Marbled chocolate & banana bread

Bananas have been so cheap lately I can't help but get a bunch whenever I walk past the supermarket. I still remember a few years ago they were once almost $10 per kilos because of a hurricane that had destroyed most of the banana crop. It is funny how the price of something as basic as fruits can fluctuate that much.
I have always liked my bananas a bit unripe - just before they start turning black and when they still have a little bit of crunchy and bite in them. As soon as black dots start appearing on the peel I find them unappetizing. That is, of course, except when I bake them with. These bananas were so ripe in fact when I took them out of the plastic bag I saw a tiny bit of mould starting to grow on the end of them. Pretty gross I know. But I decided they were just on the skin and chose to ignore them. It could be a health hazard but so far I feel fine after eating two large slices in the afternoon.In fact this banana bread is so good I could finish the entire loaf. This is the first marbled cake/bread I have made and I reckoned it looked quite pretty, at least from the outside. And I have also made buttermilk from milk and lemon juice for the first time. Simply add 1 tbsp lemon juice or white vinegar into 1 cup of milk and let it stand for 5-10 minutes and that can be used as sour milk. Alternatively sour cream or plain natural yoghurt is fine too.

Recipe adopted from So Good and Tasty
1 cup plain flour
3/4 cup wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sour milk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup ripe banana, mashedchoc chip
1 tbsp dark chocolate, chopped
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1) Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Line a 9-inch loaf tin
2) In a mixing bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon together. Set aside.
3) Cream sugar and oil together. Mix in buttermilk. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the mashed bananas, vanilla and choc chips. Stir to combine.
4) Make a well in the dry ingredients and fold in the wet mixture until just combined. Divide the batter in halves. Add in cocoa powder and chopped dark chocolate in one half of the batter and mix until combined. Do not overmix or the bread can become tough.
5) Alternatively, add the plain and the chocolate batter into the loaf tin. Run a knife through the layers to create a swirl pattern.
6) Bake for approximately 50 minutes or until cooked through when tested with a cake tester. Cool in tin for 10 minutes. Remove from tin and cool completely on wire rack. Enjoy!

Sour milk made with 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 tbsp lemon juice.
It's used in a lot of cake and muffin recipes to make the finish product lighter and fluffier.

Plain and chocolate batter