Monday 9 March 2009

Banana Bread and a Spot of Bother

I would have not only baked the cake, but I would have blogged about it too... but for some reason I couldn't upload the images I took... Surely you all heard the explosion from over this way?? Or maybe saw the 'blue air' floating your way? No? Well, that certainly surprises me! Perhaps this cake or more accurately, bread, was never meant for public consumption because right from the word 'Go' it was troublesome.

I love Jane Grigson's Fruit Cookbook - my dear cousin gave it to me many moons ago and it is well used. In particular, I love Mrs Grigson's recipe for Banana and Walnut Bread. So on Saturday, I assembled the ingredients and arranged them to photograph. Took the shots. And then realised that - shock! horror! - there were no walnuts in the house. Which is pretty weird given we have two walnut trees in the garden.




It was a tad too late in the day to rectify the situation, so Sunday morning I headed off to dear (and you can use that word in many ways...) old Waitrose, one of our local supermarkets. Whilst I was there, I noticed that they had their current food magazine in stock so of course, one came home with me... here it is on the hall table...



I have an obsession with recipe books, food magazines and I have carted several hundred around the world with me. I won't embarrass myself by showing you photos of all these just now, but the next image shows you about one third of all the cook books (excluding the magazine numbers ) I have at home...



However, here is the recipe for the Banana and Walnut Bread with some introductory text from Mrs Grigson.

"There are many recipes around these days for banana bread, with more or less bits and pieces added to the basic mixture. This simple recipe is my favourite, because it needs no butter when it is newly made, and for a day has a crust that is crisp and buttery golden brown. Put it in a box and the softens.

  • 125g/4oz butter
  • 175g/6oz caster sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2-3 large bananas (500g or 1lb approx)
  • 60-90g/2-3oz walnuts, coarsely chopped
  • 250g/8oz self-raising flour
  • 1/2 level teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 level teaspoon cinnamon powder
  • 1/4 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy, and add the eggs, beating them in well. Peel and mash the bananas with a fork: do not use a blender or processor or the bananas become too liquid. Add them to the mixutre, with the walnuts. Stir together the dry ingredients and fold them in using a metal spoon.

Line a 23 cm (9inch) loaf tin with baking paper (Veronica says - I just grease a non-stick pan well) and brush it with melted butter. Spoon in the mixture, levelling it out. Bake at gas 4, 180 C, 350 F, for an hour. Test with warm skewer and give it longer if the skewer does not come out clean. Leave the cake in the tine for 15 minutes when it comes out of the oven and then turn it onto a wire rack to cool. When the cake becomes too dry to eat with pleasure on its own, spread the slices with brandy butter." Note from me - it's never lasted long enough to get to the brandy butter stage!


13 comments:

  1. YUM, you really have my tongue hanging out for banana nut bread now. I just love baking that, and having a slice for breakfast with hot strong coffee! thanks for sharing that new recipe. I will try it out as soon as I can be let loose in the kitchen once again without supervision from hubby that I might end up falling over with my crutches.

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  2. Oh my word that looks so gooooood! Now I'm hankering for banana nut bread!

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  3. you really know your way to a man's heart, or anyone's for that matter. good food, a little wine and a lazy sunday afternoon....does it get any better? jc

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  4. Mmmmm - banana bread with that nice crisp crust - I can just taste it. It's one of my family's favorites and never lasts long enough to be dry or stale.
    I enjoyed your post about the church in your village. I've never heard of St Petronilla, but her church is lovely.

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  5. Banana bread or banana muffin is the only way I can eat bananas...LOL! It's true, bananas aren't my favorite of fruits, so I need a lot of sugar and cake encased around them to eat them ;o) I'm a foodie nut about cook books and magazines too. :o) Happy Day ((HUGS))

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  6. I'M SO GLAD I STUMBLED UPON YOUR BLOG! ALTHOUGH I LIVE IN THE U.S.A., I LOVE ALL THINGS ENGLISH! I SPEND 5 WEEKS IN THE SHROPSHIRE AREA EVERY YEAR AND I CONSIDER ENGLAND MY SECOND HOME. IT IS SUCH AN ENCHANTING COUNTRY. (I HAVE TO STOP MYSELF FROM GOING ON AND ON!) ANY WAY, I LOVE THE PICS OF YOU COZY HOME. I AM GOING TO VISIT YOUR BLOG OFTEN AND ENJOY READING YOUR PREVIOUS POSTS. CHEERS!

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  7. Dear Veronica,
    I'm kind of curious how the walnut tree looks like.. Haven't seen one yet.. :) Your banana cake looks moist and yummy.. I always envy friends who can bake so well.. i'm not really good at cooking or baking anything. i always buy baked goodies. hmmn i hope i could start to cook as well one day.. thanks for sharing and your house looks so huge.. and with pear trees? wow!

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  8. Hi Veronica
    The banana bread looks very delicious.I have never
    tasted.Thank you for the recipe. Now I can this
    banana bread test.I love baking.I have also a big
    cooking and baking-book colection.
    I wish you a nice week!
    Hugs,Regina
    ps your livingroom looks very cosy,with the fire,
    dogs and the leather sofa.

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  9. Dear Veronica....what is this? My God..Help me, I am starving to Banana bread. I have already made a banana pie (delicious) if you want the receipt, I will send you. Anyway, I will try to cook the banana bread. However, the Brazilian measures are different. Besides, I am not sure what is caster sugar is and self-raising flor. Anyway, it is almost middnight and I am starving (lol).

    Thanks for the "nicely delicious" post,
    Best wishes,
    Rosana

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  10. Your post made me laugh. It's so maddening to start a baking project and be out of something, but you actually went through with it. I'm afraid that I never would have taken the time or energy to have left to go to the store. Hurray for you. It sounds so yummy too. Love your blog.

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  11. And I thought that I had a lot of cookery books! Mine have outgrown their designated space and are slowly taking over the living room!

    Thank heavens for Waitrose!

    Marie x

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  12. Thanks for sharing. You made me wanna go out now to our nearest bakeshop for a dose of Banana and Walnut Bread. Can't bake here like you do, the ingredients are not available here yet.. Gee, i'm living in a bake-free zone.. :(

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  13. Looks very good!
    My daughter & I love cookbooks too! We spend hours poring over them, & I love trying out new recipes.
    We laughed when a friend told me she 'hated' looking at cookbooks!

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