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1
Put the golden raisins and rum or bourbon in a smallish saucepan and bring to the boil.
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2
Remove from the heat, cover, and leave for an hour if you can, or until the raisins have absorbed most of the liquid, then drain.
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3
Preheat the oven to 325F and get started on the rest.
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4
Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized bowl and, using your hands or a wooden spoon, combine well.
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5
In a large bowl, mix the melted butter and sugar and beat until blended.
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6
Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the mashed bananas.
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7
Then, with your wooden spoon, stir in the walnuts, drained raisins, and vanilla extract.
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8
Add the flour mixture, a third at a time, stirring well after each bit.
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9
Scrape into the loaf pan and bake in the middle of the oven for 1-1 1/4 hours.
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10
When its ready, an inserted toothpick or fine skewer should come out cleanish.
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11
Leave in the pan on a rack to cool, and eat thickly or thinly sliced, as you prefer.
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12
VARIATION
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13
I havent done a tremendous amount of fiddling with this recipe, but I did once make it, for friends who are more chocolate-crazed than I am, by replacing 2 tablespoons of the flour with good cocoa powder and adding 4 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, cut up into smallish chunks.
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14
And you could just as easily use the chocolate chips sold in the baking aisle of supermarkets.
