Banana Loaf

From teenage years, banana bread has been one of my favourite things to make. So simple and fast. No gadgets (mixers etc) needed. There are some cake batters that I still do 100% by hand -the creaming of the butter/sugar, the whipping of egg yolks/whites etc. Banana loaf batter is one of them -with a trusted old wooden spoon of course. I scrape down the sides of the bowl with my newest toy -a Le Creuset rubber spatula which has a larger than average rubber paddle (in pink, why not?). I always use extra bananas, as in twice the recommended amount...and if they're not quite ripe enough I add a little extra caster (superfine) or soft brown sugar to the mix. The extra bananas add moisture -nothing worse in my opinion than a dry banana loaf...heresy. I don't add nuts or anything else - I am a banana loaf puritan. The nuts detract from the banana-y-ness and lessen the moisture. This is one of those batters which I could eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner quite happily, without it ever seeing the inside of the oven. For those times it does make it inside, when it comes out (as soon as the edges come away from the pan, around 40 mins for a regular loaf-sized tin), it takes enormous willpower on my part not to eat it right there and then. Many a time I have eaten the entire loaf, still warm, and had nothing to show to guests other than a few crumbs and a full tummy.