# 131 A Very Good Banana loaf

with whipped brown sugar & coffee crème fraîche, PB and roasted peanuts

Hey friends, Happy Sunday! How are we all doing? Has the sun poked its head out where you are yet? I really hope so!

Despite the fleeting glimmers of sparkly sunshine (goodbye ‘Scandi Gloom’), the moments of skin-tingling warmth, the light in the mornings (YIPEEEE), I spent half of this week in an inexplicable funk which was most disagreeable. Particularly so, given that sense of cosy, joyous gratitude and appreciation I expressed last week (your loving messages about this were beautiful, by the way, thank you!).

I’m not quite sure what happened over the weekend, I just morphed into this fiery dragon. The climax of my spiky episode involved slinging some fried mushrooms across the dining room table, both mature and useful I’m sure you’ll all agree, also v.lucky that Mum absorbed the impact like a true Gladiator (she both remained utterly composed, AND shielded the newly painted walls from any carnage, what a saint!!!).
I’m assuming I’m quite unique in my apparent tendency to exhibit fungi-related rage, but tell me, does anyone else experience these inadvertent prickly moments? They’re so unwelcome!

Luckily, things picked up a bit… and so, I have some thrilling, arguably quite groundbreaking, topics to discuss with you this week, prepare yourselves!!!! (note, distinct sense of irony here, I apologise in advance for a probably quite boring episode of ‘story time’)…

After considerable practice and many hours spent marinating in various detergents this week (and all of the weeks since we had the kitchen done - one NEVER stops cleaning a new kitchen, fact!), I am now firmly of the belief that cleaning (all things from oneself to the plughole) should be classed as exercise – seriously they’re identical; dread always precedes them, they’re a full-body, sweat-inducing workout, and there’s plenty of reward once you’ve finished! My conclusion? We all cancel our gym memberships and don some marigolds!
I’m even thinking it could constitute sport - competitions for house/personal cleanliness. Yes! Olympic medals should be awarded; points for difficulty, technical merit (knowledge of the best products for the job will be pivotal here), execution, speed should also be taken into account, right? Could be a team sport too, synchronised cleanage! Finish with a tumble turn, always, and TA DA, smile for the judges, sit nervously and await score, yes, I might put in a petition, not sure why Nike aren’t signing me up already tbh.

This cleaning chat has, in part, been prompted by a serious saucepan debate over on Instagram. For those who don’t follow me over there, here’s a little recap - basically, Mum and I need (thought we needed) a new saucepan set. Mum’s 40+ year old Le Creuset ones are past their best; the enamel has been damaged, they have all taken on the flavour of various dishes - and thus preparing sweet stuff in them is an absolute NO-GO (unless you fancy curry infused custard) - the handles are wobbly, they’re just tired! I obviously was completely clueless as to where to start re. buying new (decision-fatigue!!) and so, asked the audience (Insta fam). I received countless suggestions (for which I’m eternally grateful) with Le Creuset just coming out on top for premium brands, and ProCook being the best-rated budget-friendly option, but also, I received a LOT of advice re. trying to clean up my current set…

Now, I truly HATE the idea of haphazardly replacing stuff, so, intrigued by some of your clean-y suggestions, I have spent more hours than I care to admit giving our stinky old pans a spa day (week). Collectively, the pans have cycled through several warm bicarb/vinegar baths, some soda crystal soaks (top tip, wear gloves if you try this stuff - I swear I nearly burnt a hand off!), and my favourite, the dishwasher tablet trick (thank you to Chloe for this one) - add boiling water up to the line of dirt, chuck in a dishwasher tab, let it simmer on the hob for about 5 mins then leave it overnight - in the morning, pour away the water, then scrub a bit - V.G results!

Phases of clean-age... for a couple of the pans (didn't photo them all).

Thus, my conclusion after this frenzied pan cleaning expedition is that this set probably have a good few years left in them - yay! I may well give them another day at the ‘spa’ in due course, and, instead of replacing the full set, will probably just buy one new medium-ish sized pan (from somewhere like ProCook) and that should more than suffice. Moral of the story, ‘make do and mend’… could have just said that at the beginning and glossed over all the chit chat couldn’t I? Sorry!!… let’s move on to the other thrilling moments from this week…

Other notes from the week:

• Remember that ULTRA banana-y banana loaf I told you about last week?… I made it again on Monday morning because I wanted to check that it was as good as I remembered it to be, and OMG I can’t stop eating it!
  It’s fullllll of banana flavour, has a subtle nuttiness owing to the addition of a little wholemeal flour, the crumb is tender, yielding, inherently moist; but also, somehow, boasts a lightness that defies logic - it’s a wonderful contradiction. I added some fancy stuff on top this time too; mounds of whipped brown sugar, coffee crème fraîche, filled with puddles of Manilife deep roast Peanut Butter, and a scattering of roasted peanuts across the top for crunch - the extras aren’t necessary, but they do convert it from something unassumingly, charming, to catwalk ready, you know what I mean? Of course I’m sharing the recipe with you below, and I’m excited to hear what you think!

