A Really Good Banana Bread + thoughts on motherhood

The thought of motherhood scared me at first - too many responsibilities, too little answers. Now, as I wait for labour to start any minute, I'm surprised to be quietly looking forward to becoming a mother - a good one, hopefully, in spite of the many challenges that come with the role. 

If you'd ask me about pregnancy though... well, you'd get a hard pass from me. Without a doubt, one of the most physically and mentally uncomfortable experiences I've ever been through: from constant exhaustion and daily migraines, to backpain, mobility issues, swelling, inflammation, loss of sleep, nightmares and overall hormonal upheaval, there is very little I've enjoyed so far. I'm so GLAD it's (almost) over. 

The antidote to total anxiety, especially in the last trimester, has been found buried deep into the oven. I don’t bake as much during the summer - I’m sure I’m not the only one. But this August I threw myself into a baking marathon of sort. The result: several loaves of my father-in-law’s famous banana bread (including a decent vegan variation from Philip Koury's A New Way to Bake); a peach crumble for my mom’s birthday inspired by Arome Cassis' apricot tart, and Nigel Slater’s classic brownies, now tucked away in the freezer for post-partum recovery.

We are having guests tonight, so I thought I'd turn the oven on once again and bake a loaf of my best banana bread as a take away present. The recipe is below.

* Ingredients

• Bananas 450 g (about 3 ripe or very ripe bananas)

• Lemon juice 2 tbsp

• Butter 120g, softened

• Brown sugar 90g

• Eggs 2

• Salt 1 pinch

• Flour 200g, sifted

• Baking powder 6g 

• Baking soda 3g 

• Vanilla extract 1/2 tsp

• Walnuts 2 handfuls, roughly chopped

• White chocolate chips 2 handfuls

* Method

Preheat the oven to 180° C. 

Cut the bananas into chunks and mash them with a fork; mix in the lemon juice. 

In another bowl, whisk the butter with the sugar, then add the eggs, the salt and mix. Combine with the banana puree. 

Incorporate the sifted flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add vanilla (or any other flavourings of your choice), walnuts and chocolate chips.

Pour into a 1kg/750gr loaf tin lined with parchment paper and bake for about 60 min, or until a skewer comes out clean.

the original recipe from my FIL's notebook

Happy baking!

Sinù xx

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