Buzzing about bananas

Did you know that a banana is classed as a berry?

Fact of the day for you there- however, we can’t claim to have found out this information by studying bananas under a microscope. Though, if it rains for much longer, dissecting fruit could be a good form of entertainment, daytime TV really is rubbish.

 According to Stanford magazine: Botanists define a fruit as the portion of a flowering plant that develops from the ovary. It contains the seeds, protecting them and facilitating dispersal. https://alumni.stanford.edu/get/page/magazine/article/?article_id=63171

So, there you go. If there is a question in a pub quiz on bananas being a fruit, you can now explain to everyone that they are in FACT a berry. Your friends will look at you in awe (or there are a whole load of other expressions which might cross their face, but we are telling you it will mostly be awe), and the whole pub will be silent for a good five minutes. You may become known as banana brain but it is always nice to have a random fact to pull out of the bag.

Now we have blown your minds with that, did you also know you can do a lot more with a banana than just eat it? (Or dissect it for fun?)

Below are 5 things you can do with bananas that may surprise you...

Face mask: Easy peasy banana squeezie. For glowing soft skin simply mash a banana in a bowl and pop it on your face. If you have coconut oil, add a teaspoon for extra hydration and leave for 10 minutes before washing off. If you have pets, it might be a good idea to lock yourself in the bathroom as dogs and cats will try and lick your face. Though, you might also attempt to lick your own face...

Banana hair mask: Using the leftovers from the face mask recipe above, pop the rest on your hair. Leave it in for 15 minutes before washing out thoroughly, no one wants bits of banana left in their hair and again you may get an unfortunate nickname.

Foot scrub: To give your feet some banana love, simply mix one banana, 1tbsp sugar and mix. Then rub it on your skin in a circular motion to get rid of grotty feet.

Teeth whitener: The peel has its own uses too; cut off a section and rub the inner part over your teeth for a couple of minutes, then gargle (try not to gag), and rinse off with water.

Frozen chocolate bananas: Ok we know we said you can do more with bananas than just eat them, but these little beauties are covered in chocolate so it would be rude not to share this with you.

You will need:

A freezer (see below)

Baking tray (freezer size)

Baking parchment

Lollisticks (desirable but not essential, use if you have them lying around your kitchen. We did not.)

Bananas

Copious amounts of chocolate white/dark/milk/flavoured

Toppings (sprinkles/desiccated coconut/chopped nuts etc)

Method:

To make your own lazy breakfast of frozen chocolate bananas get a baking try or something you can fit into your freezer with the door shut and line it with baking paper.

Get as many bananas as you desire and cut them all in half. Put a lollipop stick through the middle of each of them. If you do not have any sticks you can just slice the bananas.

Melt a load of chocolate (because you will want to lick the bowl- if you require measurements then 2 ounces will do), and dip in your banana lollipops/slices.

Once coated with chocolate, dip the bananas in you toppings and try not to eat them before you put them on the baking parchment.

Repeat until all of the bananas have been dipped, or the chocolate is running out and you HAVE to lick the bowl.

Pop the tray in the freezer until they are solid, which will take at least six hours. We know, it is a while but if you make them before bed then they will be ready for breakfast.

Wake up after a chocolate dream with –insert Hollywood crush here- run downstairs and try your delicious frozen chocolate banana lollies/bites.

Here are the ones we made...

Stop laughing. Please.

Get yourself down to your local greengrocer and go bananas!