have something delicious for tea. Leave it in the paper wrapper and wrap in foil
HELPFUL TOOLS
- Baking parchment loaf tin liner – Line the tin with a liner and forget about it sticking, or greasing the tin – and the washing up is easier too. Leave the cake in the liner if you’re freezing the cake, or while storing in the fridge to keep it moist
- Oven thermometer – If you’re at all uncertain about oven temperature, a thermometer will help. They’re relatively inexpensive, but make sure you buy one with large numbers (to read through the glass door).
Banana Loaf
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
- Yield: 10-12 slices 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeIngredients
- 100g sultanas
- 60ml rum
- 125g butter
- 75g pecans or walnuts
- 2 large eggs
- 100g caster sugar
- 180g self-raising flour
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5ml) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5ml) bicarbonate of soda
- Pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract
- 2–3 very ripe bananas (300g peeled fruit)
Instructions
Preparation:
- Heat the sultanas with the rum. Bring to the boil, cover and leave for half an hour, if possible (but not vital)
- You can use the microwave or a saucepan
- Set the oven to 150°C fan, gas mark 3
- Grease a 2lb loaf tin with butter or use a paper liner
- Melt the butter
- About 30 seconds on HIGH in the microwave
For the Banana Loaf:
- Chop the nuts
- Pulse a few time in the processor until they’re the right size – don’t overdo it!
- Take the nuts out and put them aside
- Put all the ingredients except the banana, dried fruit, and nuts into the processor and blitz for about a minute. Scrape down and blitz for 10 seconds.
- Eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, bicarb, salt, butter, vanilla
- Add the bananas and pulse a few times until they’re incorporated
- If the bananas aren’t totally ripe you will have some lumps – just mash them in with a fork
- Add the nuts and sultanas and mix with a spoon to avoid obliteration
- Spoon into the prepared tin
- Bake for 1-1 1/4 hours, but check after 1 hour. The cake will be done when the top is brown and a cocktail stick comes out clean
- Cool in the tin
Notes
EVERYDAY COOKS TIPS:
- Although the recipe uses a food processor, you can use any sort of mixer with these modifications:
- Chop the nuts roughly with a sharp knife
- Mash the banana with a fork before mixing in
- To freeze, leave the cake in the paper wrapper, wrap in foil and seal in a plastic bag or box. Freeze for up to 3 months
- Store in the fridge in the liner in an airtight plastic box for a week or two.
- Category: Baking
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: British
Keywords: quick, easy, banana bread
Made this recipe or got a question? Let me know!