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MaiʻaʻUlu quick bread (banana and/or ʻulu)

Mai‘a‘Ulu Bread · MaiʻaʻUlu Bread · ʻUlu and banana loaf · Hawaiian breadfruit banana quick bread

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A Hawaiʻi ʻUlu Cooperative home loaf made with ripe banana, ʻulu, or a mixture of the two, leavened with baking powder.

Illustrative maiʻaʻulu quick bread loaf and cut slice; not a photograph of the source batch.

A cooperative home recipe

The Hawaiʻi ʻUlu Cooperative's MaiʻaʻUlu home recipe combines ripe maiʻa, ʻulu, or both in a baking-powder loaf. The source measures two cups of mashed fruit altogether but does not specify how to divide that amount when both are used. This particular recipe is not a process for making fermented breadfruit paste.

The cooperative's crop note describes maiʻa and ʻulu growing together in traditional Polynesian food forests. That context supports their agricultural relationship; it does not date this quick-bread formula or make it a universal Hawaiian method.

Sources for this section

Mix and bake

Mix flour with baking powder and cinnamon. Cream softened butter with sugar, then beat in eggs and vanilla until thick. Combine the mashed ripe fruit with milk. Add wet and dry mixtures alternately in three batches and stop mixing once combined.

Bake the batter in a greased loaf pan at 350°F (177°C) for 50–60 minutes. The source checks for a golden-brown top and a toothpick inserted in the center that comes out without batter; it does not provide a pan size, internal temperature or storage duration.

Sources for this section

History

The Hawaiʻi ʻUlu Cooperative shares this home recipe and says ripe ʻulu can be used alone or together with maiʻa in breads and muffins. Its crop discussion mentions traditional Polynesian food forests; that context does not establish this particular loaf as a traditional or ancient recipe.

Ingredients

Yield 12 servings · Scaling: source batch only

All-purpose flour
473 mL2 cup as recorded
Source gives volume only.
Baking powder
9.9 mL2 tsp as recorded
Cinnamon
4.9 mL1 tsp as recorded
ButterSoftened.
1½ sticks
Source measure; no weight given.
Sugar
315 mL1⅓ cup as recorded
Source gives 1 1/3 cups.
Eggs
2
Vanilla extract
4.9 mL1 tsp as recorded
Milk
118 mL½ cup as recorded
Ripe maiʻa and/or ʻulu (banana and/or breadfruit)Mash.
473 mL2 cup as recorded
The combined amount is 2 cups; the source does not give a ratio when both fruits are used.

Method

Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Raw flour and egg batter

The flour and eggs are uncooked before baking; tasting raw batter can expose the eater to foodborne germs.

Hazard source
Hot oven and loaf pan

The loaf bakes in a 350°F oven and the pan remains hot when removed.

Hazard source

Do not taste the raw batter. Wash hands, bowls, utensils and work surfaces after handling raw flour, eggs or batter; bake the loaf as directed.

Control source

Contains wheat (gluten), milk, butter and eggs.

The source gives no storage duration.

  1. Heat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease a standard loaf pan.
  2. Mix the flour, baking powder and cinnamon in one bowl.
  3. In a separate bowl, cream the softened butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until thick.
  4. In a third bowl, combine the mashed ripe maiʻa, ʻulu, or a mixture of both with the milk.
  5. Add the fruit mixture and dry ingredients to the butter-and-egg mixture in three alternating batches. Mix just until combined; do not overmix.
  6. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50–60 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out without batter.

Conditions

Yield12 servings
Temperature177°C

Places

Hawaiʻi

Documented preparation · Region evidence

Published as a Hawaiʻi ʻUlu Cooperative home recipe. This documents the cooperative's Hawaiʻi association, not an exclusive origin claim for banana or breadfruit loaves.

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Sources