Recipe for the banana nut bread with salted caramel sauce
It can be served hot or cold, smeared with butter or without, as a dessert or as breakfast. A simple recipe, fast and almost infallible. I say almost, since once my banana bread completely collapsed when I wanted to use all the ripe bananas left in the kitchen - 5 or 6 if I remember correctly. Obviously, when it comes to baking, improvisations have a limit. Three are enough to obtain a moist and fragrant cake. I have tried to stick to this amount ever since. I always add nuts, but this time it was toasted hazelnuts instead, and since I did not have natural yogurt, I used a couple of tablespoons of heavy cream. I added much less sugar than usual, not for dietary reasons (which I should not ignore), but because I really wanted to cover the loaf with a salty caramel sauce. In my mind this was a successful combination. And indeed, that's the way it turned out. Of all the recipes that have passed through my hands, banana bread sooner or later always reappears, with slight adaptations from time to time. There must be something special in this humble and unpretentious treat
BANANA NUT BREAD WITH SALTED CARAMEL SAUCE
Ingredients
For the cake
1½ cup flour (210 gr)
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup of light brown sugar (100 gr)
2 eggs, beaten
½ cup of unsalted butter, softened (115 gr)
3 ripe bananas, smashed
2 tablespoons of sour cream or plain yogurt
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2/3 cup hazelnuts, chopped and toasted
For the salted caramel sauce
¾ cup heavy cream
¼ cup light corn syrup
¼ cup light brown sugar
½ cup caster sugar
½ vanilla bean
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ teaspoon sea salt flakes
Directions
Preheat the oven to 175º C. Grease and line a loaf tin with butter and flour or with baking paper.
Mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a bowl.
In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, then add the yolks. Mix well. Add the yogurt, the vanilla and the bananas. Beat until smooth.
Beat the egg whites separately, until soft peaks form.
Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix until thoroughly blended. Add the egg whites.
Fold in the hazelnuts.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until well risen and dark golden brown. Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove it from the tin and place on a wire rack.
Meanwhile, prepare the salted caramel sauce. In a small pan spread the sugar in an even layer, add the corn syrup and heat over a medium-low. Without stirring, allow the mixture to melt until the liquid begins to caramelize and turns a golden brown color.
Whisk in the cream. Mix well, until any hardened caramel is melted.
Add the butter and the vanilla seeds. Stir well and keep cooking for about 5 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat. Wait 5 minutes and add the salt.
Pour sauce over the banana nut bread.