CHOCOLATE CHIP BANANA LOAF CAKE

These days I sometimes feel like a little ghost, even though I’m not gone just yet; and I’ve been filling time with things I don’t mind, like Icelandic coffee, and English shoes, and Scottish pop bands, and Japanese cameras, for Irish adventures. I plan to add my art galleries too, especially those ones that stock American-style banana bread; but just in case all the above gets too expensive (plus Russia. Alaska. Disneyland. Outer space) and I really can’t spare that two pounds fifty for a slice: bakers gonna bake. Chocolate chip banana cake.

CHOCOLATE CHIP BANANA LOAF CAKE

60ml (1/4 cup) soya milk

1 teaspoon cider vinegar

200g (1 ½ cups) plain flour

60g (1/2 cup) wholemeal flour

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

100g (1/2 cup) turbinado sugar

50g (1/4 cup) unrefined granulated sugar

110g (1/2 cup) margarine

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 medium over-ripe bananas, pureed

100g (1/2 cup) dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 175°C/350°F and lightly grease or line with parchment paper a 20x10cm/8x4in loaf cake tin. Mix soya milk and cider vinegar in a small bowl and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. In the meantime sift together flour, bicarbonate of soda, spices and salt. In a separate bowl, cream margarine and sugar until light and fluffy then add bananas, vanilla extract and the milk mixture. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just combined; lastly fold in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into the prepared tin and bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in the tin for about 5 minutes then invert onto a rack to cool completely.    

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