Double Chocolate Banana Loaf

This thing is richer than Oprah!

If, like me, you love banana bread but feel it could benefit from a super-charge of chocolate power then this is the recipe for you!

I tried this out yesterday and think I'm still on a chocolate high. I found the recipe on the fabulous Joy the Baker blog a while ago but havn't had a chance to try it until now. Because I'm living at home while I figure out my life I have a lot of time on my hands and I get to take advantage of all my Mum's baking gadgets...SWEET!

Like i said, it's a full on chocolate experience with just a hint of banana flavour, almost like a brownie really, yum. Next time I bake it I think I'll substitute half of the cocoa powder for more plain flour to mellow it out a little...I know, I'm a wuss!

It's a really easy recipe to follow, all I've done to the recipe is convert some of the weights to UK instead of American style.

2 cups plain flour

1 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 stick (4oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 ripe bananas, mashed

3/4 cup buttermilk

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9×5 inch loaf pan and place it on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular baking sheets one on top of the other. This extra insulation will keep the bottom of the bread from overbaking.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt ad baking soda.

Working with a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed for about a minute until soft. Add the sugars and beat for 2 minutes more. Add the egs one at a time, beating for a minute after each addition. At this point , the batter may look a little curdled- it’s ok. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the mashed bananas. Add the dry ingredients in three additions, mixing only until they disappear into the batter. Still on low sweep, add the buttermilk, mixing until it is incorporated. Stir in the chopped chocolate. Scrape batter into prepared pan.

Bake for 3o minutes. Cover the bread loosely with a foil tend to keep the top from getting too dark, and continue to bake for another 40-45 minutes (total baking time is between 70 and 75 minutes), or until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for at least 20 minutes before running a knife around the edges of the bread and unmolding it. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up.

It's been a while...

Hello stranger! Yes, I'm talking to my blog...it's been a wee while since we spoke, 9 whole months in fact. So what's been happening? I've been very busy with travels and work in Australia...poor me eh! Well I'm back now and ready to fill you in on my adventures.

So the last time I was in touch I was looking for some creative/design/art direction work in Perth. Well, that didn't happen. I knocked on lots of agency doors and sent many annoying emails but alas there were no jobs for Rhona. So that got me thinking and I decided to expand my work search beyond the city of Perth, to the Aussie Outback, and that is how I ended up at the Capricorn Roadhouse.

Now, I had never considered that a roadhouse would be a great place to make money but they are awesome! You are completely isolated in an outback area so you have nothing to spend your hard earned cash on, and believe me, it's very hard earned. It's long hours involving anything from pouring "scooners" at the bar to washing dishes or flippin' burgers at the grill. I LOVED IT! The money was fantastic ($21 an hour, around £15!) which payed for the rest of my travels and more.

The job was "live-in" which brought its own challenges. There were around 20 staff coming and going on a weekly basis, imagine Big Brother in the outback and you're getting there! But the highs always beat the lows as we were surrounded by some amazing scenery and even more amazing characters. Good times!

I have put up a few pics to help set the scene, a couple were taken on an awesome microlite flight which cost me a carton of beer!

Now I'm back home in Scotland and deciding what to do next. Onwards and upwards...I'll be in touch...promise!

The land of Oz

It's been three months, three awesome months so far!

I arrived in Perth, Western Australia, 12 weeks ago with two bags of clothes and bags of nerves and exitement. Two good friends met me at the airport with massive smiles and a beautiful bunch of flowers and I started to cry immediately! The tears, I later realised, were for the friends and family I had left at home but also for the happiness and freedom I suddenly felt at entering this new era of my life. i am literally young, free and single. The possibilities are endless.

So far I have travelled up and down the west coast with new and old friends. I have snorkelled with reef sharks, slept under the stars at a cattle station, sung around a campfire, "surfed" Wave Rock, visited temples in Bali and sampled plenty of gorgeous wines in Margaret River and Swan Valley.

I have also completely run out of money in the process, so now it's back to reality to find a job, which is never an easy task wherever you are.

When I set out on this new adventure I left a very stable job with a very decent wage...some would say I'm nuts, others would say "go for it!". I wasn't creatively satisfied and had very itchy feet so I thought with my guts instead of my head and quit without ever looking back. Recently I've been in that scary, unemployed stage where it's very easy to lose hope. We've all been there right? But with this new year I'm feeling confident again and have decided not to wollow or feel sorry for myself, I made this decision...and it's an awesome one! I can't wait to be creative here and settle into life in Perth.

I'll be in touch again with news and stories of my goings on down under but for now I'll leave you with some images from my trip so far, to inspire you...and me!