Vanilla Hidden Heart Loaf Cake

 A secret heart revealed in this beautiful romantic cake!

Raspberry & Dark Chocolate Banana Bread

A fruity AND chocolatey banana bread, perfect for breakfast or snacking!

It's been a while since I made a banana bread recipe, and this one was just what I needed. I've always loved pairing berries with bananas, and I've always loved berries and chocolate so to have them altogether creates a succulent, slightly sweet, bitter and creamy banana bread. I've used fresh and frozen raspberries in this recipe, they both work well and I prefer to use chocolate chunks instead of chips - you get more chocolate that way ;) and I wanted an intense good quality dark chocolate to cut through the sharpness of the raspberries. What's your favourite way to enjoy banana bread?? I personally love it fro breakfast, sometimes I even toast it, spread on some raspberry jam or butter and it's like a whole other recipe. I've also had it with a big spread of nut butter (preferably pip and nut), the slightly salty savoury aromas work perfect against the sweetness of the berries and chocolate. 

If you love banana bread....

Check out these recipes for more inspiration!

• Peanut Butter Banana Bread
• Apple Banana Bread
• Raspberry and Dark Chocolate Chip Breakfast Muffins

Recipe

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 50 minutes

Serves: 8-10

Notes:

• Fresh or frozen raspberries will work in this recipe.

Ingredients

• 300g very ripe bananas
• 150g Vegan butter, melted
• 100g Light brown sugar
• 320g Self-raising flour
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 150g Raspberries
• 100g Dark chocolate chunks

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170℃ and grease and line a loaf tin with baking paper. 
2. Break up the bananas in a bowl, then use a fork to mash them until quite smooth. Mix together the brown sugar, bananas and melted butter.
3. Then stir through the flour, baking powder and salt. Finally fold through the raspberries and chocolate chunks. 
4. Spoon the batter into the loaf tin and place in the oven to bake.
5. After about 30 minutes, lightly cover the top of the banana bread with foil to prevent it from burning. Continue to bake for another 20-25 minutes until a knife inserted comes out clean.
6. Leave to cool in the tin and then remove onto a wire rack to cool down completely. Slice and serve. 
7. Best stored in an airtight container up to 5 days. Enjoy!

Christina

xx