Banana Bread with Maple Mascarpone Cream and Hazelnuts

I have memories of my mom making banana bread (or banana muffins) every Friday night when I was little. It was truly the best thing because I’d wake up on Saturday morning with breakfast waiting for me on the counter. It can’t get much better than that can it?

Since we moved into our new place in September, I’d acquired an insanely large amount of frozen bananas (I threw them in the freezer as they were about to go bad). So the first thing that came to mind to make with the copious amount of bananas I had accumulated was of course – banana bread.
But instead of having it for breakfast the next morning like I used to, I brought it for dessert to a family dinner. But I wanted to elevate the recipe a bit (regular banana bread would’ve been just fine for the family dinner dessert, but I was feeling creative). But how? A few ideas that crossed my mind on how to bring this banana bread to the next level: Add a combination of caramel and chocolate chips, add a touch of lavender to it, make it a chocolate cherry banana bread…not bad ideas, but none were speaking to me, ya know?

That’s when I came across the Modern Proper’s banana bread with maple mascarpone cream. The way to elevate my banana bread had been found. It’s true, once you add this maple mascarpone to your banana bread, you’ll never look back. You’ll want to put it on every banana bread you make going forward. Trust me. I also added some chopped hazelnuts on top because why not? So there you have it, the easiest, most perfect way to elevate your banana bread in mere minutes. Enjoy the recipe!

Banana Bread with Maple Mascarpone Cream and Hazelnuts
Recipe adapted from the Modern Proper
Makes 1 Banana Loaf

Ingredients

For the banana bread:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ tsp  salt
½ cup butter
¾ cup white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 ½  cups mashed overripe bananas (note: my bananas were frozen so when thawed, they had more moisture than a regular ripe/unfrozen banana, so this is why I used less bananas than the original recipe called for)

For the maple mascarpone and topping:
275g mascarpone
4 tablespoon pure maple syrup, plus more for drizzle
Chopped hazelnuts

Method

1. Heat oven to 350° F. Lightly grease (with butter) and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Turn pan over the sink and tap out extra flour.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a stand mixer, cream the butter together with the white sugar. Stir in eggs then mashed bananas until well incorporated.
3. Sift flour mixture into banana mixture; and continue to mix in stand mixer until just combined. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
4. Bake in oven for 55 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let the bread cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.
5. In a stand mixer or hand-held mixer, mix the mascarpone and maple syrup together until well combined, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. By whipping the two ingredients together in a stand mixer, it will make the mascarpone less dense, lighten it up a bit and give it the consistency of cream.
6. To serve, cut the bread into slices and spread with 2 tablespoons maple mascarpone, drizzle with extra maple syrup and top with chopped hazelnuts.