Ripe bananas – love them or loathe them?

Some people love to eat bananas when they are overly ripe, but I’m not one of them, so when I have a few bananas in my kitchen that have brown spots, I make a banana loaf.

What’s nice about this banana loaf

What I love about this is the spice mix that I have developed over the years. It includes cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and cloves, all of which go so well with the flavour of bananas. I also add a bit of salt to all my cakes – you can’t taste any saltiness, but it makes a big difference. The addition of walnuts gives this loaf texture and crunch too, and all in all it’s the perfect Autumn treat for me and my family.

My Banana bread recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
• 60 ml yogurt
• 200 g self raising flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 125 g unsalted butter
• 180 g brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 50 g walnuts, broken into small pieces (just snap them between your fingers)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 6 cardamom pods (or 1/2 tsp ground cardamom)
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan) and line a loaf tin with baking parchment.
2. Combine the flour, salt and spices using a whisk (I find this is just as effective as sifting the flour and much less hassle)
3. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until it looks fluffy.
4. Add the brown sugar and mix until the sugar looks like it is starting to dissolve.
5. Add the eggs one at a time.
6. Add the mashed bananas and the yogurt. It will start to curdle, but it will all come together again when you add the flour.
7. Add the flour and the walnuts – use a whisk rather than your electric mixer, as you don’t want to overwork the batter at this stage.
8. Pour the batter into your loaf tin and bake for 45 minutes – test with a skewer.

Tip: Banana skins and orchids

You can use the banana skins to clean the leaves of your orchids. It removes any dust (which helps your plant with photosynthesis) and gives them a beautiful shine. I have also noticed that my orchids are producing more flowering stems since I’ve been doing this (and since keeping my orchids near bananas) – ripe bananas emit ethylene gas which triggers flowering.