21 Aug An Alphabet for August, Demerara & Mascarpone Banana Bread
An Alphabet for August (& crunchy demerara mascarpone banana bread)
A is for Ant
B is for Banana Bread
C is for Cauliflower
Most mornings in August I find myself hoovering up ants. It is peak insect season here in Sardinia and, as the Tiny Saint likes to leave a trail of crumbs in his wake, it is only a matter of minutes before a minute colony find their way across the floor, ferrying their finds back and forth in admirably organised fashion. Lorenzo wants to spray them with insecticide, I prefer hoovering them up and hoping they, Houdini-like, find their way out of the Hoover bag to safety (preferably outside). I feel much like my friend Luigi (the bee keeper) about ants; happy to cohabit. Ants, he says, like bees, are sociable animals. He says this looking fondly at the rapidly multiplying colony currently flowing across his living room floor. I am unsure if he means this in an entomological sense, or a personal one. I suspect both. Ants are the most companiable of insects. They are always so busy.
For us humans, however, August is a sleepy and sticky month. Sluggish, in keeping with the fat, lime-green, jelly slug now stuck permanently to the sitting room ceiling (a relic from our Cornish holiday, thrown there and never retrieved). The tomatoes plants are laden, I have plans for jarring which are yet to materialise. I must make something with all the figs. Ferragosto came and went in a haze, we had a big picnic with friends, there were more figs and fresh focaccia. I made this banana bread for the kids. Whilst inevitably snubbed by the Saint, his companions were bewitched, banana bread being an entirely new phenomenon to them.
We are learning the alphabet, in English and Italian, and adding words to our ever-growing vocabulary. The Saint has fallen in love with the word Cauliflower. He says it so wonderfully, such stress on the l’s. Collly-flower! He beams. It is a good word. I want to paint him a collie dog holding a flower for his wall, so that he can remember the first English word he fell for. Perhaps peculiarly, he has also fallen for ‘oops a daisy!’ He cries it to himself, before throwing his little bronzed body onto a pile of pillows, giggling uncontrollably. He also loves saying Butter-fly – another satisfying word. I am sure it is no coincidence that this word contains one of his favourite things.
But about the banana bread. I have made many banana breads in my time, some better than others. I have made classic ones that are designed to be slathered with butter. I have made them with sourdough (pointless), with rye (good, wholesome), with chocolate (unnecessary) and nuts (disturbing). This is different. This is good enough to stand alone, and is definitely more of a cake than a bread. It is also the best thing I have ever made with banana in it.
As my grandmother knew well, everything is better with a crunchy demerara topping. The mascarpone – like cakes with sour cream in (which is more or less the same thing) makes the crumb so tender it is almost custardy. The demerara gives just the faintest toffee backnote, and the smell of it baking is like what a cakeshop in storybooks should smell like. In fact, eating the raw mix off the spoon (the sign of a good cake is how good the raw batter is and how difficult not to eat by the spoonful) it is like eating the most delicious, silky banana custard you can imagine. A perfect tender crumb, perfect banana-eriness, perfect sweetness. This is my best banana bread yet. As at home in Italy as in England, and hopefully a constant kitchen companion to you too. Happy ants, happy cake, happy cauliflower, happy August.
Makes 1 large loaf
215g demerara sugar (use 200g in the batter, 15g or a tablespoon sprinkled on top)
225g plain flour (I use 00 but plain is fine)
125g unsalted butter
125g mascarpone
1 scant tsp sea salt
1 tsp vanilla essence/extract
4 very ripe, medium bananas (3 and a half for the cake and one half to decorate the top)
2 eggs
2 tbsp whole milk
1 tsp baking powder
Grease and line a large loaf tin and preheat the oven to 170.
Cream the butter and sugar with the salt until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat again, scraping down the sides of the mixer, until the mixture is light and fluffy once more. Add the flour and baking powder. Mash the 3 ½ bananas (cut the last banana in half lengthways to get a long half to decorate the top) with the milk and mascarpone in a bowl. Add the vanilla. Add this mashed banana mix to the rest of the batter and mix until combined.
Decant the dough into the prepared tin, place the halved banana on top (cut side up), then sprinkle over the remaining demerara.
Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and a half, until a skewer comes out clean.
A thought, you could easily use sour cream or crème fraiche instead of mascarpone, and also full fat yoghurt would be good too.
