During my trip to Poland at the end of last year, I loved the sustainable cooking event that I did with Baccaro Studio in Lodz so much that I wrote all about it. Chef Gosia helped us to make a version of these banana muffins as part of the event but explained that people in Lodz tend to use carrots instead of bananas. Because she had some black bananas that would otherwise go into the bin, she adapted the recipe so I have done similar here. I have made them sweeter by adding in some delicious Polish blueberry jam and I have sweetened the cream with some honey that I got from the bees I visited in Jabllona, just north of Warsaw. More about that soon… here’s the recipe. I hope you are hungry.
Ingredients – Makes 6
4 large ripe bananas
80g vegetable oil plus extra for greasing
200g plain flour
100g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
6 teaspoons of Polish blueberry jam
80g double cream
1 tablespoon of Polish honey
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius.
Grease 6 silicone muffin cases with a little oil.
Mash the bananas with a fork and then add the oil. Mix well and then add the sugar, beat until well combined.
Add the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and whisk until all the ingredients are combined.
Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases and top with a teaspoon of blueberry jam. Swirl the jam on top and put the muffins in the oven.
Cook for 25 minutes, or until a wooden stick comes out clean.
Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
Once the muffins are cool, whip the double cream until thick and holds peaks. Mix with the honey and top the muffins with cream quenelles.
This recipe can also be made in a loaf tin but the cooking time will need to be altered to ensure the cake is cooked all the way through. I prefer the muffins are they feel much lighter and easier to keep an eye on as they bake a lot more evenly in the oven. You can obviously use any jam and honey but the Polish honey is so floral, it adds a beautiful flavour to the cream. If you can get hold of it, it is worth it.
