Love at first bite

“You’re just too good to be true…

can’t take my eyes off of you!”

They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach… but I can tell you, it’s the same for a woman, especially when she’s met with delicious wholesome delights!

When I first set eyes on my future husband, I thought he was too good to be true! AND…then, not too long after we met, he turned up to my house with freshly baked banana bread sitting on a newly made wooden cutting board that he made (he is also a self-taught woodworker).

He also bought magazines and the newspaper and we sat and brunched together with our dogs, who were the same breed and were learning to get to know each other, just like we were.

Since then, Banana Bread has become a staple in our house on the weekend when there’s plenty of time to clean after making a happy mess baking treats. Especially when we were graced with the presence of The Morrison Trio (Mr Morrison’s children). When they were younger, Mr. Morrison loved getting in the kitchen with them to create something easy that they could learn how to do on their own one day.

My favourite memories about these times were the random conversations we would have with the trio, the new music they wanted to blare in the background, and the genuine eagerness they had to get involved. This is the connection cooking creates.

WORD FROM THE COOK: The bread is dense in the middle and if baked properly, will be crispy on top and the edges. It is best eaten warm with a generous serve of butter. Eating it cool with butter works well too!

SHARING: My husband agreed, sharing his recipe here with all my lovers of good food, was a great idea!

Ingredients

Use overripe bananas for this recipe, not completely bruised and inedible, just the ones that are too soft to eat. (If you don’t have at least three bananas, then this recipe can’t be done – according to my husband!)

• 3 medium overripe, peeled and mashed bananas
• 1 1/4 cups of white caster sugar
• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup full cream milk
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
• 2 1/2 cups of sifted plain flour (add 1/4 to 1/2 cup more if using frozen raspberries)
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup milk or white chocolate chips (optional)
• 1/2 cup frozen raspberries thawed (optional)
• Loaf tin 23cm long x 13cm wide x 8cm deep
• Cooling rack

*tmc.tip - be adventurous, try adding the choc chips and frozen raspberries to the mixture but you'll need to add more flour if you do this, so the mixture is not so wet and can cook well. Or you place the choc chips and raspberries on top just before placing it in the oven to cook.

Method

• Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees
• Grease the bottom only of a loaf tin
• Combine sugar and butter in a bowl and mix well. Stir in eggs (crack them in a separate bowl first) and mix well.
• Stir in mashed bananas, milk and vanilla, then beat until smooth.
• Stir in sifted flour, baking powder and salt until all of the ingredients are combined.
• Gently pour the ingredients into the loaf tin and bake for about an hour.
• Cooking times will be dependent on your oven, so keep an eye on the bread when it begins to rise and the top browns.
• The banana bread is cooked and ready to be taken out of the oven when the top is springy and when a skewer is inserted into the middle of the loaf, it looks clean when you remove it.
• Put the loaf tin on a cooling rack and let it cool slightly. Then run a knife around the inside edge of pan. Place another cooling rack over the bread and tin and flip it over. Be careful with this part, if you don’t wait long enough for the loaf to cool before it’s flipped, the bread will break and crumble. Yes, I have done this before because I was impatient!
• Slice and serve with butter.