Spiced chai banana bread,
This gently warming banana bread flavoured with black tea and spices (to mimic masala chai) is a wonderful spin on a classic. It contains less fat than usual, replacing most of the oil with greek yogurt, yet still has that classic banana bread texture. The key to a fully flavoured banana bread is using the darkest, spottiest bananas possible. You can speed up the ripening process by storing your bananas in a paper bag.
1 HOUR 15 MINUTES | SERVES 8-10 | EASY
olive oil 50ml, plus extra for the tin
ground cinnamon 2 tsp
ground ginger 2 tsp
ground nutmeg º tsp
ground cardamom º tsp
black pepper a few grinds
black tea bags 2
plain flour 225g
baking powder 2 tsp
crystallised ginger 50g
bananas 250g very ripe (weighed without skins)
greek yogurt 150g
soft light brown sugar 175g
eggs 2 large
vanilla bean paste 1 tsp
DECORATION (OPTIONAL)
milk chocolate 75g, melted
banana chips 50g
crystallised ginger 25g
1 Lightly oil a 900g loaf pan and line with baking paper. Put the oil into a small pan over a medium heat. Once hot, add the spices and tea leaves (removed from the tea bags) and cook for 1 minute to bloom the spices. Remove and set aside.
2 Whisk together the flour, baking powder and 1/2 tsp of salt in a medium bowl. Add the diced ginger and toss to combine. In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork then whisk in the yogurt, sugar, eggs, vanilla and oil mixture, whisking until smooth. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and use a spatula to mix until just combined.
3 Pour the batter into the tin and gently level out. Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool until just-warm in the tin, then lift out and onto a plate.
4 To decorate, if you like, drizzle over the melted chocolate and top with the banana chips and crystallised ginger.
PER SERVING 277 kcals | fat 8.1G saturates 2.2G | carbs 45G | sugars 26.8G fibre 1.8G | protein 5.2G | salt 0.6G Recipe by: Edd Kimber was the first Great British
Bake Off winner and the author of four baking books (his latest, One Tin Bakes, is out now). Find more of his recipes on Omagazine.com and follow him on Instagram @theboywhobakes.