Second Breakfast- Welcome!
- Colleen Griffith
- May 5
- 3 min read
Hi everyone! The name is Bilbo and welcome to my recipe collection called Second Breakfast! I am a lover of cozy evenings by the hearth of my little home, relaxing weekends tending to my garden, and, of course, food!
Over the years, I've been curating my kitchen for a perfect meal, whether it’s a quick bite for elevenses, a quick nosh for afternoon tea, or a decadent feast with friends.
Between the spices and strange foods the Took told tales of on their travels, and the Baggins’s friendship with Perry the Winkle, I’ve spent my whole life surrounded by good food and even lovelier people. One day I woke up and said to myself “Bilbo, you’ve got to start keeping track of all these delicious recipes or else they’ll be lost forever!” So here we are!
Now of course if we are sharing food, then that means we also should be sharing stories. Behind each recipe is a tale of how it came about.
This first dish is my very own creation, Cramsome Banana Bread
For this recipe, I recommend using bananas. I know what you are probably thinking– what in the world is a banana?! I understand your hesitation, it is exactly how I felt when my Nana and Grampa Took first brought some home using their travels to Gondor. But when I first tasted it, I thought my little hobbit head was about to explode. It's soft like butter and sweet like honey. I don't think I've ever had anything like it in the shire. It's the perfect addition to a traditional cramsome bread recipe, since cram is rather flavorless, dry, and dense. I know some people like that dense chalky texture in their biscuits (and we will get to my favorite biscuit recipe at a later point), but I prefer something more sweet and moist. When you add the fruit (and of course sift the flour) it makes it more light and almost cake-like, but you get to have it for breakfast. And with the addition of the fruit, not only is it absolutely delightful, but it is also nutritious!
If you are unable to get bananas or unwilling, you can also stew and mash some apples or pumpkins to liven up your cransome bread.
When you are storing it, consider the following: banana bread will keep at room temperature for 4 days, refrigerated for up to 5 days, and frozen for 6 months.
Cramsome Fruit Bread
Ingredients
2 to 3 of your fruit of choice (bananas, sauced apples, pumpkins, etc), peeled and smashed so you have about 1 ½ cups.
1/3 cup (76g) melted butter
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (not baking powder)
1 pinch salt
3/4 cup sugar (depending on the sweetness of the fruit, feel free to add or subtract ¼ cup of sugar- this has been balanced for bananas)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (205g) all-purpose flour
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C), and grease an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan.
In a mixing bowl, mash the fruit with a fork until completely smooth. Stir in the melted butter
Fold in the sugar, and beaten egg. This will cream them to ensure it incorporates air into the mixture, which leads to a lighter, fluffier texture in the finished product. Add the vanilla extract and a pinch of salt, to balance out the sweetness.
Mix in the baking soda and flour. Mix it until all elements are incorporated into the batter
Bake the bread: Bake for 55 to 65 minutes at 350°F (175°C), or until a toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean (no wet batter)
If the outside of the loaf is browned but the center is still wet, loosely tent the loaf with foil and continue baking until the loaf is fully baked. This will protect the outsiders but ensure the center is cooked
Remove from the oven. Let it rest in the pan for about five minutes. Remove the cransome fruit bread from the pan, then let cool completely before serving. Slice and serve. I suggest using a bread knife so the slices aren't too crumbly. Perfect for tea time, breakfast, or dessert!
Recipe based on: https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/banana_bread/
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