We've come a long way from that soft, fluffy white loaf with the 'kissy-crust' of my childhood. Auckland and other New Zealand cities have fine artisan bakers producing a wide range of sourdoughs, complex seedy authentic slow-rise breads, and European-style rolls and loaves.
Given that, I wouldn't even think about baking bread; I prefer to bake cakes and long-keeping fruity loaves such as this sweet banana loaf. Make sure you buy freshly shelled walnuts, as even slightly stale nuts can be rancid and will spoil your efforts.
• 100g unsalted butter, softened
• 50g dark cane sugar
• 4 tbsp golden syrup
• 4 eggs
• 4 ripe bananas, mashed
• 225g self-raising flour
• 4 tbsp chopped fresh walnuts
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Prepare a 22cm x 12cm loaf tin by brushing with melted butter and dusting with flour.
2. Put the softened butter in a cake mixer with the beating attachment (on my Kenwood it's the K beater), and beat until very soft. Add the sugar and continue to beat for 2 minutes. Add the golden syrup and the eggs, one by one, continually beating.