Cocoa and bananas

Banana bread is part of a Trini sweetbread repertoire. At every bake sale and bakery you are certain to find banana bread, either whole or sold in slices, wrapped in plastic wrap. Bake sales were a very popular way to raise funds for charity and ladies would usually set up outside popular retail areas such as banks on a Saturday morning.

Banana bread is easy to make and was economical when bananas were plentiful and were grown and harvested here. Sadly, the banana plantations have all but dried up, and inferior imported bananas flood the market from the other Caribbean and Central American countries.

I get lucky sometimes at the Sunday market to find a vendor selling silk figs, chiquitoes, Gros Michel and lacatan bananas. The silk figs are about four-five inches in length and pretty thick, with flavours of pineapple and banana, sometimes there is a hint of lime. These are my favourite. The chiquitoes are also called finger bananas. These are used as snacking figs but some home cooks prepare "boil and fry." The figs are boiled when half-ripe and fried up with saltfish for a meal.

The Gros Michel and lacatan bananas are hugely sweet and tend to ripen very quickly, probably why banana bread became so popular here, it was a way to use up the overripe bananas.

I included cocoa powder into my banana bread when I did a small amount of commercial baking a few years ago. I would stir some cocoa powder into some of the batter and then swirl this into the batter. When sliced it showed a lovely, swirly pattern and the cocoa offset the sweetness of the bananas.

Chocolate swirl banana bread

2 large, over-ripened bananas

½ cup coconut oil

2 large egg

¾ cup brown sugar

1½ cups all-purpose flour

½ tsp sea salt

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp grated nutmeg

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp grated tonka bean

½ cup cocoa powder

Pre-heat oven to 350F.

Line an 8x4 loaf tin with parchment paper.

Mash bananas and beat in coconut oil, eggs and brown sugar with an electric hand mixer, beat until light.

Combine flour with salt, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon and tonka.

Stir this into the banana mixture. Remove about ½ cup batter and place into a small bowl, stir in cocoa powder.

Spoon batter into prepared pan and swirl the cocoa mixture into the banana mixture.

Bake for 40 minutes until cooked.

Makes 1 loaf

Double chocolate banana bread with tonka

2 large, over-ripened bananas

½ cup sesame seed paste, tahini

¼ cup coconut oil

1 large egg

¾ cup brown sugar

¾ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup cocoa powder

½ tsp sea salt

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp grated nutmeg

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp grated tonka bean

½ cup chopped bittersweet Trinidad chocolate

Pre-heat oven to 350F.

Line an 8x4 loaf tin with parchment paper.

Mash bananas and beat in tahini with an electric hand mixer, add oil, egg and sugar and beat until light.

Combine flour with cocoa, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon and tonka.

Stir this into the banana mixture, when well incorporated stir in chocolate pieces.

Pour into loaf pan and bake for 40 minutes until cooked.

Makes 1 loaf

Banana whole grain muffins with chocolate chips and cocoa nibs

1 cup wholegrain spelt flour

1 cup oat flour

¼ cup brown rice flour

1 tbs baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp grated nutmeg

½ tsp salt

2 bananas

2 eggs

⅔ cup brown sugar

2 tbsp honey

¾ cup milk with 1 tbs vinegar

⅓ cup coconut oil

1 tsp vanilla

½ chocolate chips

2 tbs cocoa nibs

Pre-heat oven to 375F degrees (200 degrees C).

Grease 12 large muffin cups or line with paper baking cases.

Combine all the dry ingredients,

Beat bananas and eggs with sugar and honey.

Add milk, oil and vanilla, stir well.

Gently stir in dry ingredients, add chocolate chips.

Spoon batter into muffin cups generously filling each to the top.

Sprinkle with nibs

Bake for about 20-25 minutes until done and tops are firm to the touch.

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