Super fruity banana bread

It's officially getting colder, darker and wetter, and I for one am feeling the autumnal blues. What better way to remedy this than by cooking (and eating) a massive loaf of banana bread? This recipe includes lots of yummy cherries, raisins and walnuts too, so it feels even healthier.

My recipe book says you should serve it buttered, but I find that idea a bit weird. Personally I enjoy a big slab of it with a cup of tea.

Super fruity banana bread - recipe from Katie Stewart's Times Cookery Book

Ingredients:
225g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp salt
100g butter
175g castor sugar
100g sultanas or raisins
25g chopped walnuts
100g glacé cherries
2 large eggs
450g ripe bananas

Method:

1. Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing basin. Add the butter, cut into pieces, and rub into the dry ingredients, until the mixture is crumbly and the fat evenly distributed.

Nice and crumbly

2. Add the sugar, sultanas or raisins, the walnuts and the glacé cherries, which have been rinsed under warm water to remove the outer sugar coating, then patted dry and cut in half. Mix together and hollow out the centre of the ingredients.

Fruit + nuts

3. Crack the eggs into the hollow, peel and mash the bananas with a fork and add to the eggs. Using a wooden spoon, beat all the ingredients thoroughly to a soft consistency - no extra liquid will be required.

It tastes nicer than it looks, I promise!

4. Line a buttered, 23x15x5cm loaf tin with a strip of greaseproof paper cut to cover the base and opposite ends. Pour in the mixture and spread evenly. Bake at 180°C for 1 ½ hours.

This tastes even better if you leave it for a few days in an airtight container. Let me know what you think!

Alice