Recipe Review: Emeril’s Banana Bread

I have a friend who is having a hard time and when that happens, my immediate reaction is to bake something. It was challenging coming up with something she could eat because she is pregnant and I learned via my Facebook group just how restricted diets can be for pregnant women. What a bummer! Thankfully banana bread is a safe bet and turns out to be one of her favourites.

Emeril’s Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble was so deliciously impressive I decided to trust him and make his banana bread. I could have made Lorraine’s banana bread or Anna Olson’s but I really wanted to try something new, as usual. The end results were mysterious!

I mashed two bananas and added sour cream, eggs and vanilla. I blended it by hand instead of using a food processor. It is always perplexing when a recipe does not specify the fat content of sour cream. Unsure, I just used what I had. I swear, I gotta just start stocking up on full fat sour cream just in case!

I had a good feeling about this recipe because it uses pastry flour which I knew would make the loaf tender. Sometimes people skip the sieving step but you absolutely must sieve when using pastry flour! With the flour you sieve in sugar, baking soda and baking powder.

This was another confusing part of the recipe, it did not say what state the butter should be. Was the butter supposed to be melted or room temperature? I carefully nuked the butter so it was at room temperature and crossed my fingers.

You start by putting in the dry ingredients and whisk the butter until blended. Which is weird if you are using room temperature butter. (Sigh) Then you add the banana mixture in three batches, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl here and there. I omitted the nuts, just in case they are an issue for pregnant women.

By the way, this batter is pure aromatherapy! Oh it smells so good! Just like banana pancakes.

You are supposed to bake the bread in a 350F oven for an hour and ten minutes. My loaf was definitely done in just an hour so I removed it and let it cool.

The first slice I had was dry and not tasty at all. The next day, a slice farther inside the loaf, was delicious! I cut slices from the middle of the loaf and gave it to my friend, fingers crossed she liked it.

I have never made anything that was both terrible and fantastic at the same time. How the recipe is written makes baking a usually easy recipe very challenging. As a result, I can only give Emeril’s Banana Bread three wooden spoons.