Let’s get honest for a minute…. I absolutely LOVE my life and my many many jobs. Browsing through incredible vintage shops all over North America to find the most beautiful & unique pieces, helping to create inviting and gorgeous homes for families with the team on Love It or List It Vancouver, designing incredibly stunning & luxurious PNE Prize Homes – not a bad life, right???
However, when I look at my girlfriend Erin Ireland, all I want to do is trade lives with her – even if just for a few days!!! Erin has created an amazingly successful business out of her absolutely unbelievable mouth-watering excuse-me-while-I-have-another BAKING. She literally gets to bake, eat, and feed people all day – UH-mazing. And somehow she still looks like a million bucks to boot!!
Of all her recipes, her To Die For Banana Bread is probably her most popular and is definitely my personal favourite. You might remember that my cousin Tori makes a mean loaf as well, but Erin gives Tori a run for her money (and I refuse to choose!!!). Since I’m on a crazy cherry kick this summer – gotta embrace the sweet Okanagan bounty, right?? – I thought it’d be amazing if I had Erin over to create a twist on her original banana bread – a cherry twist!
The result: TO DIE FOR. The tart juiciness of the cherries added such an incredible punch to the sweet delectable loaf. We had to stop ourselves from eating the whole thing in one sitting!! And I’d promised Justin I’d save him a piece too… damn stupid promises!! 😉
Erin’s original To Die For Banana Bread recipe is under lock and key, but she was more than happy to create a new cherry & banana loaf recipe for me to share with you. She combined Tori’s recipe with her own and result is a masterpiece. This is a SERIOUS MUST-TRY.
THE RECIPE
Ingredients:
1 small bag of BC Tree Fruit Cherries
1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 mashed ripe bananas
Pinch of salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tbsp. of boiling milk
1 tsp. baking powder
1 c. flour 1 tbsp. bourbon ½ tablespoon of nutmeg Pinch of ground cloves
Instructions:
Cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer. Add the vanilla, eggs, bananas, bourbon & spices and mix until smooth. Add the baking soda to the boiling milk, stir, and add this along with the flour, baking powder and salt to the butter mixture. Beat on medium with electric mixer until smooth.
Cut up the Cherries and take the pits out. Cut them how you would like and add them to your mix. Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan and bake at 350F until done, approx. 30 minutes.
And enjoy!!
xo Jilly
