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Australia, Oceania

Banana Bread

The moist, buttery loaf found in every Aussie café, made with very ripe bananas, brown sugar and melted butter, then sliced thick, toasted and buttered.

ServingsServes 2
Total cooking time1 h 15 min
Cooling on a rack+ 30 min
DifficultyEasy
About servingsOne serving is two thick slices. The loaf pan size changes with the number of servings; for 4 servings bake in two 20×10 cm pans so the centre cooks through evenly.

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 175°C for . Use bananas so ripe that the skins are covered in black spots; they give the sweetest, most fragrant loaf.

    oven

  2. Brush the inside of a 20×10 cm loaf pan with a little butter and line the base and two long sides with one strip of baking paper. Leave about 2 cm hanging over the edges so you can lift the loaf out later.

  3. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat for . Take it off the heat as soon as it has melted and let it cool until it feels just warm to your finger; if it is hot it will scramble the eggs.

    Add in this stepUnsalted butter 85 g

    low heat

  4. Mash the bananas in a large bowl with a fork. A few pea-sized lumps are fine. Add the brown sugar, cooled butter, eggs and vanilla and whisk for about 30 seconds until smooth.

    Add in this stepVery ripe bananas (skins heavily speckled black) 2Brown sugar 100 gEggs 1Vanilla extract ½ tsp

  5. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Tip it into the banana mixture and fold gently with a spatula, scooping from the bottom. Stop as soon as no dry flour is visible, then add the walnuts and fold two or three more times. Overmixing makes the loaf tough and dense.

    Add in this stepPlain (all-purpose) flour 150 gBicarbonate of soda (baking soda) ½ tspBaking powder ½ tspGround cinnamon ¾ tspSalt 1 pinchWalnuts, roughly chopped (optional) 40 g

  6. Pour the batter into the pan and level the top. Bake in the oven at 175°C for . It is done when the top is deep golden brown and cracked down the middle, and a skewer pushed into the thickest part comes out with no wet batter. If the top darkens too quickly, lay a loose sheet of foil over it.

    oven

  7. Cool in the pan for , then lift it out by the paper and cool completely on a wire rack. Cut into 2 cm slices. For the Aussie café touch, toast the slices in a dry frying pan over medium heat for per side until golden and spread with butter while warm.

    Add in this stepButter, to serve 20 g

    medium heat

Cook's tip

In a fan-forced oven, lower the temperature to 160°C. Bananas not ripe yet? Bake them in their skins at 150°C for 15 to 20 minutes until black and soft. Wrapped once completely cool, the loaf is even moister and more flavourful the next day.

Cooking it at camp

Easiest is to bake it at home and bring it along: at camp, toast thick slices on a grill rack or in a cast-iron pan over the coals until crisp at the edges. To bake on site, set the pan on a ring of scrunched foil inside a Dutch oven, put two thirds of the coals on the lid and one third underneath, and check with a skewer every 15 minutes.