This week I’ve had a much-needed health kick whilst getting through a huge box of fruit delivered to me by a company called Fruitdrop. The children got very excited about seeing all the fruit and have been eating much more of it too, usually in the way of fruit salads and a quick morning smoothie. We do eat a lot of fruit in general, but I think seeing a big box bursting with a huge variety of fruit sparked additional interest. The box contained red and white grapes, clementines, apples, pears, melon, kiwi fruit, mango, bananas, plums and a lemon – around fifty pieces of fruit in total. My Fruidrop box arrived in pristine condition and even though we are getting through it (with the help of a couple of batches of this fruity Pear and Plum Banana Bread) it has lasted us well over a week.
The kids really love banana bread as an after school snack and so I very often whip up a batch for them. With all the extra fruit to hand, I decided to layer up some of the pears and plums within the loaf itself, also serving it with some extra fruit.
Fruitdrop is mainly aimed at office initiatives, with a suggestion of ordering enough fruit for 2-4 pieces per person per week, with a fruit box starting at £20. You can also order milk to go along with your fruit delivery and deliveries take place all over the UK on an ad hoc or more regular basis. The fruit is handpicked by Fruitdrop and sourced from wholesale markets from within the UK (although not all of the fruit was British grown). Fruitdrop also guarantee to replace any fruit if you find any damaged or over-ripe.
Pear & Plum Banana Bread
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 6 -8
A quick and easy extra fruit banana bread recipe for the family (or your co-workers!) to enjoy. You can also use apples, or blueberries as one of the layers.
Ingredients
- 150g unsalted butter (plus a bit extra for greasing)
- 100g soft brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 200g self raising flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon (plus extra for dusting)
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 bananas, mashed
- 120g sour cream
- 1 pear, ripe, sliced
- 2 plums, ripe, stone removed, sliced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160 fan/gas 5. Grease the inside of a loaf tin with a little butter and line with a sheet of baking paper.
- Using an electric whisk, beat the butter with the sugar, eggs and vanilla.
- Sift in the dry ingredients and stir with a metal spoon. Stir in the mashed bananas and sour cream.
- Add one third of the mixture to the loaf tin and spread out using the back of a spoon. Next, add a layer of pear. Then a further third of the mixture followed by a layer of plum. Add the rest of the mixture and flatten the top. Dust with a little extra cinnamon.
- Bake the loaf for 1 hour. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for ten minutes before carefully taking it out to cool on a wire rack. Serve when warm or cold with extra fruit on the side. .
Other fruity recipe you might like to try with a fruit box –
You could adapt this Late Summer Fruit Salad with Pomegranate and Pistachio
Or, perhaps try these Toffee Apple Tarts, adding in some pears, too.
You could also use the pears to make these delicious Pear and Chocolate Brownies
With thanks to Fruitdrop for the delivery of fruit for me to review.
Pear & Plum Banana Bread Recipe commission in collaboration with Fruitdrop.
Sally - My Custard Pie says
Lovely fruity layers
Ren Behan says
Thank you, Sally x
Andrea Mynard says
Looks great Ren, ridiculously I hadn’t thought of adding extra fruit to banana bread but definitely going to be giving it a go now. Pears and plums sound wonderful.
Ren Behan says
Me neither, it just came to me as I was thinking up of ways to use the bananas. It worked. You could layer with probably lots of different fruit – even pineapple would work.
Sarah, Maison Cupcake says
Looks wonderful – I’ve been photographing my Fruitdrop cake today too!
We were impressed with the quality and freshness of the fruit – the bananas have lasted ages without going spotty.
Ren Behan says
Looking forward to your Fruitdrop cake, too Sarah.
sarahhillwheeler says
I am sure children love deliveries…makes the delivered item that bit more special! I love the idea of combining pears and plumbs with the banana bread too.
Ren Behan says
It’s true – they are hoovering the fruit down. Thanks for your comment.