Hello! Do you like banana cake? I do.

As we were growing up, my mother made banana cake for us – often. It was a treasure in the lunchbox, alongside a granny smith apple and a ham and cheese (or cheese and pickles) bread roll.

I’ve played around with the recipe. This cake is like what mum used to make. Maybe even a trifle better, due to slow baking in the wood oven.

I thought I’d share the recipe with you.

Banana Cake
ingredients
::4 medium overripe bananas, mashed (preferably by helpful 5-year-old!)
::2 cups SRF
::2 eggs
::1 tsp vanilla essence
::125g softened unsalted butter
::1 cup brown (or dark brown) sugar
::1 tsp mixed spice
::1 tsp bicarbonate soda
::1 cup sour milk (1 cup milk with a splash of vinegar added)

method
::preheat oven to moderate/180 deg
::cream butter and sugar
::gradually stir in eggs
::mix in vanilla essence
::sift dry ingredients together
::add butter mixture to flour mixture and stir to combine
::add milk and bananas and mix
::pour into a greased 20-28cm cake tin
::bake gently for an hour or until skewer comes out clean
::leave in tin to cool for 10 minutes
::turn out onto wire rack and cool

lemon and coconut icing
I always ice my cakes the day after baking. This cake, however, is very moist so icing needs to be done quickly, gently and smoothly. You could even leave it for two days if you store it well. Use a knife with a wide, unserrated blade.

Mix 1 cup of icing sugar with the juice if 1 lemon. You might want to add more sugar or liquid (water, melted butter or lemon) if the mixture is dry. Spread evenly over cake top and sprinkle dessicated coconut on top.

Voilà! Just like my mum used to make.

Rated 5 yums from Montague!!

The cake can be frozen whole or in segments. Freeze wrapped portions, pop them in school lunches in the morning and they are defrosted for recess.

Wondering which bananas to use? The brown ones that have been sitting in the pantry for too long are just perfect!