Brazil Nut Banana Crunch Saturdaes Recipes

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease a 900g loaf tin, then line the base and ends with a long strip of baking parchment. Stir together 2 tbsp each of the sugar, flour, nuts and coconut. Add the butter and rub together to sticky crumbs. Set aside.
• Mash the bananas well, then stir in the sunflower oil, egg and milk. In a separate large bowl, mix half of the remaining sugar, followed by the remaining flour, nuts and coconut, then the baking powder and cinnamon.
• Whisk the egg white to stiff peaks, add the final bit of sugar and whisk again until stiff and shiny. Stir the banana mixture into the dry ingredients, then lightly fold in the egg white mixture. Gently scrape into the tin and scatter over the crumb mixture.
• Bake for 40 mins until a skewer poked in comes out clean, covering with foil if the bread starts to go too brown. Cool in the tin, then remove and thickly slice, eating with butter, if you like.

Steps:

• Toast the Brazils on a baking sheet at 180C/160C fan/gas 4 for 10 mins. Tip onto a separate lightly oiled baking sheet. Gently heat the sugar in a non-stick pan for about 5 mins until it melts, then let it bubble into a dark golden caramel, swirling it around the pan if it colours patchily. Pour the caramel over the nuts and allow to cool. Once cold, put half of the nutty caramel into a food processor and whizz until grainy. Smash the rest with a rolling pin to give nobbly shards. Can be made up to 3 days ahead and kept in an airtight container.
• Soften the ice cream for 10 mins, scoop into a large bowl or tub, then use electric handheld beaters to beat until smooth and thick. Fold half of the fine, nutty caramel through it, then re-freeze. On the day of your party, scoop the ice cream, then return the scoops to the freezer on a tray. This will make assembling the puds really simple.
• For the sauce, put all the ingredients in a pan, then gently heat until melted and smooth. Make up to 3 days ahead if you like, then gently reheat.
• To serve, slice the bananas. Spoon a little of the whizzed caramel into the bottom of 6 glasses. Add some banana, then a scoop of ice cream. Drizzle with warm sauce, add some more banana, a little more sauce, then top with shards of Brazil nut caramel.