The banana bread and the commute (making it sweeter)

Banana bread

I get up early, really early. It starts with a 05. on the alarm clock. This never boosts morale on waking. It is just about the only time I’m not hungry and the thought of eating churns my stomach over pretty good. Sometimes, just sometimes I’ll manage to eat something before I go to work. If I do, it is normally a few slices of this banana bread wrapped in tinfoil that the lovely boyfriend has sneaked into my packed lunch as a treat. I’ll eat it on the train during my 30 mile commute.

I’ve got a love/hate relationship with my commute. I hate it because it is 3 hours of my life everyday, expensive and often involves getting rained on. One of my many skills is being able to step off the train at the exact moment that the rain comes on. Skilled. On the other hand I love it because there are few commutes that travel along miles of beautiful Scottish coastline, cross an iconic bridge and feature wild deer, herons and seals.

Sometimes it is achingly beautiful like when the beach was covered in the lightest icing sugar dusting of snow. Some mornings the sea is so calm and translucent that it has that tropical vibe. Tropical; an adjective rarely used to describe Fife. I like it best on those heavy skied days where the colours look like a Lucien Freud painting.

Regardless of whether my commute is a love it or hate it day, it is always made a little bit better with banana bread. Moist, not too sweet but nothing remotely like bread.

Banana bread 

Banana bread – adapted from ‘the humming bird bakery cookbook’

You will need to grease and flour a loaf tin

Oven preset to 170 degrees

270g light mucovado sugar

2 eggs

250-350g of ripe bananas, peeled and mashed

280g plain flour

1tsp baking powder

1tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1tsp ground ginger

140g melted unsalted butter

Cream the sugar and eggs together with an electric whisk until smooth.

Add the mashed bananas to this mixture.

Sift in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and ground ginger into mixture.

Stir with a wooden spoon until all the ingredients have been incorporated.

Add the melted butter to this mixture and stir until mixed.

Pour into the loaf tin and pop in the oven for an hour.

A skewer put into the middle of the cake should come out clean.

Leave for a few minutes and then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Enjoy.