More of a loaf than a bread this is spicy, stick and fruity and goes well buttered with a cup of tea. Makes 2 x 2 lb loaves.
6 – 8 Tbsp / 55g / 2oz SR flour * see note below
1 Tsp baking powder
1 heaped Tbsp 15g / ½ oz butter or marg , melted
2 eggs
6 Tbsp / ¼ cup 75g 2 ½ oz sugar – use brown, golden or whatever you have
a handful assorted fruit
a handful assorted seeds/nuts pecans for preference
bananas [about 5 ripe ones]
1 tsp each ginger, allspice, nutmeg and cinnamon
Also if available add
1 tbsp date molasses
1 tbsp malt syrup
Preheat the oven to 200 C
Mash the bananas – if they’re a bit firm then use a barmix. Add the eggs, melted butter, spices, molasses, syrup, vanilla and chopped up peel and ginger. Stir well to combine.
Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, fruits and nuts together and stir into the wet ingredients.
You may need to add more flour. The batter should be sloppy but not too runny.
Pour into the prepared loaf tins and bake at 200. 1 lb loaf tins will need 35 – 45 mins . 2lb tins will take 45 mins to an hour.
Remove from oven and cool.
Notes
* If you don’t have self raising flour you can use plain, in which case you need to double the amount of bicarbonate to 2 tsps.
This should make 2x 2lb loaves or 4 x 1 lb. It’s hard to be exact as the size of the bananas is variable.
I use loaf tin liners which makes it easy to add another loaf if required. Do not fill to the very top – leave about an inch clear .
You can make this with no weighing, just bodge it all together and make sure that it’s a good sloppy mess- if you don’t have quite enough bananas to make it really sloppy then add a spot of milk.
I also add a couple of tbsps of candied orange peel and a couple of lumps of candied ginger which I wizz up in a mini processor and add to the mix. You can omit this if you prefer.
Variations
Add half a cup of chopped apple dusted with a half a teaspoon of cinnamon.
Add half a cup of chopped apricots and the zest of an orange. Omit the cinnamon and allspice.
You could add half a cup any fruit you like and adjust the spices accordingly – chopped glace cherries, chopped fresh pineapple and blueberries would also work well.
mortsmorsels 