Banana Apple Bread

I've always wanted to combine the two most favourite fruits our family like to include in baking - apples and bananas. The experimentations over the years were not very successful at all. Most of the recipes were from the internet and they range from the really soggy ones (too much bananas) to the dry ones (not enough moisture) and the too sweet ones.

This one fits the bill, although I have to adapt and reduce or increase some of the ingredients, but generally it's quite good and not overly sweet which I guess is why it's called a 'bread'. That's one of my dilemna, do I call it a bread or a cake? For me, it can be classified as a cake but then it's not very sweet so a bread then? Whatever it is, teatime or coffee time would be better with this addition.

Thanks to Kelly in Just A Taste for the great recipe I adapted.


Banana Apple Bread

260 g  [2 cups] plain flour plus 1 Tbsp extra
1 tsp  bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1/2 tsp  fine salt
1 tsp  ground cinnamon
95 g  [6 Tbsp] unsalted butter - melted
150 g  [3/4 cup] granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp  vanilla extract
1/4 cup  buttermilk
1 cup  mashed overripe bananas (about 2-3 bananas)
1 large baking apple - diced small (about 1 1/4 cups)
2-3 Tbsp  demerara sugar or granulated sugar for sprinkling

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/350°F. Line a 9x5-inch loaf pan with baking parchment.
2. Combine flour, cinammon, salt, and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl.
3. Sprinkle 1 Tbsp flour on the diced apples and toss to coat. Set aside.
4. In another bowl, mix sugar with melted butter.
5. Add eggs one at a time and beat each time.
6. Add bananas and vanilla, stir to mix.
7. Fold dry mixture to the wet mixture alternately with the buttermilk.
8. Then fold in the apple.
9. Pour into the prepared loaf pan.
10. [Optional] Sprinkle top generously with demerara sugar.
11. Bake for 55 minutes or until a skewer pierced in the middle comes out clean.

Sour Cream and Vanilla Bread

This is more like a cake than a bread to be honest. But it's very very nice especially when straight out of the oven and slathered with butter. This is adapted from the Betty Crocker website and is obviously for a bread machine. You will have convert when doing it manually such as activating the yeast first, then putting them all together in a bowl. Then proving twice and finally baking. Right now I don't have the time nor the energy to do it that way. So to the bread machine I will stick!


Sour Cream and Vanilla Bread

1 sachet [2 tsp] fast action dry yeast
3 cups  bread or strong flour
3 Tbsp  sugar
1 1/2 tsp  fine salt
1 Tbsp  vanilla extract
1 egg  - slightly beaten
1/3 cup  sour cream
1 Tbsp  butter - softened
1/2 cup  water

1. Put all ingredients in a bread machine in the order given (or according to your bread machine's instructions).
2. Select White/Basic bread cycle. Do not use delay timings. After baking, remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.