Ingredients
- 1/3 cup sultanas (white seedless grapes)
- 1/3 cup bourbon or dark rum
- 175g plain flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 125g unsalted butter, melted
- 150g sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 4 small, very ripe bananas (about 300g weighed without skin), mashed
- 60g chopped walnuts
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 9 inch loaf pan, buttered and floured or with a paper insert
Directions
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Put the sultanas and rum or bourbon in a smallish saucepan and bring to the boil.
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Remove from the heat, cover and leave for an hour if you can, or until the sultanas have absorbed most of the liquid, then drain.
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Preheat the oven to 338ºF and get started on the rest. Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Using your hands or a wooden spoon, combine well.
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In a large bowl, mix the melted butter and sugar and beat until blended. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the mashed bananas. Then, with your wooden spoon, stir in the walnuts, drained sultanas and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture, a third at a time, stirring well after each bit. Scrape into the loaf tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 1 hour 40 minutes. When it’s ready, an inserted toothpick or fine skewer should come out cleanish. Leave in the tin on a rack to cool, and eat thickly or thinly sliced, as you prefer.