Banana Bread


		Banana bread has been one of my favourites, from the time I was a child living in Trinidad. My mother used to have a recipe, which she had acquired from the Trinidad Hilton, but she never shared it with me. This recipe started off from a standard one in a Reader's Digest cook book (a present from my mother-in-law), but over time has been modified. This recipe can be altered to suit a variety of dietary requirements, including gluten, diary and nut intolerances. By the way, I don't do metric measurements!!!
		INGREDIENTS to make 2 x 1 lb loaves 4 oz butter 5 oz brown sugar 2 eggs, beaten 3 large, overripe bananas, mashed 10 oz plain flour 1 tbsp baking powder 1 tbsp cinnamon 1 tsp nutmeg 4 oz walnuts 6 oz sultanas SUBSTITUTIONS: Flour - substitute with 4 oz oatmeal, 4 oz coconut and 2 oz rice flour. It is possible to leave out the coconut, but it makes for a very dry, crumbly loaf. Butter - substitute with soya or sunflower spread Nuts - double the quantity of dried fruit	METHOD Line two 1 lb loaf tins with greaseproof paper. Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth. Add in the eggs, beating for a further minute or so. Don't worry if the mix looks a bit like quicksand at this point. Add in the mashed bananas, and beat for a further minute or so. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and spices. Add half of the flour mix into the banana bowl and mix well. Add the rest of the flour. Add the walnuts and sultanas. Note this is quite a 'wet' mixture. The fruit and nut serve to dry the loaf out. Turn the mix into the prepared tins. Bake at 150°C (sorry, don't know the conversions), until an inserted skewer comes out clean, generally about 40 minutes, but could be less. Leave to cool in the tins and turn out. These loaves can be frozen. Don't forget to recycle the greaseproof paper.