Flourless banana cake
Is it just me or does it always seem that there are some bananas lying around, turning black before they can be eaten? Call me picky, but the moment they start to develop a couple of black spots I relegate them to the “inedible” category in my mind and think about what I can do to use them up and hopefully avoid having to simply chuck them out.
Sadly, sometimes they do end up in the bin but I do have a handful of recipes up my sleeve to use up over-ripe bananas when possible. There’s the flourless pancakes, made either with buckwheat flour or coconut flour, as a base for a smoothie, and of course, my favourite banana cake. You could call it banana bread, most people do, but I’m really not sure what makes it a bread other than it tends to get baked in a loaf tin. So a cake in the shape of a bread for what purpose? Perhaps it makes people feel better not calling it cake? Then it’s more like a real food than an indulgence. Total mystery to me because this banana “cake” is entirely real food that happens to double up as a sweet treat. Dual purpose food, if you will.
I bake it in a cake tin and therefore call it banana cake and since it has no dodgy ingredients, I don’t have to feel any guilt in calling it a cake. It’s gluten free, has no refined sugar and only healthy fat. It’s practically a health food!. I’m really thinking that maybe I should consider dousing it in some sort of icing or even syrup to make it more decadent. However, it’s good enough as it is and makes a good snack when craving something sweet to go with a cup of herbal tea (or even better, gasp, builder’s tea).
This cake takes less than 10 minutes to put together. The worst bit is waiting for it to bake and cool down enough to eat. So simple and foolproof, anyone can do it – no baking skills required. The other bonus of this cake is that unlike cakes made with flour, this does not go stale but actually improves with age. It keeps well for about a week supposedly – I’ve not yet been able to confirm this as I’ve never had any left after a couple of days.
- 3 over-ripe medium bananas or 4 smallish bananas
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar (light brown sugar can be used)
- 50 g coconut oil - melted (unsalted butter can be used instead)
- 4 tbsp almond milk or any other milk of your choice
- Preheat your oven to 175 degress (fan oven, or 190 regular).
- Mix all dry ingredients with a whisk in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Mash bananas with a fork until they make a sort of runny, somewhat lumpy mixture. Mix in vanilla extract.
- Whisk the eggs in with the bananas and mix well.
- Pour the banana egg mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Add the milk. Use a spoon or spatula and mix well.
- Add the melted coconut oil and mix thoroughly.
- Prepare a baking tin by greasing lightly with butter or coconut oil. Then line with baking paper and grease the paper as well. (I use a square 8 inch tin but you can use a round 8 inch cake tin or even a loaf tin - just make sure to grease it and line it with baking paper.)
- Place in the centre of the oven and leave for 40 minutes. Check with a sharp knife or cake tester - knife should be completely dry when it comes out. If unsure, bake another 5 - 10 minutes.
- Unlike wheat flour cakes, this cake doesn't get overbaked and dry so cooking it a few minutes extra if unsure will not ruin it.
- Take it out of the oven and let cool in the pan briefly before turning it out on a cooling rack. Then put it into a tightly sealed storage container. This will help it to retain moisture. Store in the fridge after the first day.
