Rummy Date and Banana Bread

I admit, I came up with this one as I was looking to use some wholemeal flour I had leftover from recent baking adventures. However, I was so pleased with the result I felt I must share it with you all. I've made banana bread many times before, but this one has a few extra special twists, such as the addition of sweet and syrupy dates, a touch of cinnamon and a heady dash of rum. I've also used light agave nectar in placed of refined sugar and no dairy, so you could say it's not so naughty but nice. ;-)

Prep time: 20 Mins (Plus soaking time for the dates)
Baking time: 70-75 Mins
200g Hadrawi Dates (Or Medjool)
100g Agave Nectar (Plus a little extra to drizzle)
90ml Rum
90ml Boiling Water
215g Wholemeal Flour
2tsp Ground Cinnamon
1tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
1tsp Baking Powder
2 Large Eggs (Beaten)
2 Ripe Bananas (Well mashed)

For a really soft and sticky texture you'll need to soak your dates for a few hours and ideally overnight, so grab a good size bowl and something to cover it with. Remove the stones from your dates, chop roughly and add to the bowl. Drizzle in the agave, then pour over the rum and boiling water. Leave to soak for a minimum of three hours, covering when the mixture has cooled to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3 and line a 2lb loaf tin with one of those loaf tin liners you can pick up now from the supermarket. If you don't have a liner then baking paper will do just fine. Add the flour, cinnamon, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder to a large bowl, mix together, then make a well in the centre. Pour in the beaten eggs, along with the cooled date mixture and mix together once more. Fold through the ripe bananas, getting right to the bottom of the bowl until you are left with a consistent batter, then pour into your prepared tin.

Bake in the centre of the oven for around 70-75 minutes, until a metal skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the loaf. When you are happy the loaf is baked remove from the oven and leave in the tin for ten minutes. Carefully turn out onto a wire rack, drizzle with a final lick of agave syrup and leave to cool until ready to serve. All done.