My Little Kitchen Experiment
So, the other day, I was staring at these bananas, you know, the ones that get all spotty and you swear you’ll make banana bread but never do? Yeah, those. And there was this half-eaten loaf of bread just sitting there, getting a bit too friendly with the air. Waste not, want not, my grandma used to say. So, I thought, “Right, pudding it is!” But not just any pudding. I wanted something a bit more… oomphy. Chocolate! Chocolate and banana, classic stuff, can’t go wrong, or so I hoped.
First off, I grabbed that bread. It wasn’t fancy, just your everyday white loaf, maybe a bit stale which is perfect for this. I started tearing it into chunks. No precise cubes here, folks, I just went at it. Threw all those pieces into a baking dish. Then, the bananas. Sliced ’em up. I probably used three, maybe four? Lost count, just made sure there was a good layer. I just layered them over the bread. Some people get all neat with this, making pretty patterns. Me? I just make sure it’s roughly even and everywhere. Then, because I was feeling a bit extra, I sprinkled a whole bunch of chocolate chips over the bananas. Why not, eh? The more the merrier, that’s my motto with chocolate.
The Custard Bit – Always a Gamble
Now for the custard. This is where things can get a bit dicey if you’re not paying attention, or if your eggs are feeling moody. I whisked up some eggs – I think it was three large ones. Then poured in some milk, a good splash of cream ’cause I had some leftover from another thing I made, a bit of sugar (not too much, bananas are sweet, plus all those chocolate chips), and a dash of vanilla. Oh, and more chocolate! I melted some dark chocolate, the good kind, and whisked that right into the eggy, milky mix. It looked a bit like a delicious mud puddle at this point, but in a good, promising way.
I poured this chocolatey concoction all over the bread and bananas in the dish. I really made sure to get it into all the nooks and crannies. Poked it a bit with a fork here and there to help it soak in. You want that bread to be properly drenched, see, no dry spots allowed. Then I let it sit for a bit, maybe 20 minutes? Gives the bread time to really drink up all that goodness and get all soft. Some people say an hour, or even overnight in the fridge, but who has that kind of patience when chocolate is involved and you want dessert now?
Into the Fiery Depths (aka The Oven)
Then, into the oven it went. I’d preheated it, of course. I’m not a complete savage, most of the time. Set it to, I dunno, around 350F? That’s about 175C, I think. Ish. I always just kind of guess with these things and hope for the best. Baked it until it was all puffed up and golden on top, and when I stuck a knife in the center, it came out mostly clean, just a little moist which is what you want. Took about, what, 40-45 minutes? I was mostly just sniffing the air. When the whole kitchen smells like baked chocolate and bananas, and you can hear it gently bubbling, it’s usually a good sign things are going well.
And let me tell you, when it came out? Oh boy. The top was a little crispy, the edges were nicely caramelized, and the inside was all gooey, warm, and custardy. The chocolate chips were melted into little pockets of pure joy. It wasn’t the prettiest thing I’ve ever made, a bit rustic, you could say. Definitely not something for a fancy magazine cover. But who cares about pretty when it tastes this good?
We ate it warm, with a massive dollop of vanilla ice cream slowly melting on top. Because, you know, why not go all out? It was one of those simple, messy, totally satisfying things to eat. Didn’t last long, I can tell you that. The dish was practically licked clean. Definitely making this again when the banana guilt hits and I’ve got bread going stale. It’s just easy, and uses up stuff I’d probably end up binning otherwise. So, a win-win in my book, and a happy tummy too.
