B. A. N. A. N. A. S.

This past weekend my in-laws were in town for their Circuit Assembly. They live in Ottawa, two hours from here. We met up with them at Lidia's(Ab's sis) place. I had ripe bananas, so why not make a cake (un gateau)?(French word of the day that is also linked to it's pronunciation!) I made banana bread but lets face it-- its a cake. I admit I was kinda stressed because this is the first time I bake a dessert for them, but it turned out good...it was to me, and my father- in- law and mother- in - law said it was good-- what a relief. Plus I spoke to them alot more in French this time--  before all I ever said was "Comment ça va?"and replied, "Ça va bien." Yes, its safe to say I aimed to impress. If you make this banana bread, I suggest you also make the optional crumb topping because it adds so much more deliciousness to this gâteau.  And get a lil' nutty--add chopped nuts to it and to the crumb topping!  If you try it, please let me know how it went. Have a great day!
Sandra


Recipe via Food & Whine

Banana Bread

ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
3/4 - 1 cup brown sugar (use the 1 cup if you like things a little sweeter)
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/3 cups overripe bananas, mashed (about 4-5 large bananas)
Optional: 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
Optional: Crumb Topping (see recipe and instructions below)

method

Position oven rack in bottom third of oven (2nd from bottom) and preheat oven to 350° F . Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt,cinnamon and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs, vanilla and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture and stir just until moistened. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out "almost" clean, about 55-65 minutes (Check often, as this is better a little undercooked than overcooked, for the moistest loaf).
Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Optional Crumb Topping:
While loaf is baking, combine 1/4 cup all-purpose flour and 1/4 cup brown sugar in a bowl. Cut in 1 Tbsp. butter with a pastry cutter or two knives until it becomes like a coarse cornmeal.
When loaf has baked for 40 minutes, carefully remove from oven and sprinkle crumb on top. Put back in the oven for the final 15-25 minutes cooking time, until loaf is done as tested with toothpick.


Sandra