Banana bread

Classic moist banana loaf cake

Origin: Caribbean / United States (1930s)

From the journey of Banana.

Banana bread as we know it today is a product of two historical forces: the arrival of chemical leavening agents (baking powder and baking soda) in the 19th century, and the global banana trade that made ripe bananas a household staple by the 1880s. The first printed banana bread recipes appeared in American cookbooks in the 1930s, during the Great Depression, when thriftiness made turning overripe bananas into a moist, sweet loaf seem inspired. Caribbean cooks had long been making banana-based baked goods (the region's banana bread tradition, using more spice and sometimes rum, predates the American version and may have influenced it through the movement of recipes along trade routes. Today, banana bread is one of the most-searched and most-baked recipes in the English-speaking world, beloved precisely for its simplicity and its use of bananas that would otherwise be discarded. This recipe produces the classic moist, deeply flavoured loaf) the version that has made banana bread a global comfort food.

Ingredients

Main

3 very ripe bananas (about 300g peeled weight), mashed

Dry

190 g plain flour (1½ cups)
1 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
0.5 tsp fine salt
0.5 tsp ground cinnamon

Wet

115 g unsalted butter, melted (about ½ cup)
150 g sugar (brown sugar preferred, ¾ cup)
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Preheat oven to 175°C / 350°F. Grease a 23 × 13 cm (9 × 5 inch) loaf tin and line the bottom with baking paper.
Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl.
In a large bowl, whisk the melted butter and sugar together until combined. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla. Fold in the mashed bananas.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold together with a spatula just until no streaks of flour remain. Do not overmix: a few lumps are fine.
Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 55–65 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean and the top is deep golden brown and cracked along the centre.
Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Slice and serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

The riper the bananas, the better the bread. Black-spotted, almost-liquid bananas are ideal: their sugars have concentrated and caramelised, giving the bread a far deeper, richer flavour than barely-ripe fruit. For variations: fold in 100g chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, or desiccated coconut. A tablespoon of rum or whisky added to the batter is the Caribbean touch. Banana bread keeps well wrapped at room temperature for 4–5 days and also freezes beautifully.

The Gastrographer

Name: Banana bread
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 75 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Caribbean / United States
Ingredients: 3 very ripe bananas (about 300g peeled weight), mashed; 190 g plain flour (1½ cups); 1 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda); 0.5 tsp fine salt; 0.5 tsp ground cinnamon; 115 g unsalted butter, melted (about ½ cup); 150 g sugar (brown sugar preferred, ¾ cup); 2 large eggs; 1 tsp vanilla extract

Mapping Culinary History

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control