Banana bread

Method

This recipe came by way of my friend, André Saraiva, who had an elegant Parisian-style spot, Café Henrie, in New York. Sadly, it is now closed, but I cooked their final dinner, which was a real celebration. The two guys cooking in the kitchen gave me their original recipe for banana bread, which I have modified a bit, although it was pretty delicious to start with. You can serve it on its own, simply sliced, or as a base for a more extravagant sweet treat or a dulce de leche. For the banana bread 1 Preheat oven to 175°C. 2 Mash six bananas by hand. Mix them with all the wet ingredients and then combine the mixture with the sugar and coconut flakes until well blended. 3 Fold in flour, baking soda, and salt. 4 Grease a loaf mould or tin and cover the bottom with flaxseeds. 5 Pour in the dough, halve the extra banana lengthwise, and put the two halves on top, curved side up. 6 Bake for about 1 hour. Check with a toothpick to see if the bread is cooked in the middle. No batter should stick, and the colour of the bread should be golden brown. 7 Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool in the tin. 8 We like to serve it in slices topped with dulce de leche and some lemon thyme leaves. For the dulce de leche 9 Remove the paper from the can of condensed milk. Put the can in a pot and cover it with water. 10 Bring the water to a steady simmer and let the condensed milk cook for 4.5 hours. 11 Remove the can and put it in the fridge to cool down for a few hours. 12 Open the can, spoon out the caramelised contents, and whisk to achieve the smooth and even texture of our dulce de leche.