Hummingbird Bakery's Banana loaf

When I first saw this recipe in The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook, I knew immediately that this is my ideal cafe-style banana loaf that I always want to bake...

Just a couple of months back, bananas was considered as one of the most expensive fruit in Australia due to cyclone Yasi. Before the cyclone, they are about AUD$1-2/kg when they are in season and they were selling at a shocking price of AUD$13/kg in Woolies and Coles! For this reason, I've put aside all my banana baking projects.

For this bake-along, I'm glad that Lena, from Frozen Wings has suggested "Go Bananas" as our baking theme. Together with Joyce from Kitchen flavours, Lena and I are cooking or baking any food as long as there is banana in it. Now, this is a great reason to revive all my bananas baking which includes this yummy Hummingbird Bakery's banana loaf.

As suggested in the book, I choose to use light muscovado sugar to bake this loaf for a more moist and richer texture. Eating this banana loaf has made me "gone bananas" and I reckon that this banana loaf is the best banana bread that I've ever tasted so far. Seeing many famous foodies recommending the use of muscovado sugar in their baking, I am starting to wonder if it is the light muscovado sugar or the recipe that makes this banana loaf so delicious...

 

 

I was going "bananas" over this loaf and have a "silly" question for the next picture...

There is slices of a Banana loaf, a "Banana in Pajamas" book and a Banana cookie cutter but NO real banana in this picture...LOL!

Here's the recipe from the book, The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook by Tarek Malouf
(with my modification in blue)

270g soft light brown sugar (replaced light muscovado sugar)
2 eggs
200g peeled bananas, mashed
280g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate soda (replaced by baking powder)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger (reduced to 1/2 tsp)
140g unsalted, melted

23 x 13 cm loaf tin, greased and dusted with flour

Preheat the oven to 170°C (or 160°C fan forced)

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.

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.

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 center comes out clean.

Leave the cake to cool slightly in the tin before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Note: I've made this loaf with 2/3 of the recipe using 10 x 20 cm loaf tin.

Happy Baking
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