Last month I had the pleasure of being on Ainsley’s Fantastic Flavours on ITV and in one episode I shared a recipe for banana bread with rum Chantilly cream. I was surprised how many people asked for the recipe and although I’ve taken longer than I should have, it is finally here to share with you.
I’ll be honest, I am always a little bit surprised how much people love my banana bread because I feel as though everyone has had banana bread, in some shape or form; it surely can’t be that special anymore as all the novelty must have worn off. I served banana bread at Three Little Birds for five years before COVID and then there was the banana bread craze during lockdown that had everyone jumping on the trend. I have seen countless slices of dry looking banana bread in every coffeeshop and I feel like I have eaten enough of it for a lifetime and beyond.
Clearly all banana breads are not created equally and I think the reason my recipe is so good is because it has a combination of spices that remind me of Jamaica and of course I have squeezed in a touch of rum wherever possible. I know some people are funny about raisins so don’t worry you can leave these rum soaked gems out, as you will still get a kick from the Chantilly cream. Next time you are thinking about throwing away your over-ripe bananas, you know the ones where the skin has gone all black and you can feel that the fruit is soft inside? Don’t do it! Instead make banana bread or pop them in the freezer for later.
Even if you are not a baker, do not be discouraged from trying this zero stress recipe. The only thing I would say is please make sure you sift your flour and also take the time to cream your butter and sugar until smooth. The rest you can freestyle (sort of). There is something incredibly comforting about freshly baked banana bread so enjoy and do let me know how you get on!
Banana Bread with Rum Chantilly Cream
Equipment
- Oven
- whisk
Ingredients
- 285 grams plain flour
- 1 tbsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 110 grams unsalted butter room temperature
- 225 grams caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 4 bananas ripe
- 85 ml whole milk
- 1 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1.5 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 100 grams raisins
- 75 ml rum preferably spiced or dark
Rum Chantilly Cream
- 200 ml heavy cream
- 15 ml rum preferably spiced or dark
- 20 grams icing sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees (356 F)
- soak raising in 75ml of rum
- sift flour, baking soda and baking powder into a bowl with cinnamon and nutmeg
- Mix room temperature butter and sugar until creamy
- Add lemon juice or vinegar to milk, it will curdle
- Add milk, eggs, mashed bananas, salt, vanilla extract to butter and mix thoroughly
- Add banana mixture, with raisins and rum to flour mixture and fold until completely incorporated (wet to dry)
- Grease loaf tin with butter and add the batter (there should about 1.5 inch space between batter and top of tin as the banana bread will rise)
- Bake banana bread for 50 mins (test with a toothpick, you want a clean pick once cooked)
Rum Chantilly Cream
- Add heavy cream, sugar and rum to a bowl and whisk until peaks form (do not overwhip)
