Recipes: Banana Bread

We get through several of these loaves every day in the Bakery. Try to use very ripe bananas for a sweeter, richer cake. You can also use light muscovado sugar, making the cake even more moist and rich.

1.    Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F) Gas 3.

2.    Put the sugar and eggs in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) and beat until well incorporated. Beat in the mashed bananas.

3.    Add the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and ginger to the sugar mixture. Mix it thoroughly until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated into the egg mixture. Pour in the melted butter and beat until all the ingredients are well mixed.

4.    Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and smooth over with a palette knife. Bake in the preheated oven for about 1 hour, or until firm to the touch and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool slightly in the tin before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Credit: The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook, Tarek Malouf and The Hummingbird Bakery (Ryland Peters & Small, 2009)