Xander Berkouwer (26)
student Strong flavours from all over the world can be found in Wageningen. Xander Berkouwer (26), from the Netherlands, is chair of powerlifting club Wageningen Beasts. He shares a recipe for energy-rich banana bread.
‘My mum always used to bake banana bread whenever I needed to perform, for example in competitions or for my studies during exam week. When I went to university, I continued this tradition by baking banana bread every time there was an exam week. And now I bake it for the whole team if we have a rowing competition. It makes sure we always have enough energy to perform well.’
Banana bread for 6 people
Ingredients:
- 250g soft butter
- 200g sugar
- 6 eggs
- 500g self-raising flour
- 4 to 6 bananas (depending on the size)
- 8g vanilla essence
- 2g salt
- A little milk
- Heat the oven to 180°C.
- Mix the soft butter and sugar to form a creamy mixture.
- Add the vanilla essence.
- Add the eggs one by one and mix thoroughly.
- Add the self-raising flour a little at a time. Tip: use a sieve for this.
- Add a dash of milk if the dough is too stiff, but not too much because the bananas will make the dough softer.
- Cut 2 to 4 bananas into cubes and mix them in with the dough.
- Cut 1 banana into small pieces and mix it in with the dough.
- Pour the dough into a baking tin, cut the last banana into small pieces and sprinkle them on top.
- Put the mixture in the oven to bake for about 60 minutes.
