Recipe: Apple & Banana bread bake (V)

Last week I went along to my local IKEA store for a foodie workshop event called “Waste Not, Want Not”. It was hosted by the lovely Melissa Hemsley from Hemsley + Hemsley and was about making the most with leftover food and learning how to not throw anything away.

We were ushered into the sleek kitchen showroom by Maria from IKEA Greenwich who ticked us off the registration list as we entered. Melissa poured us all a glass of water, sparkling lemon or lingonberry mixed cordial. We were then told that we were going to receive Melissa’s latest cookbook, Eat Happy as a gift which was a wonderful surprise.

Waiting for the workshop to start at Ikea Greenwich

The workshop space is light and beautifully set up for Melissa Hemsley

IKEA X Melissa Hemsley workshop

Melissa then introduced herself to us and talked about her love for cooking and how she lives by the “waste not, want not” motto which was the take-home message of this workshop. Growing up with strong Filipino traditions and culture, she explained to us that her mother made sure she never wasted food. I think it must be an Asian thing as I always remember my parents saying the same thing to me when I was young and as a result, I too rarely waste food. I always had to finish my bowl of food and was never allowed to throw it away… or else there’d be trouble.

The workshop was supposed to include a live cooking demo of her delicious banana bread bake but because of some technical issues, it didn’t happen so instead we got lots of tips and advice from Melissa on how to build a ‘waste not, want not food bowl’ from unwanted bits and bobs sitting in the fridge (there’s also a recipe for this in the Eat Happy cookbook).

Food, glorious food!

Food glorious food

She constructed a simple, beautifully presented bowl filled with chickpeas, boiled eggs, radishes, green beans, a leafy salad and feta cheese – all topped off with a light dressing. I love healthy food bowls but never really knew how to construct it properly so seeing it done was very helpful. We all chatted about food and how some foods can have so many ways of cooking it or eating it. For example when eating an orange, instead of throwing the rind away, zest it and use the shavings to infuse sugar or add it to another dish. Alternatively you can even save the rind and use it as pot pourri.

Melissa building her waste not, want not food bowl with eggs, lentils, radishes, green beans and mixed leaf salad

During our chat, Melissa pointed out the delicious cake that caught everyone’s attention; the banana and apple bread bake! She posted up the recipe on her instagram page @melissa.hemsley the following day and I was keen to give it a try. It smelled so so divine at the workshop, I knew I had to get back to baking.

• Melissa’s banana & apple bread bake recipe here

The banana bread bake came out so soft and fluffy. I don’t know if that’s how soft it’s supposed to be but I love it like that. Occasionally, a heavier banana bread hits the spot but this evening a lighter version was perfect. I decided to make mine a little different and changed the recipe slightly – simply because I didn’t have all the ingredients at home so just made it up as I went along which turned out great!

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  That delicious apple and banana bread bake.. if only we were allowed to eat it!

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  Melissa was so friendly and bubbly. I was so happy she said yes to taking a photo with me

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RECIPE: Banana and apple bread bake

Here’s my adapted version of Melissa’s banana and apple bread bake. To make this yummy dish vegan-friendly, simply swap out the eggs for a chia or flax seed mix, or another egg substitute. To make it gluten-free Melissa suggested quinoa or buckwheat flakes. If you’re allergic to nuts, use only coconut flour if you’re okay with coconuts otherwise you can try it with another flour ie. polenta or millet.

Ingredients

• 3 ripe medium-sized bananas
• 1 apple; 3/4 grated for the bake and 1/4 sliced for decoration
• 50g ground almonds
• 25g coconut flour
• 100g rolled oats
• 4 medium eggs (for a vegan alternative, swap for soaked chia seeds or egg substitute)
• 150g coconut oil
• 1tsp baking powder
• 1tsp allspice seasoning
• 1tbs brown sugar

Method

• Preheat oven to 180C/350F or gas mark 4
• Add all ingredients (apart from the bananas and apple) together in a blender and blitz until smooth
• Add in banana and apple and blitz further to your desired consistency (with or without lumps)
• Pour into a lined loaf tin and add the decoration apple slices
• Bake on the middle shelf for 50 minutes
• Do the knife test to ensure the bread bake has thoroughly cooked inside then leave on rack to cool

Enjoy!

There’s so many different ways to recreate this banana bread and that’s the real beauty of it. I’m thinking of adding in chocolate chips or orange rind next time too to spice it up a little bit more. If you give this banana bread bake recipe a try, let me know how you get on with it! 🙂

Bon Appétit!

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