HG Cooks
St. Lucia Banana Bread
Recipe by Everyday Gourmet
Of all the things you can make with the world's best-selling fruit, banana bread is a perennial favourite. It's not only a means of avoiding food waste (store your over-ripe bananas in the freezer if you're not ready to use them); banana bread is an easy-to-reach achievement with insanely tasty results. This recipe was discovered at St. Lucia's East Winds Inn by HG Co-Founder Martha Grace McKimm's late mother. A winter resident on the island and regular at this peaceful beachfront resort, Margo McKimm persuaded owner and chef Marguerite Eggar to share her recipe, which eventually made it into her cookbook Everyday Gourmet. What makes it unique is the use of Demarara sugar, whose crystals result in a slightly nuttier flavour than regular brown sugar. This recipe is easy to make, even easier to eat, and as they say in the island's local Patois, is very bon gou (aka, delicious).
Ingredients
2 eggs
1 cup Demerara sugar (regular brown sugar can be substituted if needed)
3 large over-ripe bananas, mashed (frozen bananas also work well in this recipe)
½ cup vegetable oil
1 cup flour
1 tbsp baking soda
Dash of salt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Whisk the eggs and sugar together until well mixed.
Add the mashed bananas and the oil and mix well.
Mix the flour, soda and salt together, add to the banana mixture and stir well together.
Pour into an 8-inch square buttered cake pan or 3 mini loaf pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Do not overcook as it is meant to be very moist.
Tip: Though it's delicious on its own, a pad of good-quality butter or peanut butter takes the flavour of this loaf to another level.