Going Bananas with Fruit!

I must apologise to you my dear readers for my lack of blogging this last week or so! As I mentioned we were on holiday and had some lovely days out, we went to the seaside and could not have had better weather. A couple of day trips out to idyllic villages with stone cottages and little streams running through and weeping willow tree branches touching the water and moving gently to the flow.

On the agenda also was strawberry picking, well hubby did the picking due to my back problems. We ended up with a few punnets full of sweet ripe fruit, as a result, I made some wonderful strawberry conserve to savour for when the weather turns cold into autumn and winter. A spoonful of this conserve on homemade bread will remind me of a perfect summer’s day! We also made a visit to a local farm where they sell their own produce, I came away with bunches of beetroot – oh yes with still dirt on them ready to scrub and cook. A huge marrow to peel and stuff with mince beef, just how my mum used to make it when I was a child. Potatoes, again with dirt on them and oh boy did they taste good when washed peeled and cooked, it must be the Lincolnshire soil they are all grown in! I was let loose in a home and wear store, *I’m in heaven, I’m in heaven*, where they had beautiful cake stands, elegant cups and saucers, in fact everything you could imagine for an avid cook/baker. Hmmmm, oh yes I did come away with a few little items to add to my little repertoire of things!

Overall, it was a lovely break, which must have lead to my lack of mojo for baking of late. I hope I have rectified things with you with this gorgeous fruity banana bread. I had six very overripe bananas that need attention in some form or shape, a lovely bag of mixed berries consisting of blueberries, cranberries and golden sultanas and a few glace cherries. Well, the fruit all worked beautifully together and the taste of this banana bread is sublime. I doubled up the quantities of each ingredient and made two fruity banana breads. You could cut one and give one to your friend or even freeze one if it lasts that long! I certainly will be baking this combination of fruits in my banana bread again.

Fruity Banana Bread

Makes one 900g (2lb) loaf

Ingredients
200g (7 oz) self-raising flour
3 large very ripe bananas
Grated zest of 1 lemon
75g (3 oz) dried ready to eat apricots, chopped
50g (2 oz) mixed dried fruit berries (blueberries, cranberries, golden sultanas)
25g (1 oz) glace cherries, chopped
2 large eggs
125g (4½ oz) caster sugar
100g (4 oz) butter, softened

You will need a 900g (2 lb) loaf tin, greased with a little butter and lined with baking parchment.

Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C/fan oven 150°C/325°F/gas mark 3. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy in appearance. Add one egg at a time and beat into the mixture until fully combined. Add the dried fruit and lemon zest and fold through the mixture. Mash the bananas and fold through the mixture. Sift the flour into the mixture in the bowl and carefully fold in. Place all the mixture into the prepared tin and gently level the top with a spatula. Bake for about 1 hour in the preheated oven, but check after 50 minutes to see if it is ready. The banana bread is ready when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out completely clean. Leave in the banana bread in the tin to cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before turning out to cool completely. When cold peel away the baking parchment. Keeps well stored in an airtight tin for up to 5 days.

Lastly, pour yourself a lovely hot cup of tea and cut a slice of fruity banana bread. Relax and enjoy the world go by whilst you take pleasure in your little slice of banana nirvana!