Using oil in this recipe helps make a delicious, very moist banana loaf. Whipped cream adds moisture, a wonderful flavor, and an incredibly soft texture.
Ingredients
- 5.2 ounces pecans - 1½ cups, 149 g
- 1 tablespoon butter - 0.5 ounce/14 g
- ¾ teaspoon salt - divided, 4.5 g
- Nonstick cooking spray with flour
- 7.7 ounces bleached all-purpose flour - 1¾ cups spooned and leveled, 218 g
- 1 teaspoon baking powder - 5 g
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda - 1 g
- 10.5 ounces sugar - 1½ cups 298 g
- ½ cup canola oil - 118 ml
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract - 5 ml
- 2 large eggs - 3.5 oz/99 g
- ½ cup buttermilk - 118 ml
- 15.8 ounces mashed very ripe bananas - about 5 medium, 2 cups, 448 g
- ½ cup heavy cream - 118 ml
Instructions
Prepare the nuts
- Arrange a shelf in the lower third of the oven, place a baking stone on it, and preheat the oven to 350ºF/177ºC.
- Spread the nuts out on a baking sheet, place in the oven on the stone, and roast for 10 minutes.
- While nuts are hot, stir in the butter and 1/4 teaspoon salt.
- When cool, coarsely chop and set aside.
Prepare the oven and the pan
- Turn oven up to 375ºF/191ºC.
- Spray an 8 x 4½ x 2½-inch (20 x 11 x 6-cm) loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray with flour and line it with an 8-inch (20-cm) piece of parchment paper that hangs over each long side by about 1 inch (2.5 cm). (I very lightly spray the top of the parchment, too.)
Prepare the batter
- In a large bowl, with a mixer on medium speed, beat together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, the remaining ½ teaspoon (3 g) salt, and the sugar for at least 30 seconds.
- In a medium bowl, with a fork, stir together the oil, vanilla, eggs, and buttermilk just to blend. Stir in the bananas to blend.
- Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the banana mixture into the well. Stir to blend well.
Whip and incorporate the cream and nuts
- In a cold bowl with cold beaters, whip the cream until soft peaks form when the beater is lifted. Beat just a little beyond this soft peak stage.
- Stir about one-quarter of the whipped cream into the batter to lighten. Then fold the rest of the whipped cream into the batter.
- Fold in the roasted nuts.
Bake the loaf
- Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and place in the oven on the hot stone.
- Bake until the center springs back when touched, or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean but moist, about 35 minutes. Ideally, the bread should not pull away from the sides until it has just come out of the oven. The center temperature should be about 209ºF/98ºC when checked with an instant-read thermometer.
Cool the loaf
- Place the bread in the pan on a rack to cool, about 10 minutes, and then shake the pan to loosen the loaf all around.
- Use the parchment to lift the loaf out of the pan.
- Peel off the paper and finish cooling on the rack.