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Recipe: Something Sweet In My Luggage – Banana Chocolate Loaf

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I shared a banana bread recipe with you a few years ago, which I hope you enjoyed. I encourage you to try it out too, if you have not already. I more recently began experimenting with a chocolate-banana combination, and this new version of deliciousness is what I’d like to share with you today. This banana chocolate loaf is not just an upgrade, but an entirely new recipe. As I’ve shared before, especially in this post, baking is a science, so please do go through the ingredients and method step by step when you prepare it, even if you are familiar with my earlier banana bread.

My first trial for this recipe didn’t include chocolate at all. The thought process behind it was that as I am not a fan of raw bananas, but appreciate the fruit’s amazing nutritional qualities, baking it into another cake was a fun way to incorporate it into my diet. After all, Indian meals often end with a banana, eaten for its digestive benefits, so why not end with a banana cake?

Keeping the health quotient in mind, as I have introduced chocolate into this cake, I have been mindful about its sugar quotient. I have chosen to use dark chocolate pellets, which are less sweet. I have also used brown sugar in a reduced quantity since the flavour of the banana already imparts the dish with natural sweetness. You may wish to substitute the same with jaggery powder, if you prefer. You will notice that this one also has a special ingredient, something that gives it a different zing from the earlier banana cake recipe.

I absolutely must have something to munch on along with my tea or coffee in the late afternoons, and this banana chocolate cake or my date cake (a favourite among re:store clients too) are what I find myself reaching out for often lately.

In fact, one of the best things about this banana chocolate loaf is that it packs and travels very well, which means I’ve gotten my fix of it even when I’ve not been at home. Recently, I made a trip with a dear childhood friend, and this treat was our companion for the first few days. Even though we were seeing each other after a long time, we picked up where we left off with ease. That’s how it usually is with childhood friends, isn’t it? You just catch up, and the happy memories from decades ago flood back afresh, and renew the bond quickly. The same thing happens with food, too. That’s why it is said that food is emotional: it helps one express and relive one’s memories, attachments and experiences.

I baked and carried this beautiful banana chocolate loaf with me on that holiday with my childhood friend. We travelled everywhere by train and by road, and enjoyed bites of this cake in the English countryside whenever we stopped to take in the scenery. Our afternoon tea in charming little villages had the requisite freshly-made traditional scones and clotted cream, of course, and I hope to master the recipe for that sometime. But my banana chocolate loaf was also present, loving parcelled and equally lovingly shared, and to me it was just as delicious as our authentic holiday treats.

Banana Chocolate Loaf

(Yield: 9 inch loaf)

 

175 grams maida

20 grams cocoa powder (unsweetened)

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

120 grams butter

1¼ cups very ripe bananas (mashed)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1⁄3 cup yoghurt and cream (mixed)

½ cup chocolate chips

¼ cup broken walnuts (for garnishing)

Preheat the oven at 160°-170° and grease and dust a 9-inch loaf pan.

In a bowl, sift the dry ingredients well. Set aside.

In another bowl, beat the butter and sugar well, scraping down sides and making sure they’re all mixed well. Now, add the eggs one by one and continue beating. Next, add the mashed bananas and vanilla extract and beat slightly.

Now, add the cream and yoghurt mixture and beat again. Next, add the dry ingredients as well as some of the walnuts and all the chocolate chips. Fold over lightly.

Pour the batter into the loaf tin and sprinkle the remaining walnuts on top.

Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Rest the loaf in the tin for 10-15 minutes. Then, upturn and remove from the tin. Allow to cool.

Your banana chocolate loaf is now ready to be sliced and served. I do hope you’ll enjoy this recipe, and that you’ll make some special memories with it just like my friend and I did on our travels recently. Whenever I share cake recipes, it’s so that more people can enjoy the pleasure of baking, and I encourage you to try them out for yourself. But if you would rather have me whisk a cake up for you, I’m always happy to do so too. Just drop me a line!

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Recipes

Recipe: Loaf of Love – Birthday Banana Bread

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June is my birthday month, which means one word, and a very special one for re:store at that: CAKE! As I mentioned in an earlier post, my mother once attended a baking course at a catering institute in Chennai when my siblings and I were still in school. For an entire month, she’d bring home the most delectable samples. We couldn’t wait to get home and eat them! The smells and memories of that adventurous time when she started making all these new desserts for us are still with me, and a huge part of the inspiration behind re:store. During that course was when my mother had started to maintain a cherished notebook of baking recipes, which was gifted to me eventually. One of those recipes is what I’ve pulled out for you today – banana bread.

Growing up, I was not a great fan of the extremely nutritious banana, so this was a great way to make sure I ate it. Bananas have been proven to dramatically reduce the risk of heart disease, thanks to being packed with potassium. They improve the digestive system and are said to be beneficial for everything from asthma to weight loss. They are carb-rich, so they boost energy quickly. They are also naturally sweet, which means any dessert you put them in requires less sugar.

Lately I’ve been nostalgic about my growing years and it led me to dig out some old photos from back then. Here are two: an old studio portrait of my mother, who as you know inspires most of my work, and a shot of me from my teenage years by my dear friend Rags Raghavan, who has taught me a great deal about using the camera. Looking at the portrait of my mother, I feel grateful for how re:store has grown from my imagination into what it is today. My mother was in her 20s when it was taken and was about to be married. She went on to become my first, most important culinary mentor, and still is to this day. I remember days spent after school helping with chores in the kitchen; back then I didn’t realize the values I imbibed would be such an important part of me and my journey with re:store. Many of my cooking methods are identical to those of my mother’s kitchen. Grow your herbs yourself, never waste a morsel, always feed and care for staff, and a bunch of other values and tips. Even today, I pester my mother for traditional Gujarati recipes on my weekly visits, and she happily obliges.

Nowadays, I take so many photos digitally, carefully styling and selecting the best ones. Back then, we had manual cameras, with film rolls that had to be brought from abroad. You couldn’t edit those pictures, and you could not take so many either. My first film camera was a gift from my father-in-law, and my kids and family were my first subjects. I still have a soft spot for the old photography methods. They feel authentic to me in a way that I still try to replicate somehow in my modern shoots.

More than being commercially successful, what matters to me is that I am passionate about what I do. I enjoy styling my shoots so much. I am proud to say I work with pleasure!

Food and photography are two sides of re:store, and two big parts of my heart. So without further ado, here’s my birthday gift to you…

 

Birthday Banana Bread

(Yield: 1 loaf)

Ingredients

150 grams unsalted butter

200 grams sugar

3 eggs

110 ml buttermilk

3 bananas

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

350 grams flour

100 grams walnuts

 

Prepare a 10′ loaf tin, by buttering and dusting with flour.

Beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after every addition. Once the eggs have been blended well, add the bananas and buttermilk.

Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Fold into the batter. Now add half the broken walnuts as well.

Using a spatula, blend the batter well once more, then spoon it all into the loaf tin.

Take the remaining finely chopped walnuts and sprinkle on top to decorate.

Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until a skewer comes out clean when inserted.

Allow to cool and remove from tin. Slice and serve with a hot beverage of your preference.

I’ve chosen to share this banana bread recipe with you because while it’s a cake, it’s also one of the healthier desserts you can have. If, like me, you have an eye on your fitness, you certainly won’t feel like you’ve cheated on your diet plan. If you’re a fan of banana and looking for something slightly more decadent, try the deep-fried deliciousness of my banana-methi fritters!

I always think of the recipes on this blog as a gift for those who live far away from my kitchen – if you can’t treat yourself to one of my homemade cakes, you can at least try to make it yourself!

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