This was kind of an experiment. I had spotty bananas lurking malevolently in the fruit bowl, gassing the other residents, and a recipe that a friend had recommended. All good so far. I started off with the first steps of the method and then realised that the butter in the ingredients list was missing from the method. Um… I’d had long conversations this week with (professional and could-be-professional bakers about how baking is a science and you can’t fudge quantities and methods. Then set about fudging the recipe*.
Banana Date Loaf
This makes for a pleasantly squidgy loaf with a slight nuttiness from the spelt flour. I used a four pans on a six mini-loaf tray – substantial small cakes that are good to slice and eat in squares.
Ingredients:
- 115g unsalted butter, softened
- 3 medium bananas
- 30g honey
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 110g muscovado sugar
- 170g wholegrain spelt flour
- 10g baking powder
- 50g any dried fruit – I used chopped apricots
Method:
- Cream together the sugar and eggs to light ribbon stage
- Wonder what to do with the butter
- Think “Sod it”, chop the butter up really small and add in, and blitz again
- Think “This will never work”
- Stick the bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds so it becomes more of a batter, and the butter relents
- Put the chopped dates in a small saucepan with a few tablespoons of water and heat gently til the dates ‘melt’
- In another bowl, mash the honey and banana and add in any dried fruit
- Sift the flour and baking powder into the egg/sugar mixtures, then add the banana mix and the date mush. Incorporate without overmixing.
- Put in lined tins, somewhat sceptically, bake for 20-25 mins or until a cake tester comes out clean
- Taste with some trepidation… they say “Woo-hoo! ‘Tis good!”
It should be fine to keep in an airtight tin for a few days, but there’s none left to test that theory. But next time I make it I’m going to try slicing and freezing a couple of the loaves, as well as working out when the butter should go in. Assuming the cakes are around long enough to be frozen. I think it would also be good lightly toasted, once defrosted.
*apart from the hit-and-miss method, I did largely substitute ingredients so it wasn’t that fudgy I guess
Here are the instructions I started with:
Preheat oven to 180C/Gas mark 4. Place eggs and brown sugar in electric mixer and whisk to light ribbon stage. Sift flour/baking pwdr into separate bowl. Mash bananas with honey. Combine all, but don’t overmix. Spoon into
tins and bake for 30-35 mins.
Back in October, at an event organised by TikiChris for Qype, we spent a very enjoyable evening at the Wahaca site in Westfield, tasting their winter menu and being persuaded of the delights of reposado and añejo tequilas. Tommi and Mark were keen that we gave them honest feedback that evening and impressively, we subsequently found out that they implemented suggestions the next day. I guess it’s true to say that drink talks: we may have been more vocal than they might have expected on one particular topic. The burrito. Or Cabbagegate as the redtops would probably dub it.
Wahaca’s strength is cooking authentic street food. The only dish I wasn’t wild about that night was the Vera cruz fish – Because European influence is strong in that region and though by itself it’s a delicious and healthy option from the menu, I wanted Mexican that night. Not European and certainly not Tex-Mex.
That’s the problem with burritos. As Tommi explained this weekend at their newest branch in Canary Wharf (my Londonist review here), in Mexico a burrito is a dense parcel of meat, rice and beans that’s designed to be taken out to the fields: robust enough to survive the journey and fuel a day’s labours. What most of us know and love as a burrito is more of a Californian creation – lashings of cheese, guacamole and piquant sauces. From March, Wahaca will be offering burritos in their new takeaway service and they’re determined to get them right from the outset. They’re staying as true to their ‘real Mexican’ ethos as possible while making them suitable for takeout and perfecting the flavours and combinations.
One of the biggest issues that the menu tasters had back in October was the presence of that one particular ingredient. I’m not necessarily a massive fan of cabbage at the best of times and it overpowered the vegetable burrito. Um, yes, it may have been me who mentioned the word ‘Sauerkraut’ and the burrito aficionados weren’t having any of it. Apparently one of the immediate changes to the Wahaca menu was a noticable reduction in the pickling vinegar.
Favourites on Sunday included chargrilled steak and slow cooked pork – surprisingly, with a complete absence of cabbage, or at least that’s what it tasted like. The vegetable burrito oozes juicy mushrooms – I’m just too much of a carnivore to ever order it voluntarily. Tommi isn’t threatening anyone with that knife, rather she was listening intently to the verdict on the custom burritos that she created. Oddly enough, the clear winner for us did feature cabbage. Hell, what do we know?
Stars: *****
Keep an eye on their blog for details of when they’ll launch. It’s going to be good. Tasty, filling reasonably priced fresh food. Can’t go wrong, really.
