(Whole Wheat) Banana Bread

(makes 4 one-pound loaves, or 6 ten-ounce loaves for gift giving)

The sight of a perfectly ripe banana is a sight to behold. Its unblemished yellow and barely spotted skin blushes with the healthy intention of topping your morning cereal or yogurt parfait. But once those spots become too numerous to count and its flesh turns mushy, becoming fodder for the fruit flies, what’s a poor soul to do with this neglected fruit? Banana bread, of course! This recipe is adapted from a banana pound cake recipe that I inherited from a previous pastry chef. I’ve replaced a third of the flour with whole wheat for a more toothsome chew, added some buttermilk to tenderize the crumb, and replaced the butter with oil for a soft and supple texture. If you don’t have time to make this bread right away, peel and freeze the bananas until you have enough to make this recipe. This bread will keep at cool room temperatures for a week or freezes beautifully for up to one month. It is best eaten a few hours after baking.

Combine and whip (using whisk attachment) until light:

3.6 oz eggs

12 oz sugar

.2 oz salt

Add gradually to eggs:

5 oz vegetable oil

Combine:

2.5 grams cinnamon

2.5 grams baking powder

4 grams baking soda

10 oz all-purpose flour

6 oz whole wheat pastry flour

Combine:

22 oz banana puree (8 to 10 bananas)

4 oz buttermilk

2 oz rum

Add dry ingredients and half of banana mixture to egg-oil emulsion. Whip on high speed for one minute to aerate batter. Scrape down. Add banana mixture in two more additions, mixing for a few seconds between each addition. Pour the batter into prepared loaf pans and top with bananas and cinnamon sugar, if desired. Bake at 350 F for 40-55 minutes. Cool for a few minutes before unmolding.

(This recipe can be halved but will be difficult to mix in smaller quantities.)