Banana Sour Cream Bread

I picked up this recipe from the very first Workbake competition i experienced 4 years ago. Workbake is just what the name suggests: baking at work. Well, more of a baking competition. Very very competitive....and delicious.

Anyway, in my first competition, I thought i had it in the bag with a very luscious white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake. It was not to be. I was beaten by what i thought at the time was simple banana cake. It wasn't until i made this recipe that i realised that it is a little slice of heaven.

I am often asked for the recipe so here it is:

3/4 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

170g butter (room temp)
600g white sugar
3 eggs
6-8 very ripe bananas, mashed
450g sour cream
10 ml vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3 heaped teaspoons baking soda
560g plain flour

Preheat oven to 150 degrees C. Grease three 20cm x 10cm loaf tins with butter.

Mix together 3/4 cup caster sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon and use to dust the pans. Once dusted, spread half the left over sugar mix evenly across the bottom of the pans. Keep the other half until the end.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and the sugar. Mix in the eggs, mashed banana, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix in salt, baking soda and flour.
Divide into the pans and sprinkle with the rest of the sugar mixture.

Bake for an hour or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

The cinnamon sugar mixture results in a crispy flaky top

So my hints for this bread would be:

• Absolutely let the bananas over-ripen before using them to avoid a bitter tasting bread
• Don't be tempted to use bicarb soda instead of baking soda. It will make the bread bitter
• Invest in a bottle of vanilla extract rather than using essence of vanilla

I have to credit Hamish 'man-cage' Manzi for this recipe, plus the person he ripped it from. 1st place deserved.