Bake Along #40 - Banana Chocolate Cheese Bread

I love banana bread, even though I seldom, almost never bake it, I wonder why LOL
I am not sure why it's called bread when it doesn't use yeast, but to me quick bread is cake, generally with more dense texture :)

This recipe is from "The Williams-Sonoma Baking Book", a recipe chosen for Bake Along, hosted by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours, Lena from Frozen Wings and Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids

I thought of some ways to make it not so dense, since I don't really fancy any bakes with a dense texture
I didn't want to alter the ingredients used, so I decided to try to change the making process

I separated the egg yolks from the whites, and beat separately, a common process which believed can turn a cake to be more fluffy
And true enough, it turned out so great my whole family loved it to the bits
Of course it's not as soft as sponge cake, but it's slightly softer than butter cake!
It's so moist and soft, full of banana fragrance and it's really tasty with chocolate and cheese in it
As you know, my kids do not eat cake or bread with nuts, so I used chocolate and cheese instead, and no regret at all :)
Oh I also omitted ground nutmeg used, something that my kids (again) doesn't fancy, added cream of tartar, replaced buttermilk with plain yoghurt and halved the sugar used :)

What you need:

90g unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup and it's just nice for me)

280g very ripe bananas, mashed (I used 4 medium bananas)

3 large eggs, lightly beaten (I separated the yolks from the whites)

1/4 tsp cream of tartar (I added)

1/2 cup buttermilk (I used plain yoghurt)

2 cups plain flour (I weighed and it's 290g)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground nutmeg (I didn't use)

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup chopped walnuts / pecans / hazelnuts (I skipped)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I added)
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, cubed (I added)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and lightly flour two 20x10cm loaf pans
2. Beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add egg yolks and followed by banana, beat until smooth. Add yoghurt, beat just until combined
3. In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt.  Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and beat just until combined. Set aside
4. In another bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar til medium peak
5. Fold in egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture and add in chocolate chips and cheese cubes
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake until the top is dark golden brown and dry to the touch and the edges pull away from the pan sides, about 55-60 minutes (mine is 50 minutes). A cake tester inserted into the center should come out clean
7. Let the bread cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack and let cool completely. Cut into thick slices to serve

Storage tip : Wrap the bread tightly in plastic wrap

 

 

I am very satisfied with the result and definitely this is a recipe that I will consider baking again :)

 

 

 

 

Please view others baking using the same recipe below :)