Chef Simone Zanoni’s Banana Bread

Ciao Ciao!

Today, I’m bringing you a little piece of Italy. Now, you might be wondering what I mean—Is banana bread Italian?

Not all of them, but this one is! Because this is the banana bread from Chef Simone Zanoni!!

You’re going to love this cake because, as Chef Zanoni says, it’s a “bomba atomica”!

I had the pleasure of attending a masterclass with the Chef (virtually, due to Covid times…), thanks to Pink Lady, whom I warmly thank here. Chef Simone Zanoni’s banana bread is also made with Pink Lady apples. The theme of this masterclass was “no-waste” (avoiding food waste), and the idea was to create a recipe using ingredients that were nearing the end of their shelf life.

I must admit, I love eating bananas raw when they are still firm. As soon as their skin turns yellow and gets black spots, I tend to ignore them until it’s too late. Not great, I know…

I already had a recipe to make good use of them: the banana brownie… But this one is another must-try! Chef Simone Zanoni’s banana bread is simply amazing! Incredibly moist, with a crispy crust, and it keeps well for several days—if you can resist grabbing a slice every time you walk past it!

I used less sugar than Chef Zanoni (180 g instead of 220 g) because I think it’s enough. Feel free to adjust the sugar to your taste. You can also replace baking soda with 2 teaspoons of baking powder if needed.

For extra indulgence, I added chocolate chips. You can use almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts, pecans, etc., coarsely chopped. You could also add small caramel cubes. Customize it to your liking…

Essential utensils:

A large bowl,

A whisk (electric or manual),

A fork,

A 26 cm cake mold (or two smaller 20 cm molds, in which case reduce baking time by about 15 minutes),

And a spatula.

Now, it’s time to get started on making Chef Simone Zanoni and Pink Lady’s banana bread.

The recipe, Chef!

Print Recipe

Chef Simone Zanoni's Banana Bread

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goûter – Cuisine du Monde

Serves: 10 - 12 Difficulty: Easy Price: $

Prep Time: 10 min – Cooking Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

• 110 g butter at room temperature
• 180 g sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 ripe bananas
• 2 Pink Lady apples
• 1 tablespoon mascarpone (or double cream)
• 1 vanilla pod
• 280 g flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon flower salt
• 50 to 100 g addings (chocolate chips, chopped almonds or pistachios, one more banana, etc)
• Butter for the mold
• Brown sugar for the mold

Instructions

1

Preheat your oven at 170 C / 340 F degrees.

2

Whisk the butter with a spatula to make it soft. Add the sugar.

3

Whisk for 4-5 minutes until you get a smooth and homogeneous texture.

4

Add one egg, mix well. Add the other one, mix some more.

5

Crush roughly the bananas with a fork and add them to the batter.

6

Peel the apples, cut them in cubes and add them to the batter. Mix with the spatula.

7

Add the tablespoon mascarpone, vanilla seeds, half of the flour, the baking soda, flower salt and mix well with a spatula until you get a smooth and homogeneous texture.

8

Add the second half of flour, mix.

9

Finally pour the addings.

10

Generously butter your mold, spread brown sugar.

11

Pour the batter in the mold, spread brown sugar on top and cook for 50 minutes.

12

At the end, check cooking of your banana bread with a knife. Cook more if necessary.

13

Unmold after 5 to 10 minutes.

14

Let cool down on a grid.