Whiskey Soaked Fig & Apricot Banana Bread

I love it when I forget about my bananas and stumble upon them a week later deliciously brown and bursting with extra banana-y flavour. It means one thing - banana bread. It's great because it really is compulsory, otherwise the bananas will go to waste, so I have no choice but to bake a loaf. Banana bread is also wonderful for experimenting with. This time I had a bottle of whiskey that was taking up space in my booze cupboard but only had a couple of tablespoons left in it, so I decided I had better use that up too (to make more space for other things!). 

If you're a banana bread lover, make sure you check out my super special Chai Banana Bread.

Whiskey Soaked Fig & Apricot Banana Bread

Ingredients

1/4 cup chopped dried apricots

1/4 cup chopped dried figs

3 tbsp whiskey (you can also use brandy or rum)

1 banana, mashed well (should make about 1/2 cup, a bit more or a bit less is fine)

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup canola oil (to make a healthier loaf you can substitute 1/3 cup apple sauce and 1 tbsp canola oil)

2/3 cup soy milk

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 1/4 cups wholemeal flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarb soda

1/4 cup almonds, halved

To Make

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (if your oven is fan forced then reduce to 170).

2. Place the chopped apricots and figs in a bowl with the whiskey and let soak for about 20 minutes.

3. Combine the banana, sugar, oil, soy milk and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine.

4. Sift in the flour, baking powder and bicarb into the batter and mix well. You'll have lots of little wholemeal husks left in your strainer after sifting, but you can just throw those in too.

5. Stir in the soaked fruit and the almonds. If there is any whiskey left in the bottom of the bowl just throw that in too. 

6. Line a 22cm/9inch long loaf tin and line with greaseproof baking paper. Pour in the batter and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Makes 1 loaf.

I've entered this dish in the Vegan Virtual Linky Potluck.