Toasted banana bread with bacon and maple syrup

Make this banana bread before you leave to go camping. It keeps well if wrapped and makes a super breakfast when toasted. With or without bacon and maple syrup, it’s a staple in our house and also on most camping excursions.

SERVES FOUR INGREDIENTS

75g melted unsalted butter, or use sunflower or vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing the tin 5 medium sized and very ripe brown-freckled bananas, four well mashed and one kept whole 1 medium egg, beaten

75g caster sugar

2 tbsp maple syrup, plus extra to drizzle

180g plain flour, or use a mix of plain and wholemeal or spelt

1 tsp of baking soda

To serve

8 rashers of streaky unsmoked bacon Maple syrup

Oil, to cook the bacon

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas 4.

Grease a 10 x 20cm loaf tin with butter, or use oil.

In a mixing bowl add the melted butter or oil, mashed banana, egg, sugar and maple syrup. Mix well.

Add the flour, baking soda and a pinch of salt to the wet ingredients in the mixing bowl and stir thoroughly until combined.

Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin. Slice the remaining banana in half lengthways and arrange the two halves on top of the cake mixture to bake.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing from the tin. When completely cool, wrap well to transport.

For breakfast, heat a large frying pan and cook the bacon in a spot of oil until crisp. Remove from the pan and keep warm.

Wipe out the pan and return to the heat. Slice the banana bread thickly and add to the dry pan to toast lightly, flipping each slice to toast on both sides.

To serve, pile each slice with the bacon and drizzle with maple syrup.