Mary Berry's Winning Banana Bread

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Ingredients

• 1 ripe banana (peeled weight 100g/4oz)
• 1 tbsp milk (Dairy or plant-based, oat milk recommended)
• 50g/2oz soft butter
• 75g/3oz plain flour
• 75g/3oz caster sugar
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 free-range egg
• 50g/2oz dark chocolate chopped or choclate chips (Optional)

To decorate:

• 50g/2oz dark chocolate

Method

1. Preheat the oven 160C/140C Fan/Gas 3. Grease a 450g/1lb loaf tin with butter. Optionally line with baking paper.
2. Use a fork to mash the peeled banana in a mixing bowl. Add the remaining cake ingredients (except the chocolate chips) and beat with an electric hand whisk until combined and smooth.
3. Stir in the chocolate chips and spoon the mixture into the prepared loaf tin. Level the top. If you are chopping choclate into small chunks rather than using chocolate chips, I highly recommend sprinkling the chopped chocolate on top of the mixture already in the loaf tin and very lightly push them into the mixture. Chocolate chunks are heavier and will sink during cooking.
4. Bake for 40–45 minutes or until well risen, shrinking away from the sides of the tin and golden-brown.
5. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Optional decoration

1. For the optional decoration, break the chocolate into small pieces and add to a heatproof bowl.
2. Melt the chocolate in the bowl over a pan of simmering water (ensuring that the bowl does not touch the water). Stir regularly, until almost completely melted, then remove from the heat. The heat of the bowl will melt any remaining lumps.
3. Spoon the melted chocolate into a piping bag and pipe zig-zags across the top of the loaf (or simply drizzle it from a spoon). Set aside to allow the chocolate to set. Slice and serve.

Cook's notes