Spotting some very ripe bananas in the fruit bowl that no one was going to eat anymore, I naturally thought of banana bread but what to do to make it different?My daughter and I are big fans of coconut and we both love raisin bread so an idea was born. This is utterly delicious toasted and buttered.

Banana, Coconut, Rum & Raisin Bread

INGREDIENTS

• 100g raisins
• 70cl rum
• 500g strong white bread flour
• 7g easy blend yeast
• 10g salt
• 50g desiccated coconut
• 3 medium ripe bananas, mashed
• 20g unsalted butter, melted
• 280ml whole milk

METHOD

1. Place the raisins and rum into a microwave bowl and leave to soak for at least 1 hour then microwave for 1 minute and set aside to cool.
2. Place the flour into a large bowl. Add the dried yeast to one side and the salt to the opposite side.
3. Add the coconut, bananas, melted butter and almost all the milk.
4. Mix everything together until you have a soft, sticky dough. Depending on your flour and the size and ripeness of your bananas you may not need all the milk or you may need to add a little extra.
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly oiled worktop and knead for 5 – 10 minutes.
6. It should be smooth and no longer sticky. If you lightly push a finger dipped in flour into the dough it should spring back.
7. Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowel and cover with cling film or, I use a shower cap, and leave to rise for 1 – 2 hours until doubled in size.
8. You can of course do steps 1 – 5 using your stand mixer with the dough hook attachment. Be careful not to over knead! Check the dough after 4 – 5 minutes of kneading.
9. Line a large or two smaller bread tins with baking parchment.
10. Turn the dough out onto a work surface lightly dusted with flour.
11. Knead the dough for 1 – 2 minutes until all the air has been knocked out and the dough is smooth.
12. Push or roll the dough into a square about the length of your tin.
13. Drain the raisins and sprinkle the raisins over the dough.
14. Roll the dough up folding the ends under and place the dough seam side down into the tin.
15. Cover the loaf with cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for 45 minutes.
16. During the last 10 minutes of rising preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan.
17. Bake the bread in the preheated oven for 35 – 45 minutes until golden.
18. Remove the bread from the tin to check for doneness. The bottom should sound hollow when tapped.
19. Leave the loaf to cool on a wire rack.