Buckwheat Banana Bread with Poached Quinces & Mascarpone

Banana Bread

• 4 large ripe bananas, mashed
• 4 eggs
• ¼ cup honey
• ⅓ cup coconut sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp allspice
• ½ cup coconut oil
• 1 tsp gluten free baking powder
• 2 cups almond meal
• ¼ cup buckwheat flour
• Pinch of sea salt 

Poached Quinces

• 5 quinces, peeled, cored and cut into eighths
• 8 cups water
• ¾ cup coconut sugar (you could also use honey or raw sugar)
• 1 tsp vanilla powder
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 5 cloves
• 1 tsp cinnamon 

Vanilla Bean Mascarpone

• 250g mascarpone
• 4 tbs coconut sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla powder
• Pistachios for sprinkling

Banana Bread

1. Pre-heat your oven to 170 degrees celcius.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine mashed bananas, eggs, honey, coconut sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, allspice and coconut oil.
3. Fold the baking powder, almond meal, buckwheat flour and sea salt into the mixture.
4. Pour the batter into a paper lined loaf tin and place into the oven for 50 minutes.
5. Test the loaf before removing from the oven; an inserted skewer should come out clean, if it doesn’t, leave it in the oven for a further 5-10 minutes.
6. Once the loaf is cooked, remove from the oven and set aside to cool. 

Poached Quinces

1. Pour 8 cups of water into a heavy based pot, add the cinnamon sticks, cinnamon, vanilla and coconut sugar (or alternative) and stir well.
2. Add the quince slices into the pot of spiced water.
3. Place the pot onto the stove on medium-high heat and bring to the boil.
4. Simmer the quinces over low heat for 2-2.5 hours or until soft and bright in colour.
5. Remove from the heat.

Vanilla Bean Mascarpone

1. In a small bowl, combine the mascarpone, coconut sugar, vanilla powder and mix well. Set aside. 

Serve the banana bread sliced with a generous dollop of mascarpone, some poached quince and a sprinkling of roughly chopped pistachios. YUM! You could also cut the slices into bite sized pieces. If quinces are not in season my poached pear recipe is also a great alternative.