Banana bread is a classic loaf that is very easy to make and is always a delight to taste. A soft, moist and tasty cake, the flavour is sure to be a hit with everyone. And even though the mixing process is very easy, which you can do on your own, ask an adult to bake the cake for you as the oven is going to be very hot.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3-4 ripe bananas
• 1/3 cup oil
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, (you can use regular castor sugar too)
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons rasins
• 2 tablespoons chocolate chips

Method

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Centigrade.

In a bowl, add the egg and oil. Whisk. Add brown sugar, whisk well. I didn’t grind the brown sugar as it was soft and crumbly to touch so it easily dissolved.

Mash bananas and add to the egg mixture. Whisk again.

Now add vanilla essence.

Add baking powder and baking soda into the flour. Stir with a spoon to blend them.

Keep a sieve on top of the mixing bowl containing the egg mixture and add flour gradually while shaking the sieve slightly so that the flour flows through. In baking we need to sieve the flours separately in a bowl before adding, but I did it this way as it is easier.

Now fold the batter with a wooden spoon or plastic spatula until there are no lumps. Add the raisins, fold some more.

Oil a bread pan and sprinkle some flour on it, not more than two teaspoons. You can use a baking paper instead if you have it at home. Now pour the batter into the pan. Keeping the pan straight, knock it a bit on a hard surface to take out the air bubbles. Garnish with chocolate chips (banana bread don’t have chocolate chips but I like chocolates in everything so I added it) and bake in a preheated oven for almost an hour or until a knife inserted inside comes out clean. Remove from oven and leave it in the pan for 10 minutes to cool before taking out.

To store, you can keep it in an air-tight container for two to three days.

Published in Dawn, Young World, March 24th, 2018