Banana Bread with Dulce de Leche, Estancia Style
At Estancia Los Potreros we try hard to keep food waste to a minimum. Fresh fruit is a staple on the breakfast table, but there's always a banana or two left a little too long in the fruit bowl, slowly turning brown.
Luckily, the best banana bread is made with ripe bananas. So instead of being thrown away, they get whipped up into a delicious banana bread to enjoy on the veranda at afternoon tea.
What is so joyful is how versatile bananas are. Sometimes the loaf is baked simply, flavoured with sweet banana and vanilla and topped with fresh fruit. Sometimes it's mixed with dark chocolate chips. But the best marriage of flavours is banana bread with dulce de leche.
Why Ripe Bananas Make the Best Banana Bread
The browner the banana, the better the bread. As bananas ripen, their starch turns to sugar, so they become sweeter, softer and much easier to mash. They also bring plenty of moisture, which keeps the loaf soft for days. Speckled or even mostly black skins are perfect. If your bananas ripen faster than you can bake, freeze them whole and thaw them for the next batch.
Dulce de Leche, Argentina's Favourite Sweet Treat
Dulce de leche is made by slowly heating milk and sugar until it thickens into a rich, golden caramel. In Argentina it's everywhere, spread on toast at breakfast, sandwiched between alfajores and spooned over pancakes. Swirled through banana bread, it melts into soft, sticky pockets of caramel that go beautifully with the banana. You can read more in our post on the legend behind dulce de leche.
Our Banana Bread with Dulce de Leche Recipe
Ingredients:
140g butter, softened
140g caster sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
140g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
80g dulce de leche
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a 2lb (900g) loaf tin with baking parchment.
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
Fold in the flour, baking powder and bananas.
Spoon the mixture into the tin and dot the dulce de leche over the top. Swirl it with the end of a spoon to create a marble effect.
Bake for 50 minutes, or until a wooden skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool before serving.
Our Tips for Baking the Perfect Banana Bread
Once the flour goes in, mix only until combined, or the loaf can turn heavy.
If the top browns before the middle is cooked, cover it loosely with foil for the last 10-15 minutes.
For a change, fold in a handful of dark chocolate chips or chopped walnuts.
It keeps for up to three days in an airtight tin, or slice it and freeze it for later.
However you bake it, it's best enjoyed with a cup of tea on the veranda.