  

• Ok, Love Island’s over (sad) but who’s watching ‘White lotus’??… and Amandaland? Both uniquely brilliant.

• Personal hygiene blunders: I may have peaked with domestic cleaning this week but personal hygiene has been significantly less successful - my hair went unlaundered for 7 days - shameful - and I had a very spicy bath moment: committed too soon to an extremely hot bath, had to emergency exit, performed the ‘hovering crab’ whilst desperately trying to add more cold, ended up resembling a lobster after. Need to work on this.

• Why is it that making a curry - comprising chicken, chickpeas, yoghurt, and a ton of spices - feels so wholesome, so ‘I’ve got my shit together’?

• … oh, and stuffing a date with tahini & coconut, then dipping it in a lake of melted chocolate - more therapeutic goodness!

  

• … also, tell me why chickpeas get so stroppy when they’re microwaved? EVERY time I reheat curry, I end up with it showered all over the microwave walls because a chickpea has exploded and caused a fiery eruption - annoying, especially so because I NEVER learn from my mistake!

• You know these electric diffuser thingies that are meant to make your house smell nice? I have a much cheaper option… bake a cake instead!!! (this week’s banana loaf recipe works SUPERBLY, just saying), it’s unrivalled house perfume!!!

• Was totally obsessed with seeing Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc at the F1 season Launch… also still very much behind the Merc team.

Ok, I must stop... this newsletter feels like one of those instances where you start talking and it’s all a bit nonsense-y, a little garbled, and yet, the more you talk, the more word matter comes tumbling out… it’s like a word waterfall that you have no control over… and someone needs to tell you to STOP and quietly tiptoe away for a nap… which I will now do… (after a teeny bit more banana loaf chat - below - it’s worth hearing I promise).

As ever, sending the biggest of hugs and oodles of love…

Steph X X X

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Banana Loaf

About this banana loaf… as with most banana-based recipes, this was born out of a need to use up some spotty bananas lurking at the bottom of our fruit bowl.
And as far as I’m concerned, there’s only one thing a freckled banana should be destined for and that is banana loaf.

I’m calling this ‘banana loaf’ over banana bread because I’ve always thought it very misleading to refer to it as bread… it’s not bread. As far as I’m concerned it sits more in cake camp but then owing to the presence of fruit (#health) and the fact that it’s baked in a loaf tin, I’m prepared to settle with referring to it as a loaf… like tea loaf, and malt loaf… but richer, more cakey, better - obv! Really catchy description, eh?

What I love so much about banana loaf (‘more cakey not bready’) is how universally perfect it is. It’s superbly moist and tender, but not dense, it requires minimal effort, takes minutes to make, makes your house small divine, lasts all week - perfect snack cake material - and is universally liked - even banana haters are prepared to eat this.

Why is this particular one so good (my best yet??) you ask? First and foremost, it REALLY tastes of banana - sounds silly but there’s nothing worse than a loaf/cake that promises one thing in name and tragically under delivers in reality. To achieve this heady banana flavour, I’ve discovered (after many rounds of practice) that it’s less about quantity and more about ‘quality’ if you will. When I say quality, I mean the colour of your bananas matter… my preference for banana loaf perfection is a banana that’s golden yellow with plenty of brown spotty freckles. A lot of people recommend you use a fully brown/black banana for banana cakes, but from my experience, this doesn’t generate the best flavour - my reasoning is that more of the natural sugars present in the banana have been converted into ethanol and whilst this doesn't make the cake taste of alcohol as such, it yields a somewhat muted banana flavour. So yes, super yellow bananas with leopard spots is the way to go. I also suggest you add some cinnamon… this will not make the cake taste of cinnamon but instead boosts the banana-y-ness, WINNER! (It’s science, by the way, cinnamon apparently contains the same flavour compound - eugenol - as bananas, so adding a sprinkle is a surefire way to supercharge the banana-y-ness.

Other notable things about this BL? As I mentioned above, I suggest adding a little wholemeal flour - you can use all plain if you wish but it adds a little nutty flavour and, in the interest of #health, fibre too - won’t say no to that. I use a combo of light olive oil and sour cream, for that ultra moist, tender crumb - it’s such a winning combo - and light brown sugar is a must over caster - the caramel-y notes are what we want here!

Ok, I’m bored of my own voice - go make it at once.

The naked loaf