Banana Bread with Rum Soaked Sultanas

Inspiration for recipes can come from anywhere and mine came from a rather large plastic bottle of rum from St. Lucia. It was brought back from the honeymoon of one of my work colleagues and is currently sitting on our work bar. No one had cracked into it and I thought that maybe it should be used. Inspiration then hit – the banana bread I make with sultanas soaked in bourbon could be soaked in rum. So after feeling like some sort of social degenerate for filling a plastic water bottle with rum I headed off home.

My banana bread is a favourite with most people and actually helped get me my current job. In my first interview we talked a lot about baking (mainly as I answered the question ‘What is your favourite kitchen implement?’ faster than any other interviewee) and I, in a moment of brazen bravery, said I’d bake them a cake if I got a second interview. It worked and I managed to quite surprise the Creative Director when I actually produced a cake. (The night before I’d been in two minds about whether to do it but as I was going for an Account Director role I thought that I couldn’t fail to meet expectations).  

Now this is adapted from Nigella’s recipe but I’ve messed with some things. The bananas I had this time weren’t as ripe as I like them but my normal go to £1 a bowl man only had nice bananas. He generally has a couple of bowls of over ripe bananas that he is only too glad to get off his hands. I have no idea what he thinks I do with them. Anyway this is a great loaf cake and only gets better after a couple of days if it last that long.

Ingredients

100g sultanas

75ml rum

175g plain flour

2 heaped teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon of bicarb of soda

½ teaspoon salt

125g melted butter (melt in a large saucepan as you’ll use it as your mixing bowl and save washing up)

50g white sugar

100g brown sugar (light or dark)

2 large eggs

Peeled, mashed bananas weighing about 350g (as ripe as you can get them)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1.    Pre heat the oven to 170°/GM3.

2.    Put the sultanas and rum in a small saucepan and heat until the rum boils. Turn off the heat and cover for about an hour. You want the sultanas to absorb the rum and plump up – yum.

3.    Put the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt in a bowl and mix well.

4.    Add the sugar to the melted butter and mix. It won’t blend completely but just so you’ve made a bit of an effort. Beat the eggs in and then the banana. Now I don’t mash the banana well but let my electric whisk do most of the work.

5.    Beat in the vanilla and add the flour mixture, half at a time, and mix well. Then mix in the drained sultanas.

6.    Put into a lined loaf tin and bake for about an hour. It might need a bit longer but test with a skewer after an hour. Then leave to cool but just to check it turned out ok, cut one end off and eat warm.