We're crazy about food at paper republic: we have shared group lunches every day and at least once a week, one person will make lunch for all of us in the office. But the best bit is when people make homemade snacks and desserts :)
So often the distinguished smell of leather will be combined with freshly baked cookies or banana bread.
True story!
One refill for recipes
I like to write down my favourite recipes in my grand voyageur, even if they end up getting covered in butter stains from time to time.
I have a special refill solely for my cooking and baking recipes. I used to be worried about getting something on my grand voyageur when I was cooking, but our leather journals are made with vegetable tanned vachetta leather (it's the best!), so it will age beautifully and develop the unique patina we talk about over time. So the way you use it will give yours its own personality reflecting your life.
And if you do splash some dough or wine on it when in the kitchen - don't worry. You can always clean it: our leather notebooks and accessories can be kept in loving condition with our le baume pour cuir which is made from beeswax and natural oils and will clean and restore your leather.
This is my recipe for banana bread
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 55 minutes
INGREDIENTS
3 very ripe bananas, peeled
300 g self raising flour
150 g sugar
150 g melted butter
Pinch of salt
80mL milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
optional: chopped chocolate/walnuts
Please note:
The best bananas to use are the ones which are squishy and browning inside
You can also use regular flour and simply add a teaspoon of baking powder
I often make a vegan version, just leave out the egg, milk and butter and add ¼ cup vegetable oil and 80mL plant based milk (I like almond milk)
DIRECTIONS
The beauty of this banana bread recipe is you don’t need a fancy mixer! A mixing bowl, a fork to whisk the egg and a sturdy spoon to mix the butter are all you need.
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lightly spray a loaf pan with oil and set aside.
2. Melt the butter
3. In a large bowl, mash the banana until almost smooth
4. Stir the wet ingredients into the banana until combined.
5. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Stop stirring when there are no flour patches at the bottom of the bowl.
6. Spoon the dough into the loaf pan and spread out evenly. Add your desired toppings and gently press them into the dough to adhere.
7. Bake the loaf, uncovered, for 45 to 55 minutes, until lightly golden and firm on top. The top of the loaf should slowly spring back when touched.
Now the hard part, you need to wait a little longer before eating it...
8. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Set the loaf, still in the pan, on a wire cooling rack. Let it cool for 10 minutes — this helps the loaf solidify and makes it easier to remove from the pan.
9. Remove from pan and cool another 10 minutes
And now finally, enjoy a good piece of banana bread!
Should we try something new?
That's the first recipe I've shared, and I hope to share more soon.
In the meantime, do you have a recipe which you think our team should try out? We have some amazing amateur cooks and bakers in here always keen to try something new.
Feel free to share with us at wecare@paper-republic.eu!