To Bake or not to Bake, that is the question. In this uncertain time which often seems apocalyptic-esque, one of Britain’s first loves, home baking, an activity compliant with self-isolation, appears incompatible with the empty shelves in supermarkets.

With The Great British Bake off establishing home baking as a popular pastime and creative outlet, in this national crisis baking could offer households a much needed respite from the harrowing news bulletins, bingeing of box sets, the watching of films, the completion of schoolwork or the stresses of working from home. I personally love to bake. However, conflicted by the need to conserve as much food in the cupboards for meals, I have recently exercised restraint, curbing my appetite to bake in favour of turning my unskilled hands to cookery, making roast dinners, curry and chili con carne with varying levels of success. Yet with the need for self-isolation and social distancing evident for the foreseeable future, is there a way to responsibly bake during this pandemic?

Certainly, it is clear that caution will have to be exercised when choosing what ingredients to use to bake with. Anything that can be eaten in its own right such as bananas and eggs or is needed for other meals such as butter, must be sparingly used or only included in baking after it has passed its best. For instance, when the whole banana has blackened.

It is in these situations when baking comes in to its own. It is a great way to use up food that would otherwise be wasted. For instance, if you place an egg, which is perhaps on the wrong side of fresh, in a jug of water and it sinks to the bottom, it is still okay to be used in baking.

It is inevitable that baking while food supply is short will require some ingenuity, making it impossible to stringently follow recipes. The following recipe is vastly versatile, yielding a deliciously luxurious banana bread every time no matter what you have in your food cupboards.

Banana Bread

Ingredients

1½ cups plain, gluten-free or self-raising (if using self-raising flour just put in ½ a teaspoon of baking soda)

1¼ teaspoons baking soda (can be substituted for baking powder although, baking soda is better)

¾ teaspoon salt

1 cup (packed) dark brown or light brown sugar, or demerara, caster, or granulated sugar (although brown is best if you have it)

⅓ cup mascarpone, yogurt, sour cream or buttermilk (alternatively you can make your own buttermilk by adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup of milk and letting it stand for 5 to 10 minutes. You can also make a vegan buttermilk by substituting the milk for a non-dairy alternative, like soy milk)

¼ cup butter, margarine or vegetable oil (margarine and butter are best but oil will work just as well)

2 large eggs (if you want to make this banana bread vegan simply replace the two eggs with an extra mashed banana, it might not rise quite as well but it will still taste delicious)

4 large very ripe bananas, mashed (roughly about 1½ cups) (I have made this banana bread very successfully before with three average sized bananas, the blacker the better)

1 cup milk chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips or a bit of both (if you don’t have any chocolate to hand you can omit this completely or replace with 1 cup of chopped walnuts or any nuts you have in the cupboard. You do not need to add any of these ingredients if you do not want to)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170°c fan or 180ᵒc.  Using a little margarine, butter or oil grease and line a loaf tin with parchment paper or if you do not have any parchment simply dust the greased tin with a little flour. If you do not have a loaf tin this recipe also makes 12 excellent banana muffins. Simply line a 12-hole muffin tin with cupcake cases.
2. Mix flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Using a stand mixer or handheld electric mixer on medium to high speed, beat the sugar and butter or margarine in a large bowl until light and fluffy, for about 3 minutes (You can also cream these ingredients together with a wooden spoon but it might take a little longer to achieve the light and fluffy consistency). If you are using oil and sugar the mixture will not turn light and fluffy. Instead, you are looking for your mixture to be smooth with no lumps of sugar.
4. Add the mascarpone, yogurt, sour cream, buttermilk or vegan alternative and mix until well incorporated.
5. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure that all the mixture is blended together. If you are making a vegan banana bread obviously omit this step.
6. Turn your speed to low if using an electric mixer and add the flour mixture. Mix with your mixer or fold the flour in by hand using a spatula until just combined.
7.  Add the mashed bananas, not forgetting the extra one if you are making the vegan version and mix until just incorporated. The batter will curdle but don’t worry about this, it will not affect the bake or taste.
8. Fold in chocolate or walnuts and mix until they are evenly distributed in the batter.
9. Pour the batter into prepared loaf tin or spoon into cupcake cases.
10. Sprinkle some sugar over the top of the loaf or muffins. This ensures a lovely crunchy top when the banana bread is baked. (I use demerara sugar for this but any would work)
11. Bake the loaf tin for 60–65 minutes and the muffins for 20-25 minutes. In both instances test that the mixture is baked by inserting a skewer into the centre of the bread, if it comes out clean it is baked.
12.  Transfer the loaf tin to a wire rack and let banana bread cool in the pan for 1 hour. Turn out bread and let cool completely before slicing.

This recipe has been adapted from Bon Appetite, Best Banana Bread Recipe

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/banana-bread