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I was taught to cook by my mum and we often used my grandmother’s old Be-Ro cookbook ~ it was so old, that it was taped together with yellowing sellotape and had jottings and note against all the recipes in her handwriting…….my mum has it now, along with all of her own old Be-Ro cookbooks too. (They used to publish a new one every 2 to 3 years or so) Those little books still fascinate me, the old terminology and simple but wholesome recipe ideas. My grandmother had one of the first editions, a brown cover ~ I have a few old ones that I picked up in junk shops and old book shops…….and I treasure them dearly. This is one of my favourite recipes from the Be-Ro cookbook, and is perfect for a slow Sunday day’s baking.
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This delicious tea bread or tea loaf, is amazing when served slightly warm with fresh butter and, why not have butter for a treat now and then, just forget the calories! I nearly always use walnuts, as English walnuts are so mellow and wonderfully woody and nutty tasty, but pecans also work well in this recipe. This recipe yields two small loaves ~ I tend to make two smaller loaves as opposed to one large loaf and then pop one in the freezer to cheer us all up on a dull and dreary day! Make sure you have a pot of tea on the table too.
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| Be-Ro Classic ~ Banana and Walnut Tea Bread |
I have two vintage Hovis bread tins, and I always bake these tea loaves in them ~ I love how you can just see the words “Hovis” on the side of the tea loaves! I also like the way the metal conducts the heat evenly, much better than the Teflon bread tins I think. I also take advantage of using cake liners in the tins ~ for ease of removal as well as keeping the loaves moist whilst storing them.
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So, why not take time out this Sunday and bake; baking for the week ahead is such an elemental and satisfying pleasure. Why not rustle up these Banana and Walnut Tea Loaves and a half a dozen fruit scones too, or maybe a family fruit cake to pop into the hungry horde’s (AKA family!) lunch boxes! I hope you have a wonderful slow Sunday and I will be making this a weekly feature on my blog ~ to slow down……..and slow bake…….and slow cook!
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| Cake liners make the loaves easy to remove from the tin and also keeps them moist. |
A great tea-time recipe and one that men love too! The best bananas are very ripe, almost black ones, and pecans can be substituted for the walnuts if you prefer. This yields 2 loaves of 1 lb each, perfect for freezing one and eating the other!
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Ingredients:
225 g (8 oz) Self Raising Flour
1 x 1.25 ml (¼ tsp) spoon bicarbonate of soda
pinch salt
75 g (3 oz) butter 175 g (6 oz) light brown sugar
2 medium eggs, beaten
450 g (1 lb) bananas weighed with skin, peeled, mashed
100 g (4 oz) walnuts, chopped
Method:
1. Heat oven to 180ºC, 350ºF, Gas Mark 4. Grease and line the base of two 450g (1 lb) loaf tins.
2. Mix together flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
3. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, add the eggs a little at a time alternately with the flour.
4. Stir in the remaining flour, bananas and walnuts and place into the prepared tins. Bake for about 1¼ hours, testing after 1 hour, until well risen and dark golden brown.
5. Cool on a wire rack.
6. Serve in slices, buttered if you wish.
Fiona Matters says
This looks lovely. I think I might make a fruit loaf after I run out of Christmas cake (think it’s going to be this week or next!) I particularly like how bready this one looks. Shared on twitter.
Maya Russell says
Shared on Twitter as @maisietoo.
I love the banana & walnut combination.
Maya Russell says
Shared via G+.
Cheryl Battaglia says
I have this same book from my Aunt who passed away, she loved the book but I’ve never used any recipes out of it!
I’m now going to dig it out, thanks for the lovely recipes Cheryl