Mary Berry's banana bread
Mary Berry's banana bread recipe is small, but perfectly formed and loaded with chocolate chips. You can double this classic loaf cake recipe if you have lots of bananas to use up.
Ingredients
- 1 ripe banana (peeled weight 100g/4oz)
- 1 tbsp milk
- 50g/2oz soft butter or baking spread
- 75g/3oz plain flour
- 75g/3oz caster sugar
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 free-range egg
- 50g/2oz dark chocolate chips
To decorate (optional)
- 50g/2oz dark chocolate
Method
Preheat the oven 160C/140C Fan/Gas 3. Grease and line a 450g/1lb loaf tin with baking paper.
Use a fork to mash the peeled banana in a mixing bowl. Add the remaining cake ingredients (except the chocolate chips) and beat with an electric hand whisk until combined and smooth.
Stir in the chocolate chips and spoon the mixture into the prepared loaf tin. Level the top.
Bake for 40–45 minutes or until well risen, shrinking away from the sides of the tin and golden-brown.
Set aside to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.
For the optional decoration, break the chocolate into small pieces and add to a heatproof bowl.
Melt the chocolate in the bowl over a pan of simmering water (ensuring that the bowl does not touch the water). Stir regularly, until almost completely melted, then remove from the heat. The heat of the bowl will melt any remaining lumps.
Spoon the melted chocolate into a piping bag and pipe zig-zags across the top of the loaf. Set aside for the chocolate to set. Slice and serve.
Recipe Tips
The quantities for this cake can easily be doubled – bake in a 900g/2lb loaf tin for 55 minutes.
Optional extras: add 50g chopped pecans or walnuts if you like.
