My daughter has been spreading her wings in the kitchen, mainly focusing on deserts. At her age it is all new and exciting and I am someone who will help get rid of the mistakes as well as the successes. We have bonded a lot lately.

Here's a banana bread recipe from her friend's family.

Served with lunch, as a dessert or, like the English, with a cup of tea, topped with butter or jam, it is delicious. It is an authentic recipe and as you may know banana bread is very old.

Banana bread is comparatively fast and easy to prepare compared to similar fruit breads and that may be a reason what it is popular here in the US. Exactly when it was invented is not known, however, it may have first appeared as early as the end of the 18th century. On the other hand, it was not explicitly mentioned in the first American cookbook by Amelia Simmons printed in 1796. Moreover, bananas were only available in larger quantities on the market after the colonialist expansions around 1880, because there was previously problems with transport and storage due to lack of refrigeration facilities. Banana bread is certainly seen as a recipe in a baking book from 1933. Later, numerous variations were developed and ready-made baking mixtures were also sold at the market.

It is made, depending on the recipe, from crushed bananas, wheat flour, sugar, baking powder, butter, milk and egg or soy milk or even tofu. Other ingredients include nuts, raisins or dates, as well as spices (cinnamon or vanilla). Banana bread is usually baked as a loaf and served sliced.

Due to the high content of carbohydrates, it is sometimes used as an energy source in endurance sports.

My daughter's recipe is as follows:

Mix:

• 1/2 cup butter or olive oil
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs

Add:

• 6 ripe bananas, crushed (if not very soft, they will not be too sweet either, and it is advisable to add a little more sugar)
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon yeast
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix it but don't mix it too much. Like good waffles you don't want to build a lot of gluten.

Optional:

• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/2 cup raisins (My daughter made this amendment because she loves raisins)

Bake at 350 degrees until firm. To test it a knife in the middle of the cake must come out clean. Allow to cool a little before serving. This is the tricky part.

Then enjoy. It's good with morning coffee too.