Monday, March 20, 2017

Banana Loaf

This month, at The Cake Slice Bakers, the four recipes selected from the book World Class Cakes by Roger Pizey, which we are currently baking from are ;

Thierry Busset's Ten Layer Coffee Chocolate Cake
Greek Coconut Cake
Banana Loaf
Mandarin, Polenta, and Macadamia Cake


Members can choose any of those cakes to bake, and my choice is Banana Loaf.


I did make a few changes to the recipe. The changes are :
  1. I used 2 medium ripe bananas for the batter, and one more for the topping. Recipe indicated two bananas, one each, for the batter and topping.
  2. I reduced the sugar to half cup, original recipe uses 1 cup. By reducing the sugar, the sweetness was just right, without being overly sweet.
  3. I've used only 1/3 cup of ground hazelnuts instead of 2/3 cup, replacing the other 1/3 cup with all-purpose flour (an addition to the 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour indicated in the recipe).
  4. Instead of sour cream, I've used yoghurt.
  5. I've added 2 tablespoons of rum to the batter.
Recipe indicated to use a small baking tin, size 7in x 3-1/4in x 3-1/4in, lined with parchment paper. However, when the batter was ready, it was just too much and from the looks of it, could not fit into the small pan. I then used a 8-1/2in x 4-1/2in loaf pan, and filled it with the batter. Even with this bigger sized pan, the batter fills up almost to the top level of the pan. I was keeping my fingers crossed that the batter would not spill over during baking! 

I baked the loaf at 350F for 57 minutes (the books says to bake at 325F for 45 to 50 minutes). It smells wonderful during baking, with the lovely aroma of the bananas and the rum. What a relief that the batter did not spill over. It rises a little, then it stopped rising, and continue on to bake to a lovely golden colour.



A delicious banana loaf. Moist, soft tender crumbs, not as dense as some banana loaves are, and the sweetness was just right. I am so glad to have reduced the sugar.



A slice (or two!) is wonderful with a cup of tea or coffee. We like this Banana Loaf and I will be making this again when I have some extra bananas.


12 comments:

  1. I was tempted to try this recipe, I'm always on the look out for a good banana bread recipe! Glad this was a success:)

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  2. I don't like overly sweetened baked goods either. Your banana bread has such a lovely tender crumb.

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  3. I love banana loaf and this look delicious !

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  4. That banana loaf looks really tender! Nice job!

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  5. That loaf turned out so beautiful and the crumb looks great too. Great job!

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  6. That looks like a lovely light crumb for a banana cake. I might have to try that one soon.

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  7. I liked this recipe too! A great way to use up bananas!! YUM! Hazel x

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  8. I love that you adjusted the sugar content and used extra bananas for sweetness. What a beautiful golden brown bake you achieved. Thanks for sharing your bake!

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  9. Your cake looks fantastic and I am going to have to try those changes you made next time I make it. Funny how we both went with rum - yours on the inside and mine on the outside :)

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  10. It looks so yummy. I like your changes; I prefer more banana and less sugar in my banana bread as well. I might try this later in the week to use up some bananas I think aren't going to get eaten.

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  11. Hehe my hubby has been baking banana loaves for the past few days cos we have soooooooooo many bananas from the garden. Ours is completely sugar-free :)

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  12. Hi Joyce,
    Nice banana loaves and with some ground hazelnuts added, must be fragrant and delicious.

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