Written By Catherine Parrott

In this recipe, alongside using Banana we’ve also used yoghurt to help recreate the moist texture potentially lost when not using added fat, the yoghurt also adds a lovely sourness that marries well with the sometimes overly sweet overripe banana. Roasting the bananas intensifies the flavour but also means that it doesn’t matter how ripe they are when you want to use them.

P.S this is the healthiest bake you’ll see me do. I won’t tread these waters again when it comes to limiting fat. I’m not sure I enjoyed the lack of guilt eating and serving these up? I may be lying, let’s see what happens in the future sections.

RECIPE:

FOR THE BANANA BREAD

  • 240g RIPE BANANAS (about 3)

  • 1 MEDIUM EGG

  • 165g LIGHT BROWN SUGAR (Marries VERY well with the rich sweetness of Banana. Just a future tip in your own recipe development journey)

  • 5g VANILLA EXTRACT

  • 200g SELF-RAISING FLOUR

  • 1tsp BAKING POWDER

  • 150g GREEK YOGHURT (Any fat content will do, your choice!)

  • 40g MILK (Any milk also works here too. Oat milk for example will slot in well with the nutty pecan flavours)

  • 50g CHOPPED PECANS, toasted

  • 15g COCOA POWDER (optional, for the marbling affair we’re going to create)

FOR THE EXPRESS GANACHE

  • 240g SOUR CREAM

  • 200g DARK CHOCOLATE (70% Cocoa solids minimum please and thank you)

BEFORE YOU START…

  • Preheat your oven to 160c (Fan Oven 170c- 180c for other, less powerful ovens)

  • Grease and line a square 20cm deep baking tin.

METHODS:

FOR THE BANANA BREAD…

(If your bananas are not ripe) On a baking tray, keeping the skins on, bake your bananas at 150c for 15 minutes or until the skins are black and the bananas are soft when squeezed. Allow to cool down.

Mix the eggs, sugar, and vanilla until combined thickened and lighter in colour THIS IS A DENSE RECIPE. WHISKING AT THIS STAGE GIVES US THE TEXTURAL LIFT WE VERY MUCH NEED. WHY AM I SHOUTING.

Mix the yoghurt and milk together and fold into the egg mixture, sieve the dry ingredients and fold through until everything is evenly mixed.

Mash up the cooked and cooled banana, finish by adding along with the chopped pecans. Pour into your baking tin, level the top and bake for 25-30 minutes OR…

Take half of your banana bread mixture and mix in the cocoa powder until you have a smooth batter. Marble this with the plain banana bread mix and then bake for 20-25 minutes.

FOR THE EXPRESS GANACHE…

Melt the chocolate in a bowl (either in a Bain Maire or a careful microwave job) add the sour cream mix swiftly until smooth. Top the cooked and cooled banana bread with the ganache immediately (EXPRESSLY?) and leave to set.

TO FINISH: Once the ganache has set slice up and serve (this recipe also freezes and defrosts very well- hurrah!)

Catherine Parrott
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