Banana and Chocolate Loaf
Serves up to 12
Many fruit bowls will gather a collection of over-ripe bananas from time to time and making a loaf cake with them is a great way of using them up, especially if, like me, you will only eat a banana when it’s slightly green; a hint of brown and I can no longer palate them raw.
Using the bananas makes for a wet batter, but allows you to use less fat and sugar than a standard cake. I have chosen to pair the sweet banana with chunks of bitter dark chocolate. Not only a great combination but it also gives you delicious pools of chocolate throughout the cake.
Today is the Food Husband’s birthday, and so this was one of the cakes he took into work, along with a Lemon and Blueberry Polenta Cake.
- Ingredients:
- 110g softened butter
- 60g caster sugar
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 2 large/3 medium/4 small very ripe bananas, mashed
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 170g self raising flour
- 100g dark chocolate, chips or broken into pieces
Step 1: Cream together the butter and sugar.
Step 2: Add the eggs, one at a time, beating the mix after each addition. Add the vanilla extract.
Step 3: Fold in half of the mashed banana, followed by half of the flour. Repeat with the remaining banana and flour.
Step 4: Fold through the chocolate pieces.
Step 5: Pour into a lined 2lb loaf tin and bake in a preheated oven at 180c (fan) for 50 mins, or until golden, risen and springs back to the touch.
Step 6: Remove from the oven and allow to cool for half an hour before transferring (out of the tin) to a wire rack.
Store in an airtight container and it should last a few days. Excellent served with a cup of tea or coffee.