Claire Ptak’s Banana Buttermilk Bread
Claire Ptak amps up traditional banana bread with one stand-out ingredient: buttermilk.
Serves8
Makes1 (10x4-inch) loaf cake
Cook40 minutes to 50 minutes
For the first five years of Violet, I resisted adding banana bread to the menu. It always seemed to me like something you only made at home, with old bananas. I am not a huge fan of banana and, indeed, was never a huge fan of cake made from them. Eventually, however, I grew tired of telling customers we didn’t have it and set out to make a version I could be proud of. This cake is now one of the most popular items on our menu, and for good reason.
Banana Buttermilk Bread Recipe
Claire Ptak amps up traditional banana bread with one stand-out ingredient: buttermilk.
Cook time 40 minutes to 50 minutes
Makes 1 (10x4-inch) loaf cake
Serves 8
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
Butter, for greasing the pan
- 6
very ripe bananas
- 2/3 cup
vegetable oil
- 1 cup
plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon
vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon
dark rum
- 2
eggs
- 1/3 cup
cultured buttermilk or plain yogurt
- 1 1/2 cups
all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon
baking soda
- 1 teaspoon
baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon
kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons
sugar
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 355°F or 320°F convection. Butter a 10 by 4-inch loaf pan and line with parchment paper.
Reserve half a banana for the top of the cake and mash the remaining bananas well.
In a bowl, whisk together the oil, brown sugar, vanilla, rum, eggs, and buttermilk or yogurt. Add the mashed banana and set aside.
In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Fold this into the banana mixture until just combined, then pour into your prepared pan. Smooth the top with an icing spatula or rubber spatula and place the reserved banana half, cut lengthwise, on top. Sprinkle with the sugar.
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until an inserted skewer comes out clean and the top of the cake has set and starts to caramelize. I sometimes use a kitchen blowtorch to help this along. Leave to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe Notes
Reprinted with permission from The Violet Bakery Cookbook by Claire Ptak, copyright © 2015, published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.
Photographs copyright © 2015 by Kristin Perers