Very Nutty Banana Bread

This simple, yet so rich and luscious bread is based on the recipe for Sophie Dahl's Banana Bread. I could call it my banana bread as it combines all my favourite qualities a cake should have: it's moist, full of natural flavours and has 'something crunchy' - in this case my favourite nuts. Honestly, I cannot resist it and never finish with only one or two pieces. I love it with a mug of rooibos tea or a glass of warm milk. Bon apétit!

Very Nutty Banana Bread

4 very ripe bananas
100g (1/2 cup) brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
75g butter, softened (1/3bar or 2/3stick)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon rum extract
50g raisins
50g walnuts
50g cashew nuts
25g hazelnuts
25g almonds (can be whole or cut)
170g all purpose flour (1 1/3cup)
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Fits a rectangular loaf pan (30cm long, 11cm wide, 7cm deep).

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Cover the baking form with a baking paper. Mash the bananas with a fork or a hand blender/mixer. Add sugar, egg, butter, vanilla & rum extract. Chop the nuts and scald the raisins. If you want a stronger nut taste you can toast the nuts in the oven for 5 - 7 minutes (in 180°C). Add the nuts and raisins to the banana mix. In a seperate bowl mix the flour with baking soda and salt. Add the flour, mix only until everything is combined, the batter doesn't need to be perfectly smooth - don't overmix it though! Pour the batter into the baking pan and bake for 50 - 60minutes. (In my oven it was 50minutes). The batter is not rising in the begining, but it will later. Wait for 10minutes to cool down a bit and then enjoy! :)