Recipe: Banana Bread Man's Banana Bread (using rum, dried fruit, nuts, and chocolate)

BANANA BREAD MAN'S BANANA BREAD

"This bread is inspired by the "Banana Man," who used to sell his bread off the back of his bicycle in Key West, Florida."

1/3 cup pecans
1/3 cup cashews
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
2 extra-large eggs
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, or 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons amber or dark rum
2 cups mashed ripe banana (4 to 5 medium bananas)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground mace or nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3 tablespoons buttermilk
2 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped, or 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup pitted dates, chopped (see tester's note)
1/3 cup dried cherries (see tester's note)
1/3 cup diced dried papaya (see tester's note)

Toast the pecans and then the cashews in a dry skillet, stirring frequently, until they begin to darken and turn fragrant. Immediately transfer to a small bowl; let cool, then chop coarsely. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour an 8 1/2x4 1/2-inch loaf pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean; add the seeds to the bowl (or add the extract). Add the rum, bananas, cinnamon, mace and cloves; beat until blended. (The batter may look as if it is separating; this is normal.)

Alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the batter, beating until fully incorporated. Fold in the chocolate, nuts, dates, cherries and papaya. Spoon the batter into the pan.

Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 300 degrees F; bake until the bread pulls away slightly from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 70 minutes longer.

Let the bread cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Invert the loaf onto the rack, then turn right side up to cool completely. Slice and serve, plain or toasted and topped with ice cream.

Tester's note: I substituted 2/3 cup already chopped dates and 2/3 cup mixed dried cherries and golden raisins for the whole dates, cherries and papaya.

Makes 1 loaf cake; 10 servings
From: St. Louis Post Dispatch
Adapted from source: New World Kitchen by Norman Van Aken