Momma's Golden Banana Bread

[jjhunter]

Modified recipe from upstate NY, USA. Original recipe author listed as 'Mrs. Gary Brockway'; changes are my own mother's.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup shortening (e.g. butter)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 bananas mashed (the riper the better)
1-2 carrots, peeled and grated
handful of walnuts, grated
handful of raisins
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking power
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cup flour

Instructions:

Set the oven to pre-heat at 325°F and grease up & flour your bread tin. Peel and finely grate carrot; set aside. Ditto for the handful of walnuts. Cream together shortening and sugar until there is no loose sugar lurking, and then add in the bananas. (This is where ripeness makes a huge difference.) When all the major lumps have been vanquished, add in the eggs and mix well, and then shift gears and sift together all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Now take your well-mixed dry ingredients and add them to the wet, mixing just enough to get everything wet but not so much that you beat the life out of your baking soda & baking powder. Immediately add in the carrots and walnuts, and then the handful of raisins. Put in the oven to bake; time will take 50 - 70 min. depending on how efficient your oven is and how big your hand is (i.e. how much walnuts & raisins you add). Banana bread will be done when you can insert a knife in the middle and it comes out clean or with particulate rather than liquid moosh.

***For a dessert version, substitute diced dried apricots for all or most of the raisins, and it becomes apricot banana bread.***

Good with peanut butter, cream cheese, butter, and cheese of most any kind, or just plain. The carrot gives it its characteristic golden color that distinguishes it from ordinary grey banana bread.

ETA 9/15: for an even more dessert variation, combine this recipe with the topping + method from kaberett's excellent variation on upside down pineapple cake:

(same ingredients as above for batter)

Topping:

3.33 Tbsp butter
5 Tbsp dark brown sugar
1tsp cinnamon
splash of Cointreau/rum/whatever (optional)
1 tin of pineapple slices or chunks


Instructions:

Set oven pre-heating to 325°F and grease up & flour a 9 x 9 pan.

Place topping ingredients (except pineapple slices) in the pan and stick in the oven.

While that's heating, getting bubbly, etc, prepare the banana bread batter as in instructions above. Once the batter's ready, remove the tin/tray/whatever from the oven, mix the bubbling butter-sugar mixture to combine, and spread the pineapple slices out across the bottom. (You can drink the juice. If you are not that way inclined, you can add it to the other topping ingredients before the tray goes into the oven.) Then pour over the batter, spread out as you would normally, and bake for approximately 45 60+ minutes, until golden brown & set. (Knife can be inserted and removed cleanly or only pulling up particulate, not liquidy stuff.)

Comments

[twistedchick]

I'm curious to know more about the original recipe, since I grew up in western NY and the name seems familiar.

[jjhunter]

Original recipe is the same as above in the ingredients, except no walnuts or raisins and an extra banana instead of a carrot. Original instructions for executing the recipe are as follows:

Cream shortening, sugar, eggs, bananas and add dry ingredients. Bake 325° in greased, floured tins.
Time: 40 to 50 minutes.
Yield: 2 gift size loaves

'Gift size' is tiny.

[twistedchick]

I should have said I was interested in the source -- was it from a locally published cookbook from that area? There were a lot of local groups publishing cookbooks as fundraisers a while back.

And yes, the gift size would be tiny; it would be for courtesy-sized gifts at the holidays, or something similar. I have a set of those small pans.

[jjhunter]

Oh! Yes, it was a locally published cookbook. I photocopied the banana bread recipe page & took it with me when I moved.

[twistedchick]

And could I ask *which* cookbook? I'm asking because I think I know the recipe's author; I think she was the mother of one of my school friends, and if she's still alive she'd be delighted to know her recipe is still in use.

[jjhunter]

I can let you know tomorrow when I go to visit at my parents' house - I only have the photocopied page with me now.

And wow, if so, that's really neat -- the banana bread recipe has been such a staple of my childhood. (One year when I was small that's what I wanted for Christmas: my own private loaf of banana bread. My mother was much amused.)

[jjhunter]

Okay, I have it in front of me now:

"From Wine Country Kitchens"
compiled & edited by
THE WOMEN'S AUXILIARY
of the
IRA DAVENPORT MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
Bath, New York
1976

[twistedchick]

Okay, not who I thought it was, but probably the neighbor of one of my cousins. She'd be thrilled that her recipe is still being used.

[redsnake05]

I am always looking for good banana bread recipes. My current one is okay, but not spectacular (even when I added chopped brazil nuts). The carrots should make this even moister and hold together well, which is something I am particular about. I will definitely try it; thanks for posting!

[jjhunter]

Please do let us know how it goes, and don't be afraid to leave it in the oven for an extra ten minutes or so if need be to get it fully cooked.