Bananas were a good price at the market this week so I bought a load. What better fruit to put in a blender for a milkshake or smoothie as part of your 5 a day! Not wanting them to go off too quickly, I decided to look up some recipes. As usual, I went for easy ones, but also some my grandchildren like, so very child friendly? Unfortunately, I am allergic to fresh Bananas, so have to avoid them, but I can still use powder flavouring without any effect for some reason. You can add Bananas to custard to make a quick dessert, or just peel one whole and decorate with chocolate and cream for ease, but why not try the Banana Loaf recipe below or the fritters?
Buen Apetito
Banana Loaf
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1⁄4 tsp salt
1⁄2 cup soft butter
3⁄4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1⁄3 cups mashed very overripe Bananas
Preheat oven to 175°C. Lightly grease a 9” x 5” loaf pan. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. In separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed Bananas until well blended. Stir Banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to combine. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake in preheated oven for 60-65mins until a toothpick inserted into centre of loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
Banana and Toffee Pancakes
Basic Recipe for Pancakes
1 egg
300ml milk
100g all-purpose
Pinch of salt
Cooking oil or butter
Combine the flour and salt in a bowl and make a well in the middle. Add the egg. Whisk or stir well whilst adding the milk a little at a time. Mix until there are no lumps. The mixture can be stored in a fridge for up to 6 hours. Heat a small amount of oil in a suitable pan, ensuring it covers the entire pan. Pour some of the mixture into the pan and quickly move it around so it spreads evenly. Once one side is cooked, toss the pancake and cook the other side. To tell if the pancake is cooked, look for small bubbles forming on the side. Continue to make more pancakes with the rest of the batter while keeping them warm.
Filling
250g butter toffee
3 tbsp milk
6-8 ripe Bananas sliced (one per person)
Make the batter as above and then leave to stand for half an hour. Put the broken toffee and the milk in a heavy saucepan. Stir constantly over a low heat until the toffee has melted and the sauce is smooth. Fry the pancakes and stack up them and keep them warm while you cook the rest. Place slices of Banana down the middle of the pancake and pour over generous amounts of toffee sauce. Fold over each side of the pancake into the middle. Stack up or lay out on a plate and serve with more sauce.
Banana Muffins
1 cup sugar
1⁄3 cup margarine
2 eggs
4 Bananas
1⁄3 cup water
11⁄3 all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1⁄2 tsp salt
1⁄2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
Mix sugar, margarine, eggs, Bananas & water in bowl. Then add your flour, baking powder & salt in the same bowl & mix together. Mix in chocolate chips by hand if desired. Set oven at 175°C. Put muffin cases in a muffin tray, fill with the mixture and bake for 25 minutes
Banana Fritters
Oil (for deep frying, olive oil is typically used)
1 cup cornflour (harina de maiz)
1⁄4 cup sugar
1 tblsp butter, melted
1 egg
1⁄4 tsp salt
2 tbsp white rum
2 tbsp milk
4 firm but ripe Bananas
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
Heat oil to 190°C in a deep fryer. Mix cornflour and sugar in a bowl. Add butter, egg, salt, rum and milk, stirring until it forms a thick batter. Peel Bananas and cut into quarters. Mix cinnamon with brown sugar. Sprinkle half the cinnamon/brown sugar mixture on the Banana quarters. Roll Banana quarters in the batter and drop carefully into the hot oil, a few at a time. Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side, turning once until golden brown. Drain fried Bananas on paper towels and dust with remaining cinnamon/brown sugar mixture. Serve warm.
Stovetop Banana Pudding
2 eggs
1½ cups of milk
1 pinch salt
1 tbsp vanilla essence
¾ cup of ALLflour
6 Bananas
1 pkt of cookies or biscuits (any) broken up
1 pinch ground nutmeg
I pinch cinnamon
In a large pan, combine eggs, milk, salt and vanilla. Mix in flour and stir mixture over heat until it boils and thickens. Remove from heat and stir in Bananas and cookies. Place in dish, add nutmeg and cinnamon and serve.