Banana and Chocolate Bread ~ Update on Ollie

I baked another fabulous recipe from Rachel Allen’s new book Bake (yep another Bake recipe but I love this book and no point in buying books if you’re not going to use them, right?). In our home bananas are eaten within a few days of me buying them or left to go ripe and like I’ve said before I hate food going to waste. And any excuse to bake is also another plus for me and my boys. I love baking banana breads and trying out new recipes, you can never try enough! This moist bread, packed with ripe bananas and chocolate chips has the additional ingredient of orange zest which adds a decadent touch to this delicious bread. My boys love banana bread at any time of the day but it’s great for breakfast with a glass of milk when time isn’t on your side.

Banana and Chocolate Bread

Serves 10-12

Ingredients
250g (9oz) self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder
150g (5oz) caster sugar
100g (3 ½ oz) butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
475g (17oz) whole bananas (about 4 small ones), peeled
75g (3oz) dark chocolate chips

13 x 23cm (5x9in) loaf tin

Preheat the oven to 170oC (325oF), Gas mark 3. Lightly butter and line the loaf tin with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a large bowl. Add the sugar and butter and, using your fingertips, rub it in until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Whisk the eggs, vanilla extract and orange zest in another bowl. Add the bananas and mash very well with a potato masher. Add the chocolate chips.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the banana mixture. Gently but thoroughly bring all the ingredients together with a wooden spoon, then pour into the prepared loaf tin. Smooth the top and bake in the oven for 1-1 ¼ hours or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing the cake from the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Ollie is getting on great and is such a happy kitten, he has adjusted very quickly and we’ve had a lot of progress with at least one of our cats, Madison, his no longer hissing at him and they are friends!!! This morning I walked into our conservatory to find Madison and Ollie both together in a box they have which they love to play and sleep in and it made me teary but in a happy and good way as I knew this was the moment that told me that they are buddies now. Coco our other cat, she is not being easy on Ollie and is hissing and growling but at least she can be in the same room as him now and not hiding upstairs in my son’s loft bedroom as she was in the first few days. So hopefully we will get there but I’m very proud of my Madison, I knew he wouldn’t let me down and it’s so great to see him with Ollie.


The captured moment of Ollie in the box with Madison ;o)