Bookish Recipe: Banana Bread

Welcome to Bookish Recipes, a feature on the blog where I cook or bake a recipe from a book I have loved and share the result with you. This week's recipe is inspired by the book Wickham Hall by Cathy Bramley. A real tale of friendship, love and family, Wickham Hall is a heart-warming novel that you cannot miss.

At the end of the book Cathy has included some fantastic recipes related to the story and when I saw the Banana Bread recipe I couldn't resist. I have to admit first that I hate bananas. So I had never been brave enough to try banana bread. But everyone assured me that it was delicious even if you didn't like bananas. So here's my first experience with banana bread:

1) Preheat oven to 170º C and line the base and sides of a loaf tin (20cm x 12cm) with baking paper.

2) Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one by one, and then mix the self-raising flour and walnuts. I'm not a bit fan of walnuts so I leave them out.

3) Peel the bananas and mass them. Fold them and the dark chocolate chunks into the mixture, with care. Don't overmix.

4) Scoop the batter into the tin and bake for about one hour and ten minutes. It should be golden on top and when you insert a skewer it should come clean by then. But if not, don't be afraid to leave it a bit more (I left it at least 8 minutes more covered with foil to prevent it from burning)

5) Enjoy with tea!

So, the banana bread was a real success. You could taste a bit of the banana (I actually don't mind how they taste, what annoys me is the texture) and with the chocolate it was delicious. Then someone on twitter recommended to try it warm and with Nutella. Best advice ever. I'm sure I'll be making it again soon!

About the book

Title: Wickham Hall

Author: Cathy Bramley
Published: January 14th 2016 by Corgi
Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: Wickham Hall was originally published as a four-part serial. This is the complete story in one package.

Holly Swift has just landed the job of her dreams: events co-ordinator at Wickham Hall, the beautiful manor home that sits proudly at the heart of the village where she grew up. Not only does she get to organise for a living and work in stunning surroundings, but it will also put a bit of distance between Holly and her problems at home.

As Holly falls in love with the busy world of Wickham Hall - from family weddings to summer festivals, firework displays and Christmas grottos - she also finds a place in her heart for her friendly (if unusual) colleagues.

But life isn’t as easily organised as an event at Wickham Hall (and even those have their complications…). Can Holly learn to let go and live in the moment? After all, that’s when the magic happens…

Read my review