It is difficult to choose a topic for your first post. I really wish I could tell you the story about why I chose this particular recipe to share with you, to write some interesting facts about the origin and the preparation of banana bread or to tell you when I have tasted it for the first time (no, it was not in the Caribbean in the company of Johnny Depp dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow, and it was certainly not while I was sweetly sipping coconut milk or amber rum from a bottle dug out of a secret hideout in the sand dunes). The truth is that I tried banana bread for the first time when I prepared it myself after I found the recipe in an old children’s book, and I liked it so much that I’m looking for an excuse to make it ever since. My co-workers were looking at me with questioning hungry eyes, so I decided to release myself from liability by posting the recipe for banana bread here.

Hmmm, maybe it’s time to stop for a moment as you don’t know anything about me! My name is Alex but for the purpose of this blog I’ll be Lexy. Harry, surprisingly, is my sister but why she’s using this name shall remain a secret for the moment. I’m (obviously) a blogger, a-bit-geeky-for-a-girl-gamer, food-and-wine-and-more-food-and-more-wine-lover, passionate traveller, daydreamer, and mostly a hopeless and incurable romantic and believer.

English is not my mother language so I beg your pardon, please be understanding of my current and future spelling and grammar mistakes. I moved to London about 2 years ago so I decided it’s about time to translate our blog into a more sensible language so that people can read it and try out our recipes (and other projects, adventures, thoughts and everything else we have blogged about). If you would like to know more about us, go to um…, well, our About us page, and I will go back to my banana bread which is more like a banana cake so I don’t know why it’s called bread.

This was actually the first post I “published” back in 2013 so the pictures are a bit old and I know they’re not great but I promise you – the taste of this banana cake is! Although it contains a lot of ingredients at first sight, it’s actually very easy to prepare…

Ingredients:

• 225 g flour
• 115 g butter
• 2 large, ripe bananas
• 85 g caster sugar
• 85 g brown (demerara) sugar
• 85 g raisins (white and black)
• 85 g crushed walnuts
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp milk
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Pinch of salt

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C degrees. Line the cake tin with baking paper/parchment or brush it with butter.
2. Cut the butter in cubes into a large bowl, add the two types of sugar and stir well with a wooden spoon until well mixed.
3. In a cup, whisk the egg and milk and add them to the butter mixture.
4. Sieve in the flour, salt, baking soda and nutmeg, then add the raisins and the walnuts and mix.

5. Blend the bananas and vanilla, then add them to the cake batter and mix well.
6. Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for about 50 minutes.

7. To check if the Banana bread is done, insert a cake tester (or a simple wooden skewer or a toothpick) into the centre of the cake. It should come out clean, with no streaks of batter. Allow it to cool for 5 minutes while still in the tin, then remove from the tray and place on a grid to cool down completely.

The banana bread is supposed to be served with tea, but I think it suits a cup of coffee quite nicely as well or even a Pina Colada, and it is great for both breakfast in the morning or afternoon dessert.