“My mind says Victoria Secret but my heart says Nutella.” Unknown
So there I was checking my emails this morning when my daily Bloglovin’ message alerted me to a new post from Joanne over at the great ‘A Cup of Jo‘ blog (what a great name for a blog) about ‘World Nutella Day’. My first though was just What? Why? How? Why? World What Day? How can the Italian hazel-nutty chocolate sugary treat that comes in a jar have its own annual food holiday ?!?
It’s a thing, it really is (source: www.nutelladay.com)
I checked with my reliable friend Google who confirmed that this was in fact such a thing. February 5th is ‘World Nutella Day’ and yesterday it celebrated its 8th anniversary. Again Why? How? What? Why? So it’s not a joke, then.
World Nutella Day was created in 2007 when Sara Rosso, an American blogger living in Italy, thought that should be a day set aside to appreciate Nutella. She has been spreading World Nutella Day love ever since aided by her co-hosts. Nutella Day is an unofficial fan site (even has its own Facebook page) for lovers of Nutella and does not represent official views or opinions of its manufacturer Ferrero, S.p.A, in fact they initially tried to ban it but have now backed off.
The reason for this post is not to encourage or endorse this nuttiness (sorry little joke there) but just to pay a little homage to the jar of naughtiness after I scrolled down Joanne’s post and found she had uploaded a recipe for ‘Nutella Swirled Banana Bread’. Combining two of my households favourite things, Banana Bread (me) and Nutella (teenager, I actually try to avoid this addictive calorific treat unless in France and there are crepes involved) and did I mention this cake has rum (optional) in it too!!!
So here I am channelling my inner Mary Berry (gotta dig real deep to find her) on this Thursday evening aided by the teenager who had attached herself to the jar, she disappeared fast when it was cleaning up time. This is our attempt at chocolate enhanced loaf. The recipe is used courtesy of Zoë from Zoë Bakes via the ‘A Cup Of Jo’ Blog. This recipe makes two loaves so I halved it to make just one (baby steps).
The Recipe
Ingredients (makes 2 loaves)
3 large or 4 medium (2 cups mashed) bananas, yellow with brown speckles
1 cup brown sugar, packed
4 oz. (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. rum, optional
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup Nutella
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pans with butter, lined with buttered parchment.
Mash the bananas with a potato masher, so they still have some small lumps, set aside.
Mashed banana, not gonna lie doesn’t look that appetising at this stage
In a mixer combine the sugar, butter, milk, eggs, vanilla and rum ( I did it by hand as my mixer is in storage in the UK). In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the sugar/butter mixture, just until smooth. Add the bananas and mix just until they are combined.
Place the Nutella in a bowl and microwave for about 20 seconds to soften it. If you don’t use a microwave, you can heat the Nutella over a double boiler for a couple of minutes. Drizzle 2/3 of the Nutella over the banana bread batter.
Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the Nutella into the batter, trying not to over mix, so you can see the swirls when it’s baked. Carefully divide the mixture into the pans. Add the rest of the Nutella and swirl into the top of the batter. Bake for about 45 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
Allow to cool in pan for about 10 minutes. Remove and eat one of them while it is still warm and gooey. Save the other for the next day and serve with more melted Nutella.
Our finished Nutella Swirled Banana Bread, which smells and luckily tastes delicious too
The photos here are mine which really do not the recipe justice so check out the photos taken by Zoë herself here. Not only is this very naughty but there are 11 more Nutella recipes over on ‘A Cup of Jo’ including a Nutella Banana Smoothie (who doesn’t love the combination of banana and chocolate together) which I am definitely trying next……being good in February, what’s that? There’s always March…….
Nutella is big here in the UAE, literally! On our travels we found 5kg oversized jars in Lulu supermarket so big and heavy it was ridiculous!
My assistant, the Teenager who ate a lot of Nutella during the making of this Banana Bread
All views are my own based on my experience. Unless otherwise stated, all photos on this page © Jo Brett 2014. All rights reserved.
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