Banana loaf cake, aka banana bread, is our standard way to deal with too-ripe-to-eat brown bananas here at FFF towers. I have an ancient recipe scribbled in my notebook in blue crayon which is the easiest, most delicious banana cake ever – although I’ve no idea where it first came from. All I know is, it works, brilliantly, every time.
So, when three bananas started to be more brown than yellow, I knew what I had to do. I also knew that as fresh strawberries are now at the peak of the season, and hence cheap as chips, we had a HUGE punnet of them in the fridge. What better way to make the banana loaf cake into a seasonal summer treat than by incorporating some of these luscious red berries?
I tweaked my tried-and-trusted banana cake recipe a little, to better let the fruit flavours shine through, and added fresh strawberries to some of the mixture so I could marble the batter. Finally, I topped the cake with halved strawberries, which provide both a beautiful decoration and an intense pop of concentrated berry flavour.
The end result looked absolutely gorgeous and tasted wonderful too! Kipper was delighted to have a slice as her afternoon snack, and I persuaded myself that it must count towards her 5-a-day… right?
I’m also happy to confirm that this strawberry and banana loaf cake is lovely with a cuppa for elevenses, delicious for afternoon tea, and works particularly well with or without a scoop of ice-cream as an easy dessert.
The fresh fruit makes this cake wonderfully moist, but does mean that it will only keep for a day or two and is best eaten straight away. I doubt this will be a problem.
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Fresh strawberry & banana loaf cake
A moist, fruity, summery cake packed with fresh berries and bananas.
Ingredients
- 2-3 very ripe bananas, peeled
- 100 g golden caster sugar (1/2 cup)
- 225 g self-raising flour (2 cups)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 egg
- 110 ml sunflower oil (1/2 cup)
- 200 g strawberries (approx. 1 cup)
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 170C (340F).
Line a 22x13cm (2lb) loaf tin with greaseproof paper.
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In the food processor, blend the peeled bananas and the sugar to give a smooth mixture.
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Add the flour, baking powder, egg and oil, and process to a batter.
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Transfer about 2/3 of the mixture to a separate bowl.
Hull the strawberries, and reserve about 50g (4-5 berries) for the top. Roughly chop the rest and add to the batter in the food processor. Pulse until combined.
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Spread half the 'plain' batter into the prepared tin. Pour and spread the 'strawberry' batter over, then top with the rest of the plain batter. Run a knife or a skewer through the batter a few times to swirl the two together.
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Halve the reserved strawberries and arrange in a line on the top of the loaf. Press gently down.
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Bake the cake at 170C (340F) for around 45 minutes, until risen, golden, and a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the tin and allow to cool on a wire rack.
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Once cold, peel away the greaseproof paper and serve!
If you’d rather make a healthier banana loaf cake without any added sugar, try my banana bread with streusel topping – refined sugar free!
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Love the combination of strawberries and bananas, would not have thought of this but really like the idea!
Thanks Kavey. I think I was subconsciously influenced by a banana-strawberry ice-cream we used to get as kids. I only remembered it after I’d baked the cake…
Banana bread is absolutely the best way to use up browning bananas! I haven’t tried a strawberry version before, it sounds delicious 🙂
Thanks Hannah! It is delicious 🙂
I’ve put a lot of different flavours in banana bread but never tried strawberries. It looks really pretty.
Thanks Janice. Banana bread is a bit of a blank canvas, isn’t it? I usually add dried fruit or nuts or chocolate chips, but I thought that strawberries would add a lovely summery twist – and they did!