Banana, date & walnut cake
Due respect to Nigella for this. Glut of overripe bananas, Domestic Goddessery and the usual lack of the right ingredients lead me to this one day. I'm sure her original is at least as yummy. I used to say I don't like banana cake....
180g (ie whole pack - more or less nae matter) organic medjhool dates
75 ml dark rum, or in my case barcardi & brandy (well it then looked & smelt like dark rum!) or either
175g plain flour
2 tspn baking powder, 1/2 tspn bicarbonate of soda, 1/2 tspn salt
125 g UNsalted butter, melted (in the family heirloom broken handled minipan)
150g sugar
2 large eggs
4 small/2 large etc but about 300g without skin, VERY ripe bananas, mashed
60 g walnuts (optional, but only if you really are allergic)
1 tspn vanilla extract
23x13x7cm loaf (2lb) tin, buttered & floured (or it won't come out!) or paper lined
Gas 3, 170C
Stone & chop dates to what ever size you like, put in pan with alcohol, bring to boil, turn off heat, leave for at least 1 hour, till liquid has been absorbed.
Oven on.
Medium bowl: flour, baking powder, bicarb, salt, mix well.
Large bowl: melted butter & sugar, beat with wooden spoon untill blended. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add mashed banana.
Stir in dates, walnuts,vanilla extract. Add flour mix, 1/3 at a time, stirring well after each addition.
Pour/scrape into tin. Bake in middle of oven for 60 - 90 mins, till fine skewer comes out "cleanish". Leave in tin on wire rack to cool.
Eat, mmmm.........
- Paula
October 9, 2004 in Puds | Permalink
Comments
I tried this receipe last week-end and indeed it was really good. Thank you very much.
Regards,
Usha
India
Posted by: Usha | 13 Sep 2005 09:20:53
Wow!Thanks a ton for the recipe! Is a really delicious cake.
Posted by: Chitra | 6 Oct 2005 10:34:35
Hi Usha and Chitra
Thanks for trying this. I never would have believed banana cake could be so yummy (and embarrasingly easy!)
Paula
Posted by: Paula | 8 Nov 2005 19:30:37
Try adding some dark chocolate instead of the walnuts, it works beautifully
Posted by: Maria | 28 Sep 2006 12:46:48
Thanks for the recipe! I made it into muffins and a strange thing happened with the first batch...the dates burned within the batter and I ended up with rock hard centers!! The next batch was fine, although I will cut down on the sugar next time.
Posted by: Monique | 15 Oct 2006 11:27:03
Googles and found this recipe made it the same night- amd eating it NOW!! We love it- thanks for sharing!!
kt x
Posted by: Katie S_J | 28 Oct 2006 15:13:48
Sounds wonderful....but would it be possible to translate measurements into cups/teaspoons for those of us in U.S.? Sorry to be so ignorant of metric measurements!
Posted by: JayeAnn Smith | 31 Oct 2006 20:59:48
hey paula!!! i tried this recipe n my god.. it's fantastic! its really moist yet a lil chewy maybe because of the dates w put in...n i substituted the walnuts required to half portion of hazelnuts and half portion of chopped dark chocolate.. i must say this is the best banana cake i've ever tasted!!! thank u ever so much for this luvly recipe!!!!
Posted by: Jumanmasuri | 18 Feb 2007 10:10:26
Try substituting the banana's for grated apples and add two teaspoons of ground cinnamon for a more spiced version of this cake
Posted by: Marissa | 30 Aug 2007 22:14:24
Thanks for this yummy recipe. Just made it with brown sugar (only 100g) and left out the alcohol so that I could safely feed it to my eighteen month old daughter. It's a hit with the whole family!
Posted by: Chloe | 7 Oct 2007 19:39:13
Just baked this cake and boy it is yummy, think I would add extra bannana next time, thanks for a great recipe
Posted by: Wendy | 13 Oct 2007 15:51:20
I substituted half the sugar for maple syrup and the walnuts for pecans, WOW!!!!
It;s absolutely delicious, such a versatile recipe!
thank you.
Posted by: lizelah | 27 Oct 2007 13:08:53
Hi,
I really want to try this recipe out, but I don't drink alcohol so i was wondering if you had any ideas as to a substitute for it? And also how would i use it?
Thanks in advance
Posted by: Ovi | 17 Nov 2007 14:55:58
Hello,
Just seconding lizelah question.
Posted by: Jon | 29 Aug 2008 16:11:01
someone above tried it without the alcohol for their 18 month old and it seemed to work fine for them:)
Posted by: damian rafferty | 29 Aug 2008 16:17:17
I didn't use alcohol and it still turned out good! Thanks for this recipe btw! I thought that maybe you'd like another fruity cake recipe, so here's one I found on wailana yoga. Enjoy and thanks for the recipes!
Batter:
1 cup oil
2 cups granulated fructose
One 20-oz. can crushed pineapple (including juice)
4 cups unbleached white flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 Tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/3 cup dried cranberries, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
Frosting:
3 cups reduced-fat cream cheese, chilled
Juice of one lemon
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
1 3/4 cups confectioners sugar
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the oil and fructose in a large bowl. Add the crushed pineapple and juice. Mix well. In a separate bowl combine the next 6 dry ingredients, then add to the pineapple mixture and mix gently. Add the cranberries and coconut and stir to combine.
2. Pour the batter into two oiled 9-inch round baking pans or one 9x13-inch baking dish. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown and firm to the touch. Remove from the heat and allow to cool, removing from the pans after approximately 10 minutes.
3. For the frosting, soften the cream cheese with an electric mixer on low speed. Slowly add the lemon juice and mix on medium speed. Add the coconut and confectioners sugar and mix on high until well combined.
4. To frost two 9-inch layers, use 1 to 1 1/4 cups between the layers and the remaining frosting for the top and sides of the cake. For a 9x13-inch cake, simply frost the entire cake.
Serves 16
Posted by: aerogirl | 17 Sep 2008 12:06:45
