<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Got some overripe bananas hanging around in your fruit bowl? Don’t throw them away: they’re perfect to use in your baking recipes – specifically, to make banana bread. The ever-popular cake is an easy one to whizz up using mashed bananas, alongside classic baking ingredients like butter, sugar and eggs. But there are some expert tips and tricks that will make your bake superior, as highlighted here by Gordon Ramsay.
The superchef’s banana bread recipe has soared in popularity since being shared on TikTok by the @gordonramsayacademy, a cookery school near London – racking up over 18k views and sparking others on the platform to recreate it at home. So what’s the secret?
‘This easy banana bread recipe is the perfect way to use up overripe bananas. It’s soft, moist and utterly delicious,’ he says. ‘To add flavour and crunch, we used dark chocolate chips and pecan nuts in the mixture.’
How Ripe Is Too Ripe?
Banana bread recipes work best with overripe bananas – that means plenty of brown spots and a soft texture. That’s because overripe bananas are easier to mash into a batter, and give the banana bread its moist texture and sweet flavour. Naturally, this is within reason: if your bananas have gone black inside, or have a fermented odour, it’s time for the bin.
@gordonramsayacademy EPIC BANANA BREAD! Want the full recipe? Head to our website! #bananabread #bananarecipe #bananarecipes #bakingrecipe #cookingclass #gordonramsay #gordonramsayacademy #cookingclasses #cakerecipe #cakerecipes #cake ♬ Stolen Dance (Instrumental) – Milky Chance
Recipe: Gordon Ramsay’s Banana Bread
Ingredients:
- 140g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
- 75g caster sugar
- 75g light brown sugar, plus 1 tsp for topping
- 2 eggs
- 140g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of sea salt
- 75g pecan nuts, roughly chopped
- 75g dark chocolate chips
- 3 very ripe bananas, 2 mashed and 1 for topping
- 1-2 tbsp maple syrup, to glaze
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/Gas 4. Grease and line a 900g loaf tin with baking paper.
- Using an electric whisk, beat together the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition – if the mixture splits or curdles at all, just beat in a spoonful of the flour.
- Fold in the flour, baking powder and salt, then gently mix through the pecans, chocolate chips and mashed bananas.
- Pour into the prepared tin and smooth the top. Slice the remaining banana in half lengthways and gently press into the top of the mixture.
- Sprinkle the additional 1 tsp brown sugar over the top and bake for 50 minutes or until the loaf is golden brown and springy when pressed – a skewer inserted in the middle should come out clean, although it is a moist cake and there may be gooey lumps of chocolate or banana!
- Brush the maple syrup all over the top of the hot loaf then allow to cool in the tin for 10-20 minutes.
- Carefully turn the loaf out onto a wire rack to cool completely before cutting into slices. Enjoy!
Recipe by Gordon Ramsay
