Baking #118: Dried Cranberries Banana Bread

Used up part of the bananas which I bought cheaply from the supermarket couple of days ago to bake this Dried Cranberries Banana Bread. The exterior looked ugly but the inside looked “good as new”. LOL! The downside was that they were not as sweet as I would like them to be.

Anyways, the original recipe which I used did not call for dried cranberries but sultanas soaked in bourbon or dark rum. As I did not have either one of the liquors mentioned, I decided to make do with dried cranberries as they go well with bananas. Perhaps I should consider getting myself a bottle of rum for future baking purpose?

Dried Cranberries Banana Bread (adapted from The Domestic Goddess Wannabe)

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs
• 4 large ripe bananas, mashed *5 Pisang Berangan (3 mashed & 2 sliced)*
• 125g unsalted butter, melted
• 175g plain flour
• 150g fine granulated white sugar *120g brown sugar*
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 100g sultanas, soaked in 75ml of bourbon or dark rum *dried cranberries*

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix together dry ingredients – plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Sift and set aside.
2. In another large mixing bowl, whisk together melted butter and brown sugar together.
3. Add in eggs, one at a time and whisk to incorporate. The mixture will be smooth by then.
4. Stir in vanilla extract and bananas, both mashed and sliced.
5. Add in dried cranberries and mix well.
6. Gently fold in sifted flour mixture in two batches and be careful not to overdo the batter or else you will get a tough cake.
7. Pour batter into a lightly greased and lined 9×5-inches baking loaf pan and bake in a preheated oven of 175 degree Celsius for 45 to 50 minutes or until an inserted cake tester comes out clean in the centre of the cake.
8. Leave cake to cool in the baking loaf pan for approximately 10 to 15 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire cooling rack.

These pictures were taken when the cake was still warm as I was running late for work. Snapped some pictures and then headed off to work. The cake was slightly wet at the stage but the texture was completely alright when it had cooled down. Texture wise, it was moist due to the bananas but the cake was a bit too sweet from the dried cranberries.