Quarantine Recipes: April Bloomfield’s Banana Bread

One thing that hasn’t changed during the COVID-19 pandemic is the need to eat. Staying home will likely encourage some to perfect their culinary skills while those less experienced cooks might attempt to crack open a cookbook for the first time.

To provide you with some kitchen inspiration, Modern Farmer is asking top chefs what they’ve been cooking while staying isolated. This week we heard from British chef April Bloomfield, of New York City’s The Breslin, who shared her recipe for banana bread.

Chef April Bloomfield. Photo by Melanie Dunea

Banana bread is perfect for using leftovers. Maybe you have a few different nuts you need to find a home for, or every so often like me you buy a bunch of bananas hoping to eat one a day and more likely than not forgetting. So, if you find yourself with some very old blackened bananas while in isolation, don’t beat yourself up that you didn’t get around to eating them; this recipe is perfect for older, riper bananas.

If you don’t have banana, try a different type of fruit like apple. Just grate, then squeeze the juice from the apple and substitute the weight of apple for banana, and bang you have apple bread! And, if you don’t have enough of one nut, put in a mixture of nuts.

I’ve also made this recipe and forgot to put in the baking soda and it turned out just as good, albeit slightly more dense, but just as moist and delicious!

Here’s what you’ll need:

2 x loaf pans
Buttered and floured
Cook at 350 for 40- 50 minutes 

In a bowl, sieve all the dry ingredients and set aside.

Slice one of the most firm bananas and set aside on a plate. Mush the rest of the bananas, but don’t go crazy as they will break down in the mixer!

In the bowl of your mixer, place the soft butter and sugar. Mix this mixture with a paddle until creamy. Every now and again, scrape down the sides with a spatula.  Once the butter and sugar has creamed, add an egg one at a time, making sure each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next. Once the mixture is smooth and fluffy, scrape down the bowl with a spatula add the buttermilk and vanilla extract. Blend on low and add the mushed bananas, flour mix and 3/4 of almonds.  Stop the machine once it looks combined. Divide the batter into the loaf pans and then divide the sliced bananas and almonds over the top of each batter. Place into a preheated oven for 40-50 minutes or when a cake tester comes out clean. Let it cool for 10 minutes on a rack then turn loaves out onto rack. Keep fresh in a bread box or your favorite cake tin.