Banana Bread with Dulce de Leche

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:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a 2lb (900g) loaf tin with baking parchment.

2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix until combined.

3. Fold in the flour, baking powder and bananas.

4. 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.

5. 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.

Cappuccino Cake: Perfect for Afternoon Tea on the Verandah

Cappuccino Cake for Afternoon Tea on the Verandah

Few things pair better with a quiet afternoon on the verandah than a slice of cappuccino cake and a freshly brewed cup of coffee. Light, moist, and infused with rich coffee flavour, this cake is simple enough for everyday baking yet special enough to share with friends.

Afternoon Tea on the Verandah at Los Potreros

Afternoon tea is one of the quiet pleasures of estancia life. A pot of tea or freshly brewed coffee comes out onto the verandah with something just baked in our kitchen, from banana bread with dulce de leche to this cappuccino cake. Everything is made from scratch, and it's the perfect moment to sit back, swap stories from the morning and look out over the Sierras Chicas.

For the Cake

• 200g unsalted butter, softened

• 200g caster sugar

• 4 eggs

• 200g self-raising flour

• 2 tbsp instant espresso powder

• 2 tbsp hot water

• 2 tbsp milk

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the Cappuccino Frosting

• 125g unsalted butter, softened

• 250g icing sugar

• 1 tbsp instant espresso powder

• 1 tbsp hot water

• 1-2 tbsp milk

To Finish

• Cocoa powder for dusting, or chopped chocolate

• Coffee beans to decorate (optional)

Make the Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C and grease and line two 20cm round cake tins.

2. Dissolve the espresso powder in the hot water and allow it to cool slightly.

3. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.

4. Beat in the eggs one at a time.

5. Fold in the flour, then add the coffee mixture, milk, and vanilla.

6. Divide the batter between the tins and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

7. Cool completely before frosting.

Make the Cappuccino Frosting

1. Dissolve the espresso powder in the hot water.

2. Beat the butter until smooth.

3. Gradually add the icing sugar.

4. Mix in the coffee and enough milk to create a light, spreadable frosting.

Spread frosting between the cake layers and over the top. Dust lightly with cocoa powder and decorate with coffee beans if desired.

Our Tips for a Light and Moist Cappuccino Cake

• Use butter and eggs at room temperature, so they cream together smoothly.

• Add the eggs one at a time. If the mixture starts to curdle, add a spoonful of the flour.

• Let the sponges cool completely before frosting, or the frosting will melt and slide off.

• The cake keeps for up to three days in a tin somewhere cool.

The gentle coffee flavour and soft crumb make this cake ideal for long conversations, sunny afternoons, and those moments when there's nowhere else you'd rather be than sitting on the verandah with a warm drink in hand.

Taste Argentina with Traditional Alfajores Marplatenses

Not quite a cake and not quite a biscuit, the alfajor is a sandwich cookie and one of Argentina's best-loved sweets - and the perfect excuse for a generous layer of dulce de leche.

A Little History of Argentina's Favourite Sweet

Alfajores have Arab roots and arrived in Argentina with the Spanish. Over the centuries they've been reinvented across the country, and almost every province now has its own version. Fillings and coatings range from dulce de leche and jam to meringue, coconut, icing sugar, chocolate and even mousse.

What Makes an Alfajor Marplatense Different

Alfajores Marplatenses come from Mar del Plata, on the Buenos Aires coast, and they're the version most Argentines picture when they hear the word. A soft cocoa biscuit is sandwiched with dulce de leche and then dipped in chocolate or dusted with icing sugar.

Ingredients for Our Alfajores Marplatenses

• 340g self-raising flour

• 160g cornflour

• 60g cocoa powder

• 150g butter

• 150g caster sugar

• 2 eggs

• A splash of milk

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• A jar of dulce de leche

How to Make Alfajores Marplatenses at Home

1. Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla together.

2. Add the eggs and mix well with a fork, then add the milk.

3. Add the dry ingredients in two stages, with a little more flour if needed, until it comes together like pastry. If it feels dry, add another splash of milk.

