Baking with Nick Cave: Banana Bread Resurrected

I don't particularly like bananas. They're o.k. but I can go months without eating one and never really missing it.
The best thing to come out of bananas - apart from pancakes - is banana bread. To be honest, I don't particularly like that either. I've baked too many dense, chewy-crusted blocks of banana bread in the past to really like them. Well, thanks to this cheerful little ditty from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, I got to thinking - what if I just needed to discard that nasty-ass old banana bread recipe I'd been dragging round with me and be a little more adventurous?


Oh boy, now I have seen bananas in a new light! With my banana bread resurrected into a truly delicious, moist and decadent treat rather than just another forgettable doughy loaf I am happy to make this again for sure. It was so delicious my 4-year old son spontaneously came into the kitchen midway through eating it to take me by the hand and say, 'Mum, that banana bread? It's really, really good!' before dashing back to horse the rest down! There is no higher accolade!

Banana Malt Loaf

Track: Dig, Lazarus, Dig!

Ingredients:

2 cups plain flour
1 cup soft brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup dark chocolate chips/chunks
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
3 ripe bananas
1/4 cup soya cream
2 tbsp malt extract
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp carotino oil
1 tbsp ground flaxseed
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method
Preheat your oven to GM^o4/180^oc/350^oF. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, chocolate chunks, chopped pecans, cinnamon and salt. Stir together until well-combined. Then blend together the bananas, soya cream, malt extract, maple syrup, carotino oil, ground flaxseed and vanilla essence until smooth before spooning into the dry mix. Stir until 'just mixed' before spooning batter into a greased loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour then check it's done - a skewer inserted through the thickest part should come out clean.
Let cool then just try and keep your little monkeys away from it!


With this delicious version of an old favourite currently wowing my palette, I can't help but think it could be cranked up a notch more - maybe with a caramel frosting?...