Brown Butter Walnut Banana Bread

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C for 15 min. Take the eggs and sour cream out of the fridge now; if they are cold, the brown butter will set into lumps in the batter.

   oven

2. Butter a 20×10 cm loaf pan and line the base and long sides with baking paper. Spread the walnuts on a tray and toast them in the hot oven for 8 min, until they smell nutty and are light brown inside. Let them cool, then chop roughly.

   Add in this stepWalnuts 60 g

   oven

3. Put the butter in a light-coloured 16 cm saucepan over medium heat and cook for 4 min, swirling the pan constantly. It will foam up, then calm down; when the white specks on the bottom turn hazelnut brown and it smells toasty, immediately pour it into a large bowl, brown bits and all. Let it cool for 10 min.

   Add in this stepUnsalted butter (for browning) 100 g

   medium heat

4. Whisk the brown sugar into the brown butter, then add the batter bananas and mash them in with a fork or whisk. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the sour cream and vanilla, until smooth.

   Add in this stepBrown sugar (dark if you have it) 90 gVery ripe bananas, for the batter (heavily speckled) 2Eggs, at room temperature 1Sour cream (or Greek yoghurt), at room temperature 60 gVanilla extract 1 tsp

5. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg over the banana mixture. Fold with a spatula from the bottom up; when only a few streaks of flour remain, add the walnuts and fold two or three more times. The batter should be thick and glossy.

   Add in this stepPlain (all-purpose) flour 150 gBicarbonate of soda (baking soda) ½ tspFine salt ½ tspGround cinnamon ½ tspGround nutmeg 1 pinch

6. Spread the batter in the pan, lay the banana half cut side up down the centre and scatter the brown sugar evenly over the top. Bake in the oven at 170°C for 50 min; if the top is already deep brown after 30 min, cover loosely with foil. It is ready when a skewer comes out with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter.

   Add in this stepBanana for the top (just ripe and firm, halved lengthwise) ½Brown sugar, for the top 1 tbsp

   oven

7. Cool in the pan for 10 min, then lift out and cool completely on a rack. Meanwhile stir the softened butter with the honey and flaky salt until smooth. Toast 2 cm slices in a dry pan over medium heat for 2 min per side and top with a spoonful of the salted honey butter.

   Add in this stepUnsalted butter, softened (for the honey butter) 30 gHoney 2 tspFlaky sea salt 1 pinch

   medium heat