Everybody loves a warm slice of banana bread, especially if it’s bursting with fruity flavour and charmingly dotted with a decent smatter of crunchy walnuts. While I believe such an item makes essential dessert fare at any respectable café, nothing quite beats a rustic, homemade little loaf of the stuff. Sweet, nutty and just a little bit zesty from the orange, this fragrant quickbread is soft, springy, moist and quite easy to make.
Simple, mindful touches like the quick dash of orange zest and the banana slices left on top to caramelise sets this delightful creation apart from its mass-produced cousins sitting in pretty rows encased in walls of glass at popular cafés and bakeries. The extra effort is quite worth the final product, and you’ll be happy to know that your favourite cup of coffee goes very well with it too.
We currently have an abundance of fresh oranges at home, courtesy of family friends who own an orange orchard up in the hinterland. Apart from this lovely loaf, we’ve also made some orange chocolate brownies just to use up some of the citrusy fruit. Recipe to come soon!
Banana, Orange & Walnut Bread
Ingredients:
2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup mashed banana
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/4 cup milk
to decorate:
1 banana, cut lengthwise
Preparation:
- Line a regular loaf tin with baking paper and preheat oven to 165°C.
- In a small bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Mix well, set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar together until fluffy.
- Continue to mix while gradually adding the beaten eggs to the butter mixture.
- Add the mashed banana, walnuts and orange zest, stirring well after each addition.
- Alternating between the milk and the flour, gently fold each ingredient into the butter mixture in 3 or 4 increments until just combined.
- Pour batter into prepared loaf tin and arrange the banana slices on top.
- Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and let stand in tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
ANGIE & JAMES DO STUFF 
Love mixing walnut and banana tast good . Also your pictures looks great:)
Amazingly presented – it looks incredible!
This looks delicious! I like the combination of walnuts with banana. Will try to make this–thanks for sharing!
your blog is stunning. i love your photos and have already bookmarked several recipes to try. cheers!
Thank you very much, Katie! I’ve recently come across your blog and I think your photography is quite stunning! :)
Yumm love it, looks delicious
This looks delicious Angie! So moist, dense and delicious. I had a look through your ingredients and you’ve used less banana than most banana bread recipes – only 1/3 cup (I’m used to whacking in at least 3-4 bananas, mashed!). Seems to have worked brilliantly though! Love the addition of the orange zest and the banana decoration. Mmm! xx
Indeed, that 1/3 cup really only makes up one medium-sized banana. Very little, for a full loaf. I suppose my intention was to make sure it wouldn’t drown out the subtle zing of the orange zest and the delicate flavour of the dark brown sugar. Thankfully, in the end, I think these two accompaniments may have amplified the taste of banana in a very surprising way.
Looks beautiful. Can’t wait to try your recipe :)
Loved how you topped the bread with an entire hunk of banana. Rustic indeed!
I wanted to bake it, but have a question about the recipe. In preparation you said to add milk, yet there is no milk in ingredients. Do you put milk in it? How much?
Oh dear, I completely forgot to include that measurement! Thank you so much for pointing it out! Yes, there’s milk in the recipe. 1/4 cup of it, which is not so much – it’s more to get a smooth batter to ensure even rising. If the batter already seems watery enough, you can do without the milk. If the batter seems too thick, add more.
Very nice!! I like the whole sliced banana placed on top of the bread before baking, that is azume. Never seen that before. The orange zest is nice as well. I have a Cranberry Orange Bread…and you place a whole small orange into the recipe, yes peel and all. No seeds included.
Haven’t posted it yet, but I will soon. Thanks for visiting my blog at Recipes for a Healthy You (www.splendidrecipes.wordpress.com). I have explored some of your blog and I think it is fabulous as well as the photography is delectable. It makes your food creations look very appealing to the sight and encourages your reader to want to try the recipe for themselves. Great job!!
I look forward to more from Angie and James Do Stuff.
Check out http://www.savorthefood.com were we post articles and infrmation about how food corrolates to a healthy you. :)
Regards,
Randy
http://www.savorthefoood.com