4. Chill the dough for at least half an hour.

5. Roll it out and cut it into circles.

6. Bake at 180°C for about 10 minutes, until the biscuits are firm but still soft when pressed.

7. Leave them to cool, then sandwich pairs together with dulce de leche. Finish by dipping in chocolate ganache or dusting with icing sugar.

A thick dulce de leche, sold as "repostero" in Argentina, holds its shape best between the biscuits.

Tea Time on the Veranda at Los Potreros

At the estancia, alfajores often appear at afternoon tea on the veranda after a long ride, alongside a pot of tea and whatever cake the kitchen has made that day. They rarely last long.

Merienda on the Estancia: Victoria Sponge

Merienda on the Estancia: Victoria Sponge with Fruit from the Loza Orchard

Afternoon tea first became popular in Argentina during the 19th century, brought over, it's thought, by British immigrants who settled in the country in search of new opportunities. Buenos Aires at the time was a melting pot of cultures, and as the British ritual of afternoon tea mixed with strong Italian and Spanish influences already shaping daily life, it slowly transformed into something distinctly Argentine: the ‘merienda.’

Today, merienda remains one of the most cherished rituals of Argentine life, and here on the estancia it's no different. Every afternoon, just before we saddle up for a ride through the Sierras Chicas, we gather for merienda together - a pause between the work of the day and the golden hours of riding still ahead. Our chefs take it in turns to spoil us with something sweet: warm biscuits fresh from the oven, delicate pastries, or, on the best afternoons, a cake still warm enough to melt the buttercream.

One of our favourite summer choices is a simple Victoria sponge, topped with whatever fruit is ripest that week in the orchard at Loza, plums in early summer, peaches as the season deepens, sometimes a handful of berries if the birds haven't beaten us to them. There's something wonderfully unfussy about a Victoria sponge: two soft layers of vanilla-scented cake, a good jam, and a cloud of buttercream in between. It travels well too, so if the ride runs long, there's usually a slice waiting when we get back.

If you'd like to bring a little estancia life to your own afternoon tea, here's how we make ours.

Ingredients

For the sponge

• 200g caster sugar

• 200g softened butter

• 4 eggs, beaten

• 200g self-raising flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 2 tbsp milk

For the filling

• 100g butter, softened

• 140g icing sugar, sifted

• Vanilla extract

• Strawberry jam

Method

Heat your oven to 190ºC/370ºF. Butter two 20cm sandwich tins and line the bases with non-stick baking paper, this makes turning the sponges out afterwards far less stressful than it sounds.

In a large bowl, beat the caster sugar, softened butter, beaten eggs, self-raising flour, baking powder and milk together until you have a smooth, soft batter with no lumps of butter left hiding at the bottom.

Divide the mixture evenly between the two tins and smooth the surface with a spatula or the back of a spoon, so both sponges rise level.

Bake for about 20 minutes, until golden on top and the cake springs back gently when pressed in the centre. Every oven runs a little differently, so keep an eye on it during the last five minutes.

Turn the sponges out onto a wire rack and leave them to cool completely before filling, a warm sponge will melt your buttercream into a puddle, however tempting it is to rush.

While the sponges cool, make the filling: beat the softened butter until smooth and creamy, then gradually beat in the sifted icing sugar along with a drop of vanilla extract, until light and fluffy.

To assemble, spread the buttercream generously over the flat side of one sponge, then top it with strawberry jam or a thin layer of sliced fresh fruit from the orchard. Sandwich the second sponge on top, flat side down, and dust the whole cake lightly with icing sugar before serving.

The cake will keep in an airtight container for up to two days, though on the estancia it rarely lasts that long. Serve it in thick slices alongside a pot of tea or mate, and you'll have everything you need for a proper Argentine ‘merienda of your own.

