Who: Lottie Huckle, Digital Content Producer
What I made: Chocolate and Banana Loaf from The Primrose Bakery Book
What I thought: I always seem to have stray, browning bananas in my house. Banana bread, really, is an inevitability. I’m always on the hunt for a recipe that makes a banana loaf feel special, and not just a way to use up those old forgotten bananas. It’s hard to pick up The Primrose Bakery Book and not want to bake something from it, so when I stumbled across this recipe for Chocolate and Banana Loaf I knew I had to give it a go.
From the book
The Primrose Bakery Book
Inspirational, easy to follow recipes
Sweet treats for every occasion
Stunning cakes and bakes
The recipe and method is straight forward and simple – exactly what a good banana loaf recipe should be. The whole thing was in the oven within 15 minutes and my house was soon filled with the scent of baking, which is perhaps the best smell ever. I found that I had to cook the loaf for longer than instructed, but I just covered the cake with foil so it didn’t catch and baked for a further 10 minutes.
My verdict? A delicious, dense loaf that is impressive enough to wheel out for guests, but easy enough to make for breakfast too. I used big chunks of dark chocolate and their rich bitterness was the perfect balance to the ripe, sweet bananas. We, somewhat surprisingly, didn’t finish the whole loaf over a weekend so I sliced up the rest and froze it for a rainy day. It kept beautifully and I simply heated up the slices in a low oven for 5-10 minutes. I’m thinking about making a couple of loaves to have on standby for those afternoons when nothing but cake will do. I’d thoroughly recommend.
If you want to make The Primrose Bakery Book‘s Chocolate Banana Loaf yourself, you can find the recipe here. Or check out more recipes from the book, including Cookies and Cream Cupcakes and Strawberry Cake.
