Baked banana, date and pecan loaf with spiced caramel sauce
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Serves 8
1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients
Banana loaf
- 80ml of cashew milk
- 1 tsp cider vinegar
- 190g of dates
- 190ml of water, filtered
- 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 3 bananas, large
- 120g of pecan nuts
- 70g of teff flour
- 70g of brown rice flour
- 20g of arrowroot
- 1/4 tsp baking powder, gluten free
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/4 tsp mixed spice
- 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt, ground
- 40g of molasses, sulphured
- 80ml of rapeseed oil, preferably extra virgin cold pressed
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Flax seed gel
- 1 tbsp of ground flaxseed, ground
- 3 tbsp of water, filtered
Apple purée
- 6 Cox's apples, each 120-140g, washed and dried
Spiced caramel sauce
- 400ml of coconut milk
- 100g of maple syrup, or raw honey
- 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
- 1/2 vanilla pod, lengthways and seeds scraped out, pod kept
- 5g of star anise
- 5g of cardamom pod
Method
1
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4
2
Begin by making the apple purée. Cut the apples into quarters. Place on a baking tray and bake until soft, about 20–30 minutes. Leave to cool and do not discard the liquids
3
In a blender, blend the cooked apples and juices until a smooth, sweet thick purée. Measure out 50g for the banana loaf recipe, any leftover can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days
4
Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Grease and line the bottom of a 18x11x8cm deep loaf tin with baking paper
5
Combine the milled flax seeds with the water and leave for about 15 minutes to form a gel. Mix the cashew milk with the apple cider vinegar and set aside
6
In a medium saucepan, cook the dates with the measured water until all the water is soaked up and forms a paste. This should take no longer than 5 minutes
7
When the water has just been soaked up, remove the pan immediately from the heat and stir in 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda. The mixture will fizz. Keep on mixing until most of the fizzing has stopped then leave the paste to cool
8
On a baking tray, bake the bananas in the oven for about 3 minutes on each side until the skins blacken. Remove from the oven and turn down the temperature to 170°C/gas mark 3, then toast the pecans on a baking tray for 5–7 minutes, until just beginning to colour. When cooled, roughly chop
9
In a large bowl, combine the dry teff flour, brown rice flour, arrowroot, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamon, mixed spice and salt and add the remaining 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda. Peel the bananas and mash 200g into the dates. Add 50g of apple purée, the molasses, oil and vanilla extract to the cashew milk
10
Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the cashew milk mix, dates and bananas, flax seed gel and chopped pecans. Mix thoroughly to combine by lightly folding everything together. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 30 minutes, rotating the tin halfway through the cooking time
11
Reduce the heat to 160°C/gas mark 2 and bake for a further 15–20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the loaf comes out clean. Leave the loaf to cool in the tin while you make the sauce, then demould when cooled completely
12
In a medium saucepan bring all the sauce ingredients to a boil, stirring to combine. Turn down the heat to a medium rolling boil and reduce the sauce for 10 minutes, stirring now and again so it doesn’t catch. It will be looking thicker and have become a golden caramel colour
13
Remove the cardamom pods, star anise and vanilla pod with a slotted spoon. Pour into a bowl and set aside
14
When ready to serve, give the sauce a good whisk, pour it into a jug and serve generously over slices of the loaf with extra chopped pecans if you wish. You can serve the loaf and the sauce either warmed up or cold. The loaf will keep in a sealed container for up to five days