Banana walnut cake

The banana bread seems to be trending online and we didn't want to be left behind. 

I've been on the lookout for the perfect banana cake recipe and after years of looking, finally found the one that gives you a moist, flavourful 'bananany' cake. 

I baked the cake for my father in law's birthday as I had all the ingredients at home. Since it was a birthday cake, I had to make it look pretty so I sprinkled powdered sugar on it. I usually bake birthday cakes a day in advance. I had some batter remaining, so that went into muffin moulds. As the heavenly aroma of banana bread wafted from the kitchen, Skip who had earlier insisted that I use the muffins on the birthday cake, wondered out aloud if we could eat just one muffin as it smelled so good and it was important to check if the taste matched the aroma. Needless to say, the muffins didn't make it to the birthday party. 

If you need to bake a banana bread, this is THE recipe. I've seen similar variations of these on the net which may work as well. The key ingredient, the banana, needs to be very ripe, not just the kind where the peel is speckled with black spots but where the peel has turned entirely black. 

This recipe is from 'baked by an introvert'. 

At the end of the post, check out some other birthday cakes that I had baked prior to the lockdown. 

BANANA WALNUT CAKE 

Ingredients: 

Bananas - 4 large (ripe)

Unsalted butter - ½ cup

Light brown sugar - ¾ cup (packed)

Eggs - 2 

Vanilla extract - 2 tsp

Buttermilk - ¼ cup 

All-purpose flour (maida) - 2 cups 

Baking soda - ¾ tsp

Salt - a pinch 

Chopped walnuts - ½ cup (optional)

Method: 

1. Preheat oven to 200 degree Celsius.
2. To prepare buttermilk - Add 1 tbsp lemon juice/vinegar to ¼ cup milk, stir and set aside. 
3. To ripen the bananas: bake the bananas in their peel at 180 degree Celsius for 15 min (or until the peels darken). Set aside to cool. Once it cools down, puree the bananas (without the peel ofcourse). 
4. Heat butter on low heat in a pan while constantly stirring it. Once it begins to brown (might take about 2-3 minutes ), remove from flame and let it cool. 
5. Sieve the flour, baking soda and salt. 
6. In a separate bowl, combine the melted butter and sugar and mix it well. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla extract. 
7. Add the banana puree to the above mixture. Mix well. Add the buttermilk and mix well. 
8. Add the flour mixture and walnuts to the wet ingredients and mix until combined. 
9. Pour batter into a greased tin and bake at 180 degree Celsius for 50- 60 mins. 
10. Done. 

Recipe notes : 

• Roasting the bananas enhances the sweetness and the flavour of the banana. 
• Walnuts are optional but I would recommend you use them.
• Mix only until the dry ingredients is well incorporated into the wet, do not overmix the batter at this stage. 
• I had only half a cup of brown sugar, so I mixed regular white with it. 

As Skip bit into his first slice of banana bread, he said "bye bye chocolate cake". 

Here's a Chocolate Cake  I baked for my grandmother' birthday. 

The Swedish Almond Cake was for my father's. 

If you have no bread, eat cake! For inspiration click 👉 Cakes and Bakes.