Pan Dulce: A Sweet Argentine Bread Tradition

One of our favourite sweet breads is pan dulce, the perfect accompaniment to some Argentine cheese and a treat often baked during our evenings in the kitchen. There's something wonderfully simple about the ritual of baking bread in the evenings on the estancia - the smell of it filling the kitchen, the kettle going for mate, and everyone gathering round to see how it's turned out.

Typically, we use dark muscovado sugar, a cane sugar containing molasses - the reason behind its dark colour and texture, which resembles wet sand. Muscovado sugar brings a deep, almost caramel-like richness to the bread that white or light brown sugar simply can't match, and it's part of what gives pan dulce its distinctive character.

A Bread Rooted in Tradition

Sweet breads like this one have long been part of Argentine baking traditions, often appearing at teatime, alongside a cheese board, or as a treat to share after a long day out on the land. While pan dulce is perhaps best known in its more elaborate, fruit-and-nut-studded holiday form, this simpler everyday version is just as beloved in kitchens across the country, and it's the one we return to again and again at Los Potreros.

Dried fruit, almonds, and hazelnuts give the bread texture and bursts of natural sweetness throughout, while a cup of mate cocido tea worked into the dough adds a subtle, earthy depth that ties the whole thing back to one of Argentina's most iconic traditions. It's a lovely example of how everyday Argentine cooking borrows from the country's broader culinary heritage.

Pan Dulce Recipe

Ingredients:

• 500g self-raising flour

• 1 egg

• 25g butter

• 1 cup mate cocido tea

• 75g dark muscovado sugar

• 150g dried fruit

• 75g almonds

• 75g hazelnuts

Method:

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together, except the flour.

2. Add the butter and egg, and mix thoroughly with your hands.

3. Gradually add the flour and tea to form a dough - it's ready once it no longer sticks to your hands.

4. Once the dough is ready, shape it and place it on a baking tray lightly sprinkled with flour to prevent sticking during cooking.

5. Bake at 180ºC/355ºF until a skewer comes out clean, usually around 20 minutes.

Serving Suggestions

This rustic Argentine sweet bread makes a lovely addition to any tea table or evening spread. We love serving it warm, sliced thickly, alongside a good local cheese and a cup of mate, though it's equally delicious on its own the next morning with a little butter.

Like so many recipes passed down in the kitchen here, this one has been adapted and tweaked over the years by whoever happens to be baking that evening - a little more fruit here, a touch more sugar there - and that's really the spirit of it. Pan dulce isn't meant to be exact. It's meant to be shared.

The Legend Behind Argentina's Dulce de Leche

Eaten with almost everything in Argentina, dulce de leche is spread on toast, used to fill facturas, decorate flans, or simply eaten straight from the jar. It's one of the true icons of Argentine cuisine, and its origin story is just as sweet as the spread itself.

A Culinary Accident in 1829

As the local legend tells it, the birth of dulce de leche can be traced back to a culinary accident that occurred in 1829, during a turbulent period of Argentine history.

With the hope of ending a period of civil war in Argentina, the leaders of opposing political and military forces, Juan Manuel de Rosas and Juan Lavalle, decided to call a truce. Rosas invited Lavalle to sign the Cañuelas Pact at his headquarters on a large ranch called La Caledonia. Lavalle arrived at the ranch tired from the journey and decided to rest a while before meeting with Rosas - taking his siesta in the very tent where Rosas normally slept.

Meanwhile, one of Rosas' servants was busy preparing the "lechada" - hot milk with sugar - traditionally drunk as an accompaniment to mate during that period. When the servant went to bring some mate to Rosas, she found Lavalle asleep in Rosas' tent and panicked. Unaware of the planned meeting between the two leaders, she alerted the troops to the presence of the "enemy," leaving the lechada unattended on the stove amid the chaos.

When she finally returned, she discovered that the contents of the pot had transformed into a thick, gooey spread - what we know today as dulce de leche.

A happy accident born out of conflict and truce, this beloved Argentine staple has gone on to become one of the country's most cherished culinary traditions, enjoyed in kitchens and cafés across Argentina to this day.