Ever since I saw Sofia’s blueberry, strawberry and yogurt cake, I’ve been wanting to make something similar, but with frozen mixed berries. After all, I did have a bag of frozen mixed berries in the freezer, and yogurt in the fridge. But since we had some bananas that were borderline over-ripe, I decided to make some banana bread instead, and add some mixed berries to it.
But then I found this recipe, which calls for cinnamon and marzipan and chocolate chips! Since I already recently made banana bread with chocolate chips, I decided to make this, but using the frozen berries in place of the chips. And it just so happened I had a 7 oz. box of marzipan in my cupboard waiting to be used.
I know I’m not reinventing the wheel with one small substitution, and banana bread recipes lend themselves to additions and substitutions all the time, anyway, but this turned out really well! I think it’s because the marzipan is very sweet, and the berries add a much needed tartness that I don’t think the chocolate chips would’ve ever provided.
Actually, I thought it could use a little more tartness. Maybe some lemon zest, or a lemon glaze, next time?
But overall, it was a very tasty banana bread, and it smells amazing when baking. I like banana breads that are moist on the inside, but also crunchy or crisp on the outside. This one was not as pronounced in moistness/crispness, as the mascarpone chocolate chip banana bread was, but the next day, I put a slice in the toaster, and it was really good awesome with my morning coffee!
So, I hope you enjoy this. Have a great rest of the week!
Mixed Berry Marzipan Banana Bread (based on this recipe)
ingredients:
Banana-Marzipan Loaf Cake
Yield: One 9-inch loaf (about 12 servings)
Time: 1¼ hours, largely unattended
Butter or oil for greasing the pan
¾ cup sugar
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3 medium overripe bananas, mashed
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
7 ounces marzipan
1 cup mixed berries, frozen (original calls for 1 cup chocolate chips)
method:
1. Heat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9-inch loaf pan. Beat the sugar and butter with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer (or with a handheld mixer) until light and fluffy. Add the bananas, eggs, and vanilla and beat until well combined.
2. In a separate medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Chop or tear the marzipan into small pieces and add to the flour mixture, stirring to coat each piece with flour and prevent the marzipan pieces from sticking together. Stir in the mixed berries if you’re using them. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir just until combined.
3. Transfer the batter to the greased pan, and bake until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, 45 to 60 minutes. Cool thoroughly, then slice and serve. (Store leftover banana cake wrapped in foil or plastic wrap at room temperature for up to a few days.)
DAVE BAKES
3 responses to “Mixed Berry Marzipan Banana Bread”
What a cool reinvention of a cake! I”ve never thought of putting marzipan in a cake, very neat idea. This looks great for breakfast, and for any time of the day 😉 Cheers!!
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Thanks for stopping by, Sofia! (BTW, I panicked after I sent this, because I wasn’t sure if I spelled your name correctly! Whew!) Anyways, yeah, I think it’s a cool reinvention. Not my reinvention, I just copy what I see online. But I totally agree, any time of the day would work for this. I think a scoop of vanilla ice cream would push this over the top, in a good way!
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Haha so funny because actually I wrote a post about my name two posts ago, and the confusion it brings 🙂 Agreed, a scoop of vanilla ice cream helps improve everything!
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