Glazed Banana Bread ~ A sweet, gently warming cinnamon and ginger spiced banana quick-bread with colourful glaze.
I am pretty much hooked on banana bread which is something I never thought I would say!
All my life up until last year’s MENA Cooking Club challenge Djibouti Banana Fritters I’d disliked Banana flavoured anything, especially Banoffee Pie. I liked banana and toffee but not together, there was something synthetic about Banoffee pie that had stuck with me from those bad experiences of shop-bought and I just had no care for trying anything banana flavoured, OK I lie banana milk / milkshake I totally got on board with but it was never my go-to choice before now.
I got over my banana aversion some more by baking banana-oat muffins and now this, which in my eyes is the best of the best banana-baked-good-ever. OK so that might be going a little overboard, for now it’s the best and so easy to make using the all-in-one method.
Someone tell me banana bread scent has been bottled? This loaf filled the kitchen with a beautiful aroma whilst baking and enough to bake it for that alone but it tastes just as good as it smells.
Besides banana in the banana bread there are those warming spices; cinnamon and ginger. Both are subtly in the background, enhancing the sweet bananas. I pinched the spices from Your Sunny Side Up Banana Bread and adapted non other than a Mary Berry recipe.
You’d think I’d stop here as the banana bread looks glossy enough and it definitely tastes GOOD but alas, It got more glossy…
with a colourful glaze that resembles custard! Come to think of it, freshly baked banana bread still warm from the oven, sliced and covered in custard would make for a proper pudding. Ideal now that the weather is turning colder and a great alternative to a glaze, why didn’t I think of this sooner?!
I used Marigold Yellow – Natural Colour Extract to colour the glaze and it’s made from, you guessed it marigold petals! it also contains green tea extract and I was assured by the India-based gourmet cooking brand their range of natural colour extracts (paprika orange, spinach green and marigold yellow) do NOT contain alcohol.
To compensate for the sweet glaze I reduced the sugar a little in the bread itself, not daring to take too much away because we all know sugar does more than just sweeten our cakes / quick-breads right?
I couldn’t resist sprinkling cinnamon over the top of the glaze, only wish I’d done it sooner so that it would have more resembled the skin of a banana, but you get where I was going with this.
I used white plain flour for this bake however, I am always interested in making bakes more healthy without sacrificing taste or texture and I would love to know if any of you try the recipe (before I do) using part or fully whole-wheat flour or even gluten-free flour.
Banana Bread is ideal with your everyday afternoon tea and dare I say, it’s glazed variation is fitting for even a special occasion.
Do you know someone who is bananas about bananas / banana bread? Share this recipe with them today.
Ingredients
- 2 ripe bananas (peeled weight approximately 200g)
- 150 grams plain flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoon milk
- 100 grams unsalted butter, softened
- 125 grams golden caster sugar
- 2 free-range eggs, room temperature
- 65 grams icing sugar, sieved
- 3 teaspoons milk
- small drop vanilla extract (halal)
- 3 drops natural yellow food colouring
- ground cinnamon, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven 160C/325F/Gas 3. Grease and line a 900g/2lb loaf tin with non-stick baking parchment.
- In a small bowl mix flour, cinnamon, ginger, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, set aside.
- In a separate large bowl,use a fork to mash the peeled bananas. Add the remaining cake ingredients including the flour mixture and beat with an electric hand whisk until combined and smooth 1-2 minutes.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin. Level the top. Bake for 1 hour or until well risen, shrinking away from the sides of the tin and golden-brown.
- Set aside to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.
- In a medium bowl mix all the glaze ingredients together until smooth and even colour. Spoon glaze on top of the cooled quick-bread and spread evenly with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle with cinnamon and allow icing to set before cutting.
