So a couple of weeks ago, I bought myself some cherries, as I got a taste for them while on holiday last month. Unfortunately, I put them in the fridge and forgot about them, until this weekend when I found them unopened and while tasting fine, (although not as lovely as the ones I tried on holiday) they were looking a little squishy!
So as not to waste them, I was going to make a smoothie with them, but then I thought actually I would use them in a banana loaf along with some dark chocolate chunks. Now I have to be honest, I have never tried banana and cherry together, but I figured it would be alright in a cake and as dark chocolate works well with both fruits, I decided that this baking experiment would work out ok.
And, thankfully, it did! Although prepping the cherries, removing the stones and stalks proved to be messy with cherry juice squirting on my windows and floor (go figure!), proved messy and I had stained fingers afterwards, the end result made for a yummy moist cake with lovely chunks of chocolate throughout, and the subtle flavour of banana in the background too. Deeeelicious!
The cherries made the batter a gorgeous pink colour too.
(I would like to point out that I did not leave the baking paper disk on the cake, I removed it and it left that mark behind!)
So if you like the sound of a banana loaf which contains cherries and dark chocolate, then here is the recipe:
- 1 large over ripe bananas
- 100g cherries, pitted and sliced
- 100g butter
- 100g caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 200g self raising flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1tsp baking powder
- 75g dark chocolate chunks/drops
- Pre heat the oven to 180oC / 160oC
- Grease and line a 1kg loaf tin
- Cream together the sugar and butter for about 5 minutes to soften it
- Add the eggs and the banana and beat well to mash the banana and make the batter softer and more airy (it does not matter if the banana is unequal in lumps - this just adds texture to the final cake)
- Str the cherries into the flour, then pour into the batter and add the bicarb and baking powder, and stir well
- Add the chocolate chunks and give one final mix
- Pour into the loaf tin and bake for approx 40-50 minutes until risen, golden brown and cooked right through
- leave the cake to cool completely before removing from the tine
- enjoy 🙂
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Lovely 🙂
My daughter is obsessed with cherries this summer and she makes so much mess – her clothes, fingers, face, the table and the floor ALL end up pink after she’s had some! Thanks for sharing this delicious looking recipe with #CookBlogShare
I love cherries and paired with dark chocolate, yummy! I will have a lovely big slice please! Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
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[…] bread, but I don’t normally add anything else different to it. Jenny’s recipe for cherry& dark chocolate banana loaf looks heavenly and I will definitely be trying it the next time I make banana bread. I Love […]
What a fabulous combiniation of flavours Jenny, it looks and sounds great. And a great way of using up slightly spolt fruit 🙂
Angela x
Yum! I love banana bread, cherries and dark chocolate so I reckon I would adore this cake! Eb x
That looks delicious and my teen is so good at making cake! I shall show him the recipe as he is always wanting to experiment.
Thank you it did taste good X
What a gorgeous cake! I love cherries and I make cakes with bananas all the time – partly because I always seem to buy too many. This would be a great way to use one up!