*I chose this spelling for referencing reasons

I have been obsessed about cooking with bourbon lately: Caramelized onions with bourbon, bacon and bourbon beans… So when I bumped into this recipe for bourbon and chocolate bananabread, I knew I had to try it one day soon.

I’d never tried baking bananabread as I usually eat all the bananas before they are ripe enough for baking, plus I am the only one at home who is crazy about this North American delicacy. I was also afraid of not making it as good as the one I can get from a breakfast place close to my house.

But screw my fears and banana-hungry stomach! This was bananabread day! So – armed with the recipe, a bottle of booze and bananas on the verge of decaying – I marched into the kitchen after a whole week without baking anything thanks to the high temperature and 98% humidity level in Montreal last week.

I do believe that baking is a science and a much less merciful process than cooking, but I also do believe in feeling how the things are going and making adaptations in case something doesn’t seem right. Yes, I can easily screw up a loaf of bread by doing this, but I can also save it from disaster. All that to say that I made some changes to the original recipe, so I could make it more suitable to our taste.

Because we don’t like sweets that are too sweet and because ripe bananas are basically sugar in a creamy-yellow form, I started by cutting down on the quantity of sugar. At the same time, I used dark chocolate and while adding it to the dough, I adjusted the amount to what seemed enough for the loaf.

It’s not that I did not make any mistakes. When removing the bread from the pan, it broke in half, in a way that the top landed on the plate and the bottom stuck to the pan. With help, the bananabread was finally set in a plate where we could cut it and have a slice, or some, with a nice cup of coffee.

I also remembered that the breakfast place nearby serves their bananabread with a bit of sour cream with honey, so I decided to make my own version and had some whipped cream with maple and bourbon on the side. Both recipes right below the picture.

Bourbon Chocolate Chip Bananabread

Ingredients

260 g all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

100 g unsalted butter

100 g sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cup of mashed ripe bananas (2 bananas and a half in my case)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

4 teaspoons bourbon

130 g coarsely chopped dark chocolate

Directions

Heat oven to 350 F (175 C) and grease loaf pan.

In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt.

In the stand mixer bowl with paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy.

Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating for about 1 minute after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix in the bananas, lemon juice and bourbon. Mix until well-combined.

Add the flour on low speed until it’s incorporated. Fold in the chocolate.
Pour the batter in the baking pan and spread evenly. Bake for 45-60 minutes (check if it’s baked inserting a toothpick in the loaf. When there is no batter on it, your bread is ready).

Remove from the oven and let it cool for 20 minutes before inverting onto wire rack. I dare you, I double-dare you not to it until it’s completely cool.

Bourbon maple whipped cream

Ingredients

50 ml whipping cream

1 teaspoon maple

1 teaspoon bourbon

Directions

Put all ingredients in a bowl. Whip it good until it reaches the desired consistency.