Banana Bread with Naughty Chocolate Chunks

 Normally I'm an advocate of cupcakes, however last weekend I decided to try my hand at a loaf cake, a cake form which I've always found to be notoriously dry and therefore, a cake form I was determined to make moist (gah, I hate that word, but there's none better) and one which didn't need to be accompanied by a litre of water, just to make it manageable.

Upon the commencement of this bake up, I poured myself a glass of wine - relatively straight forward protocol for a Friday evening baking session - which led to me deciding to use up a 300g bar of Dairy Milk in my loaf, you know…just to make things more interesting.

I substituted out a few ingredients I found in online recipes, because I was pretty convinced things like light brown sugar would work far better than caster sugar and I was far more generous with the bananas than most recipes tell you to be.

I enjoyed mine with a steaming hot, sugary cup of Graze's Afternoon Infusion, which is ultimately a strong cup of earl grey, which was just perfect. Let me know how you enjoy yours!

Recipe

Ingredients:

• 270g soft light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 4 large bananas
• 280g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 140g unsalted butter, melted
• 300g Dairy Milk (or a chocolate of your choosing.)

Method (as we know, I like to keep it simple.)

• You will need a 23x13cm loaf tin which you will need to grease, there's no need to line it with greaseproof paper and then you will need to heat your oven (based on a fan assisted one) to 170 degrees.
• Then mix together all the ingredients listed above, aside from the peeled bananas and optional (well, optionalish, I can't force you but I can apply light pressure and that light pressure tells you it's a good idea to do so) Dairy Milk/other such milk chocolate. These ingredients will seem quite thick, but the addition of the banana adds just the right amount of fluidity. 
• Once you have beaten all these ingredients together, simply pop chunks of your banana into the mixture and beat in, until relatively smooth - if you have the occasional bit left in there, don't worry, these add to the fun once cooked!
• Finally, drop in those wondrous chocolatey cubes and mix well, before pouring into your pre-prepared tin and popping in the oven for approximately 45 minutes, or until firm. Just ensure that the mixture is cooked all the way through using a skewer or knife. If it comes out entirely clean then you're good to take the loaf out and allow to cool.

Once completely cool, brew yourself the perfect cup of your favourite tea, put on those dodgy slippers you own but never show to anyone, find your favourite spot and just sit and take time to enjoy.