Banana Bread

Coffeeartschool.com.au,. 'Coffee Knowledge'. N.p., 2015. Web. 19 June 2015.

Feature Ingredient: Brown sugar 

Brown sugar is something I've always heard about and seen in the supermarket, however what's the difference between them and regular sugar (other than the colour of course)? With a little online research I found that brown sugar is actually very similar to white refined sugar, but with the addition of molasses (a thick dark brown liquid obtained from sugarcane or sugar beets through the process of refining them into sugar). Combining molasses and white sugar allows brown sugar to achieve a soft, moist texture and a taste of molasses. Brown sugar is used in various foods; baked goods, marinades, and even beverages! 

Today, we'll be trying out brown sugar in banana bread, a sweet cake-like bread, popularised in American cookbooks in the 20th century. It is believed that Banana bread was a creation of the Great Depression, where housewives did not want to throw away expensive bananas that had become overripe. Some also say that the modern Banana bread recipe was developed to promote the use of baking powder products.

Recipe: Banana Bread 

Serves 8 - 10
Recipe derived from here and here!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1 tsp ground cinnamon, sifted

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking powder

140g brown sugar

125ml milk

2 eggs, lightly whisked

50g butter, melted, cooled 

4 ripe bananas, mashed

Pinch of salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180˚C. Line a baking tray with baking paper, use some melted butter to help it stick. 
2. Combine the flour, cinnamon and baking powder. Stir in the sugar and make a well in the centre of the mixture.
3. In a separate bowl, mash 3 bananas with a fork until smooth or to your desired texture. Stir in the beaten eggs, cooled melted butter and vanilla extract.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the well of the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. 
5. Spoon the batter into the prepared baking tray and smooth the top. 
6. Slice the remaining banana lengthwise and place on the top of the batter. 
7. Bake the batter for 55 - 60 mins or until a skewer comes clean when poked into the bread. 
8. Remove the bread from the tray and set aside to cool. Slice to serve.

My progress...

Mashing the bananas

Combining the vanilla extract, beaten eggs, mashed bananas and melted butter.

Top with slices of banana

Ratings/Comments:

Price: 1/5

Difficulty: 3/5

Taste: 3/5

Overall: 3/5

(1 being low - 5 being high)

This recipe was lots of fun to make and also didn't take much time to prepare. Although being called a "bread" this can easily be a dessert or sweet snack; I wouldn't recommend serving this as an appetiser because they are quite sweet! liked how they looked and tasted - very cinnamony, but if you don't like cinnamon, it can definitely be taken out. I think the main thing to look out for is baking the banana bread; it shouldn't be too fudge like but it also shouldn't be too dry - keep an eye out for it. Other than that, it will be tasty treat for all! You can even add nuts into it if you'd like an extra crunch.

- C