Banana Bread - River Cottage recipe

Banana bread is one of the blessings in life, not least because it's a fabulous way to use up overripe bananas, in fact, the riper the better!   I will also be blogging my grandmother's fabulous banana bread, which contains whole cherries and nuts, but thought I'd try something different.  Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his River Cottage Cakes Handbook provided the perfect recipe.  Delicately spiced with cardamom, this is a delicious and easy to make bread which I made entirely in a Kenwood mixer (laziness rules!).   I made it for my son and his friends, and it vanished in a single session...

Cardamom spiced Banana Bread

Banana Bread

8oz/250g self-raising flour  

½ tsp salt

½ tsp ground cardamom (if you only have the pods, spill out the seeds and grind them up between two spoons or using a pestle and mortar)

4oz/100g butter at room temperature

5oz/125g caster sugar

4oz/100g raisins

2 ripe bananas (approx 8oz/250g peeled weight),  mashed

1 large egg, beaten

1 tbsp Demerara sugar

Preheat the oven to 180 deg C, and line a 2lb loaf tin with parchment.    Sift the flour, salt and cardamom into the mixer, add the butter and beat it at a medium speed until it looks like breadcrumbs.  Add the sugar and raisins and continue mixing.  Finally, add the mashed bananas and egg and beat until it is all blended together.    Pour into the tin and sprinkle with the demerara sugar before baking for 45 minutes until it is well risen and browned (test by putting a hot knife blade into the middle – if it comes out clean the banana bread is cooked).  Allow to cool in the tin.

A good banana bread will keep for several days, if kept wrapped in foil and in a tin.  It is delicious with butter (but then, what isn’t?).