I challenge you to find anyone in this world who does not like banana bread. I’ve heard of people not liking bananas, but banana bread? Everyone likes that. And there are so many variations: chocolate chip, orange, oat, honey, spiced, coconut…and now: berry banana bread.
Berries make wonderful additions to cakes and muffins. There’s something very visually appealing about a swollen, burst berry in the centre of a cake, where the juices have bled out into the batter and created pretty purple patterns throughout the crumb. They also bring a natural sweetness to baked goods that is far superior to any artificial sweetener. When you combine that with moist mashed banana…well, you’ve got yourself a pretty amazing cake.
I made this berry banana bread for the first time a few months ago, and over the course of the summer it quickly became my go-to cake recipe. It’s so easy to throw together: you literally just dump all the ingredients in a bowl and give it a good stir. Because there’s so much fruit in the mix, the batter is quite wet and it will take a while to cook (mine took about an hour). But rest assured, it is well worth the wait.
Don’t miss this recipe for Gluten Free Spiced Banana Bread!
The only downside to this cake is that there’s never enough of it. It’s so moorish that I find myself continually going back for another slice, and before I know it, the whole thing is gone. Not great for the waistline but hey, it’s okay to treat yo’ self every once in a while, right?
This week’s music recommendation is as follows: open your preferred music streaming service (I’m usually a Spotify person but I’ve recently started using Apple Music as well), search out the most 80s playlist you can find, and groove to your heart’s delight. I’m talking George Michael, Madonna, The Bangles, Rick Astley, The Piña Colada Song (which is technically from 1979 but close enough)…go all out. Trust me, it’ll do wonders for your productivity.
The music from this era is a natural mood booster. Combine it with a slice (or three) of this amazing berry banana bread, and happiness is all but guaranteed. You can thank me later, guys.
What’s your favourite 80s song? Let me know in the comments below!
Happy baking!
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup gluten-free self raising flour
- 3/4 cup almond meal
- 1/2 cup caster sugar
- 1 cup mashed banana
- 1 cup mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries or blackberries)
- 1 egg, beaten
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup grapeseed or neutral vegetable oil
Method
- Preheat oven to 160ºC. Grease and line a loaf tin.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, almond meal, and caster sugar. Add berries and toss to combine.
- Stir in banana, milk, egg, and oil, and mix thoroughly until well combined.
- Pour into loaf tin, and tap the base of the tin on the counter to get rid of any air bubbles. Sprinkle flavoured sugar over the top of the batter.
- Bake in the centre of the oven for 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in tin for 10 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Serve with fresh berries or cream.
Notes
Keeping time: this cake will keep for 4 days in an airtight container.
