I miss my bananas. In March of this year, Cyclone Larry decimated Innisfail, in Queensland's far north, and with it 80% of Australia's banana plantations. Bananas which used to cost about 99c to $3 per kilo rocketed to $16 per kilo. Six months later the price of bananas is still at about $12-$14 per kilo.
Banana bread is now rarer than hen's teeth. Banana bread made with real bananas, that is. So for the latest Sugar High Friday event hosted by A Veggie Venture, I used the surprise theme to bake some friends a fake banana loaf. Okay so it didn't taste of bananas, and it had telltale tiny specks of green, but the moist dense consistency was there, and the crust had that familiar sweet chewy consistency. They were fooled by all external appearances.
It was also a big surprise for a young vegetable-phobe--the type who shies away from anything green--who was spotted eagerly reaching for a second slice. The banana bread guise does work! Surprise the kids. It's one way to get them to eat their vegetables.
Banana Bread With No Bananas
aka Zucchini Walnut Bread
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed firmly
1 cup oil
2 cups zucchini, grated finely
1 1/3 cup walnuts
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1 1/2 cups plain flour
Beat eggs with sugar and oil in a large bowl until well combined. Stir in zucchini and walnuts and then fold in sifted flours in two batches.
Pour into a 15cm x 25cm loaf tin and bake at 180C for 75-90 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave loaf in tin for five minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
Technorati tags:
SHF23, Sugar High Friday, baking
Are those walnuts?!
ReplyDelete*whimpers* I shouldn't come here when I'm hungry.
Looks good. Tell me more. Did you have it with our good friend butter?
ReplyDeleteBring back bananas!
Wow that looks good; thanks for the recipe! I'll try it one day -have you tried apple and cinnamon bread? That's super delicious as well =)
ReplyDeleteI sorely miss bananas as well. I bought two the other day and it cost me over $6!!
ReplyDeleteThis bread, although it doesn't contain any
b-a-n-a-n-a-s, still looks scrumptious, great twist at the end.
yummo! i'd want to eat this for breakfast... but also lunch. cake like bread for lunch... oooohhh--eeer... with the added benefit of a green vege! you rule :D
ReplyDeleteAh, I have blogged recently about hiding the bananas from the children
ReplyDeleteLooks like I won't have to now..
Looks delicious also without bananas.
ReplyDeletehi i stumbled upon your blog. lovely food pics u have here :) im a foodie myself too and its great to know likeminded ppl. take care!
ReplyDeleteNecessity is definitely the mother of invention. Who would have thought of substituting bananas with zuchinni, not this vegetable fearing person. :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Helen ~ A yummy "banana" bread and a lesson in world weather, too! This is a lovely contribution to Sugar High Friday, thanks for playing along! And look for the round-up later today ...
ReplyDeleteSounds good but if you really want bananas look for specials in the supermarkets, they usually discount the older ones, I picked up over half a kilo of lady fingers from Coles on the weekend for $2.50 & they had hardly gone brown, check out my site for the banana & Date loaf i made, yum - I refuse to live without bananas!
ReplyDeleteZucchini Bread is something my Gramma would make to use up the summer's bounty...how smart of you to use it to make up for those all-too-dear bananas!
ReplyDelete