Banana buttermilk bread from The Violet Bakery Cookbook (page 104) by Claire Ptak

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Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

  • Eat Your Books

    Can substitute yoghurt for cultured buttermilk.

  • hlange on January 10, 2024

    This is a very moist banana bread that leaves little moist pockets of banana in the loaf after cooking. It looks like that was the intention judging by the photo but was unexpected after baking for 65 minutes. Overall just okay. I couldn't taste any hint of the rum and it was an average banana bread recipe, but the crust did get nice and crisp. I wouldn't make this again. Like a few other people I prefer Pichet Ong's banana cake much more, and Flour Bakery's banana bread recipe is still my go-to.

  • Nancy402 on April 26, 2023

    This is my go-to recipe for banana bread. The flavour is wonderful and it is always moist. The last time I made it I substituted olive oil when I ran out of neutral oil, and it was even better than usual!

  • meggan on November 09, 2020

    I did not have enough bananas so I added avocado? I felt it was at least the same texture. The taste is fine but the consistency is kind of wet. I recommend the recipe be followed as written.

  • MsMonsoon on September 29, 2020

    Agree this recipe is just ok. Thanks to the notes here, I used 450g of ripe banana (4 1/2 medium bananas). Perhaps I underbaked it because the loaf had wet, mushy areas. I had reduced the granulated sugar that goes on top, but really liked the crunchy caramelized sugar that formed, so if I make it again I'll use all 3 Tbsp as written.

  • a2cook on September 16, 2020

    The best banana bread ever! I may not even try any other recipe again. I used 3 medium-large banana (about 350g peeled - all in the batter, I didn’t lay half a slice on top like the recipe suggests), dark Muscovado sugar, bourbon instead of rum, and sprinkled the top with a couple tablespoons of Turbinado sugar for some crunch. I’ve also made it using a Greek yogurt instead of buttermilk, and it worked well. Took about 75 minutes to bake.

  • trudys_person on September 27, 2019

    This recipe was just OK. I looked at all the feedback here before I made it and used three large very ripe bananas, which weighed a little over 400 g. The batter was still very liquid. I baked it for about 70 minutes and it was still a little underbaked in the middle. I hoped for the rum flavour to come through, but I couldn't taste it at all. I'll probably just keep making my old standby Banana Tea Bread recipe, clipped from a newspaper 25 years ago. Maybe I'll try putting some rum in it ...

  • Lepa on March 22, 2019

    I should have read the reviews before attempting to bake this cake. I used five bananas because that's all I had. But that was still too much. The cake was not done at forty minutes so I left it in for fifty. This still seemed a bit short to me for a loaf cake but the caramelized sugar top made it difficult for me to judge and I thought the bread was done. A few minutes after coming out of the oven, the bread sunk in the middle (a lot). We ate the ends, which were done, this morning for breakfast and they tasted pretty good but there were a lot of gooey, unappealing bits in the cake. I couldn't tell if they were banana or uncooked batter. I will probably try this again, using less bananas and leaving it in the oven longer because the taste is lovely.

  • Astrid5555 on March 19, 2016

    Thanks to Zosia's review I only used 5 small bananas which weighed 450g and the recipe was a total success. I used dark Muscovado sugar, substituted Bourbon for rum and left it in the oven for 60 minutes. Kids called it best banana bread ever, and I could not agree more.

  • Zosia on February 04, 2016

    I tried this recipe again with 450g (4-1/2 small) mashed banana. Success! I estimate that I used 550g the first time which led to textural failure. The banana flavour was still excellent but I suspect the dark brown sugar and rum are partly responsible for the loaf's deliciousness. I made 4 mini loaves the first time but this time baked in a 9 x 5 pan and one mini pan. Baking time on the large loaf was 70 minutes.

  • Breadcrumbs on January 05, 2016

    p. 104 - What attracted me to this recipe (its use of 6 bananas) turned out to be its achilles heel. I should have read Zosia's review prior to making this as my 5 1/2 regular sized bananas were far too much for this cake and I had a very runny batter that never truly set. After 1 hr and 20 mins of baking I finally called it a day and it was no surprise when my jiggly cake fell almost immediately after being removed from the oven. I would also agree with Zosia in that the cake itself is absolutely delicious. The recipe is worth another try with fewer bananas or additional flour.

  • Zosia on November 06, 2015

    I do wish the recipe included the weight of the bananas; my 5-1/2 smallish fruit (at least I thought they were on the small side) produced a very thin batter and a wet cake. Unfortunate because the flavour was exceptional. This was very easy to put together so I will try it again perhaps with 1 less banana.

  • Melanie on November 05, 2015

    Delicious! Substituted yoghurt for buttermilk. This cake stays nice and moist and is full of flavour - six bananas help with that I'm sure.

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