Banana honey cake for the nurses - success

Really moist and delicous
Thanks to my housemate for buying a whole bag of bananas and leaving them to get nice and smooshy and ripe on the table.

The kitchen I was using had nothing useful in it. I could only make something that doesn't require anything more sophisticated than a set of scales, a bowl, a cake pan and a spoon and fork.

2 eggs

80g caster sugar
50g runny honey
3-4 small bananas mashed - make sure they are extra ripe and full of flavour
50mL vegetable oil
50mL olive oil
150g SR flour

1/4 tsp bicarb soda
2 tsp mixed spice

Icing
Icing sugar
Lemon juice
Small knob of butter

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celsius. Grease and line a 20cm square pan.

In a large bowl mix the sugar and eggs until as white and fluffy as you can get them. Add the honey, oils and banana and mix well.

Add the flour, bicarb soda and mixed spice over the top. Gently stir to combine.

Pour into the cake tin and cook for 35-40 mins until springy to the touch. Cool in pan for 5-10 mins then turn onto a cake rack to cool. Ice once cold

Icing:

In a bowl mix together icing sugar, a knob of softened butter and lemon juice to make an icing consistency. I always do it by hand so don't have any quantities for this part. Just add lemon juice slowly a little at a time until it is the right consistency.

I wish I had an excuse to make such an extravagant looking delicious banana-rum cake with cream cheese icing and walnuts.. but I don't

We had three bananas ready for banana cake last Thursday. It is now Monday and I decided they were more than ready for banana cake. Completely black and super mushy!

I wanted something a little more indulgent than the typical banana bread. Try banana cake. The cake mixture is from Smitten Kitchen "Caramel Walnut Upside Down Cake". I altered it slightly and added a cream cheese icing - good move.

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 large eggs

1 generous cup of mashed very very ripe bananas (3-4 bananas depending on size)

3 tbsp sour cream (or yoghurt or buttermilk)

1 tbsp dark rum (I used bundy..)

1 3/4 cups plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp bicarb soda

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 170C fan forced. Grease and line two 20cm sandwich tins.

Cream the butter and sugars. Add the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well. Add the banana, sour cream and rum and beat again. At this stage my mixture curdled and looked entirely unappetising - don't worry if this happens because when I added the flour it all turned lovely and shiny again.

Fold in the sifted flour, baking powder, bicarb soda and salt very gently.

Divide the mixture between the two greased cake pans. Bake on the middle shelf in the oven for 25-30 minutes (mine was 29 mins) or until they spring back when touched and start to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Leave to cool in their pans for about 5 minutes, then put onto a cake rack to cool completely. Ice when cold.

Cream Cheese Icing

In a bowl beat together 250g cream cheese, 3 tbsp butter, 1 tsp of rum (or more to taste) and the zest and juice of one large lemon. Gradually add 4 cups of icing sugar. Mix until you have a smooth consistency.

Place one cake (rounded side down) onto the serving plate. Cover generously with icing, and then sprinkle with lots of roughly chopped walnuts. Place the second cake on top, rounded side up, and cover with more icing. Decorate with more walnuts.

Store it in the fridge.

inspirationally over-ripe banana carrot bread with healthy intentions

full of bananas

full of flavour

80c for a whole pack of inspirationally over-ripe bananas

Sugar scaled back from 1 cup to 1/3 of a cup - still sweet enough for me

1 1/2 cups mashed over-ripe banana - I used 7 tiny bananas

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup olive oil

2 eggs

1/2 cup of dates, soaked for 10 mins in 1/4 cup of boiling water

1-1 1/4 cups grated carrot - from one large carrot

1 1/2 cups wholemeal flour

1/2 cup plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarb soda

1 tsp cinnamon, ground

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup chopped pecans/walnuts/pepitas/pumpkin seeds - I used pumpkin seeds

Preheat the oven to 160C fan forced. Line two small loaf tins with baking paper and spray the sides with cooking spray.

In a big bowl combine the banana, sugar, olive oil and eggs. Add the dates and carrot and mix well. Stir in the flours, baking powder and soda, cinnamon, salt and nuts.

Pour mixture into loaf tins. Bake for 30-35 mins or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in tins for 10 mins, then cool remove from tins and cool on wire racks.

These freeze very well.

easter monday banana and walnut muffins

These are based loosely on Bill Granger's berry yoghurt muffins. Thanks Bill Granger.

Try them with butter. Butter makes the world a better place.

Note the crocodile pot holders. Very cute.

Makes 12-15

1 1/2 cups SR flour

1 cup wholemeal SR flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 cup brown sugar

100g walnuts, roasted and roughly chopped

Finely grated zest of 1 orange

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup natural yoghurt

2 eggs

2 tbsp olive oil

2 large bananas (these ones were huge!) roughly mashed so there are smooth bits and chunks

Raw sugar or demerara sugar, for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a muffin tray with patty pans.

Mix the flour, cinnamon, sugar and walnuts in a large bowel. Mash the bananas then stir in the buttermilk, yoghurt, eggs and olive oil. Make a well in the dry ingredients then gently stir in the wet ingredients until just combined.

Spoon into tin, sprinkle with demerara sugar and bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Remember to eat them warm with cold butter.

Original recipe calls for 440g (2 cups) mixed berries instead of the banana and no orange zest or nuts.