ingredients
2-3 regular bananas or 6 small apple bananas
125g butter, melted
125g dark brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond essence
375g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
[optional: 50g dark chocolate]
[optional: 50g walnuts]
method
- Preheat fan oven to 175C.
- Mash bananas well, leaving no lumps, then mix in butter. Add ingredients in order, sieving in the flour and baking powder for a smooth consistency.
- If using, chop chocolate into rough chunks, and walnuts very roughly (you want pieces big enough to sink your teeth into). Fold in.
- Bake for 45-60 minutes, depending on your oven.
note
The last time I saw my abuela was in 2018. It had been a decade since we’d last spent time together, and she didn’t recognise me. I went to the supermarket in the tropical mountain town where she lived and picked up small, pink, apple-flavoured bananas; chocolate; flour. I opened the decades-old oven and evicted a family of cockroaches. Using a door to keep its broken cover closed, I managed to bake, from memory, a simple banana bread with chunks of dark Peruvian chocolate. She liked it, and I saw on her face a smile that was often hard to catch – the kind of smile that made her face look soft again, almost like a little girl. The smile that came when listening to old mariachi songs, or remembering a treasured memory.
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