In my preparations to go to Cameroon, I found this recipe for banana bread. It's delightfully quick to make. It seems that the bananas replace a lot of the sugar and fat. Ironically, I've only made it once since arriving here because there's a woman who sells banana muffins at the school for 100 cfa (about 20 cents)!

Easy Banana Bread Recipe
Makes 8-10 slices. Preparation time: 15 minutes. Cooking time: 1 hour.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup sugar
3-4 ripe bananas
2 medium eggs
1 baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups flour

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
With an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Peel and add the bananas, breaking them into small pieces with a spatula. Mash with mixer, gradually increasing the speed until the bananas are mostly smooth. Add the eggs, baking powder, and baking soda and mix until smooth. Gradually add the flour and mix until smooth.

Grease a medium bread tin and pour in the batter. Put in the oven and bake for about an hour or until a knife inserted into the loaf comes out clean.

Leave the bread to stand in the tin for 10-15 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack; this will prevent it from falling apart.

Serve in thick slices on its own or spread with butter or honey. This banana bread is even better the following day – if there’s any left.

Cocinando con gozo

Welcome, joyful cooks! This blog comes to you from Yaoundé, Cameroon, in an attempt to share some of the delicious foods I've been making here. You'll find influences from the U.S., Latin America, and of course, Cameroon. Delightfully, many of the ingredients from Ecuador and Mexico, like beans, yucca, tomatoes, garlic, hot peppers, and rice, are also available here, so I'm having a great time playing around with a variety of flavors. Hope you have as much fun as I do trying them!