Banana Bread with Caramelized Bananas

Fluffy, tender banana bread topped with piles of caramelized bananas, caramel sauce and hazelnuts. The BEST way to use up those bananas.

Prep Time: 15 mins | Cook Time: 1 hr |Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins

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Ingredients

• 1 large egg
• ¼ cup + 1tbsp (75ml) vegetable oil
• ½ cup + 2 tbsp (125g) soft brown sugar
• 2 bananas – ideally these need to be older, well-speckled bananas, roughly chopped
• 1 cup + 3 tbsp (150g) plain (all-purpose) flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/3 cup (30g) rolled oats

Topping:

• 1/2 packed cup (100g) soft brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 2 bananas ,thickly sliced
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup (120ml) heavy cream
• ½ cup (70g) hazelnuts , some chopped, some left whole

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and line a 2lb loaf tin a loaf liner.
2. In a stand mixer, whisk the egg, oil and sugar until combined, then add the 2 chopped bananas. Whisk again until the banana breaks down and you’ve got a slightly lumpy liquid.
3. Add the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and oats to the wet mix. Stir together.
4. Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes until golden. Check it’s done after 40 minutes by inserting a metal skewer in the cake, if it comes out clean, it’s cooked. If not, cook for a little longer.
5. Take the cake out of the oven, leave to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the tin and allow to cool further on a wire rack whilst you make the topping.
6. For the topping place the sugar, butter and vanilla extract in a small frying pan (skillet).
7. Heat over a medium heat until the sugar melts. You can stir a couple of times when most of the sugar has melted, but don’t keep stirring.
8. Once the sugar has melted and the caramel is a medium to dark brown color (it’s ok if the butter is a little separated from the sugar, it will come back together) slice and add in the bananas. Cook for 2-3 minutes, turning once, until the bananas caramelize slightly. Don’t cook any longer or they’ll fall apart. Remove the bananas with a slotted spoon and place on a plate.
9. Place the pan with the sauce in back over a low heat – you should still have about half the caramel sauce in there – and add the salt and cream. Stir over the low heat until the caramel sauce comes together.
10. Pour the sauce over the banana cake and top with the caramelized bananas.
11. Sprinkle on the hazelnuts before serving.