Sunday Sweet Treat: Banana Loaf

For our ‘Sweet Treat’ feature, we bring you a taste bud-tingling, saliva-inducing recipe every week. Whether you simply want to put your baking skills to the test or fancy treating your colleagues to something tasty (hint hint Her.ie girls!), this is where to come. This week, it’s Banana Loaf courtesy of The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook...                                                                                                     Makes 8-10 slices Ingredients: 280g flour 270g soft light brown sugar 2 eggs 200g peeled bananas, mashed 1 tsp baking power 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp ground ginger 140g unsalted butter, melted 23 x 13-cm loaf tin, greased and dusted with flour Method: 1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius/ Gas 3. 2. Put the sugar and eggs in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld whisk) and beat until well incorporated. Beat in the mashed bananas. 3. Add the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and ginger to the sugar mixture. Mix it thoroughly until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated into the egg mixture. Pour in the melted butter and beat until all the ingredients are well mixed. 4. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and smooth over with a palette knife. Bake in the preheated oven for about 1 hour, or until firm to the touch and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool slightly in the tin before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.