The Sport of Baking

Introducing the first “The Sport of Baking” Month Challenge for March… mastering the loaf pan. I have been a bit slack in posting the new cooking and baking techniques I have tried out, so here goes!

While cleaning cupboards and drawers in my kitchen recently I found my old loaf plan. I decided I hadn’t actually used it to make a sweet loaf before, I had only used it to make savoury breads. So here was a new challenge – to find a delicious, sweets recipe to cook in the loaf pan. As it turns out, I found two recipes! The first is a carrot, date and walnut loaf which, with the addition of nutmeg and cinnamon, smells and tastes amazing! You can find this recipe at the Taste link:

https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/carrot-date-walnut-loaf/bce04f1f-68fd-4301-a2ca-b2fd8801a130

With a couple of very ripe bananas, I adapted an old banana bread recipe by adding some dark chocolate. Keep reading for a tasty recipe for a banana bread that is moist and delicious.

Ingredients:
125g unsalted butter
¾ cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 ½ cups plain flour
½ tsp bicarb soda
¾ – 1 cup milk
3 ripe bananas, mashed
125g dark chocolate, roughly chopped + ¼ cup for topping
½ cup walnuts, roughly chopped

Method:

1. Preheat moderate oven. Line a loaf pan with baking paper.
2. Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl with electric beaters.
3. Add eggs and beat again, on a low speed, until combined.
4. Add flour, bicarb soda and milk. Stir with a spoon. Add in mashed banana, walnuts and dark chocolate.
5. Place mixture into loaf pan. Top with dark chocolate shards (I added dark chocolate chips for the top).
6. Bake in moderate over for 50 minutes.

Did you try this at home? Let us know your opinion of the recipe in the comments below. If you upload a picture, don’t forget to tag @thesportofbaking on Instagram or Twitter.

Happy Baking L x