It took a trip to New York to experience the most irresistible slice of freshly baked Banana Bread I’ve ever tasted. But this wasn’t just any Banana Bread, it was warm, fresh from the oven and served with a silky, smooth Mango Buttercream, which turned a simple breakfast into a luscious treat.
Recreating a New York indulgence
at home
The trick with the bananas is not to mash them up too much, so you can achieve a light, moist but rich texture. You can use less sugar (e.g. half the amount) if you prefer not too sweet a mixture. This Banana Bread can be made with gluten free flour, if you add a splash of liquid (approx. 2-3 tablespoons of water or milk) to the final mixture. The walnuts are optional if you like a crunchy texture.
Banana Bread
What you need
225g self-raising flour
or 225g plain flour and 1 tsp bicarbonate of
soda
Pinch of salt
110g butter
110g golden caster sugar
50g chopped walnuts (optional)
2 eggs (beaten)
60ml milk
50g golden syrup (warmed)
3 bananas (mashed)
1 tbsp demerara sugar (for topping – optional)
How to bake
1.
Pre heat
the oven to 180C/160C fan
2.
Line a
1kg/2lb loaf tin. Use a cake liner if possible.
3.
Sift the
flour and salt in a bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles
breadcrumbs.
4.
Add the
sugar (and walnuts if using).
5.
In a
separate bowl, blend the egg with the milk. Add the golden syrup and stir in
the mashed bananas.
6.
Add this to
the dry ingredients and mix well.
7.
Turn into
the loaf tin and sprinkle with demerara sugar, if desired.
8.
Bake for
1 hour (but check after 45 minutes) - a cake skewer should come out clean.
9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
Mango Buttercream
This Mango Butter cream works beautifully with Banana Bread. I made mango purée with 100g chopped mangoes – it works well with frozen mango pieces too – by pulsing the pieces in a food mixer until smooth. Then I added the purée to Grandma’s Buttercream recipe.
Mango Butter Cream
50g butter
110g icing sugar
Few drops vanilla essence
1-2 tbsps water
50g mango purée
Cream the butter and icing sugar. Add the vanilla essence and water. Then add the mango purée and blend until the buttercream is smooth and well blended.
We all probably had our fill of Banana Bread during lockdown, but I’m sure that spreading it with this tropical Mango Buttercream, you will fall in love with it all over again. Believe me, you won’t be able to resist when it’s warm, fresh and straight out of the oven, alongside this tangy perfect companion.
This is
a shorter version of a longer piece I wrote for Yorkshire
Bylines. Enjoy!
