The Best Banana Cake Recipe Ever! (With Cream Cheese Frosting)

I tasted this banana cake for the first time when I was in Sydney. I have a colleague there who loves baking almost as much as I do and she bakes cakes for people in her team very often. She brought this banana cake and a flourless chocolate cake the day I landed. They were both divine.

Australians love their banana bread. Its a staple in all coffee shops - thick slabs of banana bread often served toasted with butter. Ah, bliss.



The moment I had my first taste of this cake, I decided I not only want the recipe, but I want the book it came in as well. I asked her to bring it in the next day and ordered it online the same day. It reached home to Singapore before I did.



I made it exactly the same way mentioned in the book the first time. It tasted wonderful - quite dense, sweet, deliciously banana-ey. The cream cheese frosting was the perfect indulgence along with the humble banana backing. The beauty of this cake is, it can be entirely made in a food processor, if you have one. I have an immersion hand blender that has a processor/chopper which worked perfectly. If not, you can just use your hand-help whisk or electric beater to bring the batter together. If I had a blender, I would have tried mixing this cake in it.

The second time around, I decided to make it less sweet with no frosting, perfect for breakfast or to carry in a tiffin box to school, work, or a picnic.

The Most Fabulous Banana Cake Recipe
Adapted from: Mix and Bake by Belinda Jeffery 
Makes 12 large pieces

Ingredients:
3/4 cup (110gm) plain flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 very ripe large banana (about 1/2 to 3/4 cups when mashed)
3/4 cup granulated sugar (regular white sugar)
1 egg
1/4 cup (4 tbsp) butter, at room temperature
50ml sour cream (or buttermilk as in original recipe)
1 tsp vanilla extract

For Frosting (optional - you can just dust with icing sugar too):

125gm cream cheese, cut into chunks, at room temperature
1/4 cup (4 tbsp butter), cut into chunks, at room temperature
3/4 cup (150gm) icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

How I Made It:

1. Preheat oven to 350F / 180C. Grease a 9" cake pan or a brownie pan like I used. This size is actually for the recipe which I have halved here so you can only make a thin single layered cake if you use a 9" pan. Try a smaller pan if you want to frost the cake in layers.

2. Put the flour, baking powder, salt, and soda into the food processor and whiz them together for about 15-20 seconds. Tip into a bowl and set aside. If mixing by hand, just put everything into a bowl and blend together using a whisk or a fork.

3. Chop the banans into the food processor next and whiz into a pulp. Make sure the banana is really really ripe. Again, you can do this by hand using a fork or potato masher, in a separate bowl.



4. Add the sugar and egg to the mashed banana and whiz for another minute. Then add the butter and whiz for another minute until the mixture is thick and creamy. (Cream together for about 5 mins if doing by hand).



5. Next, add the sour cream (or buttermilk) and vanilla extract and whiz in quick pulses until just blended. Fold together if doing by hand.



6. At this stage, you can either tip the flour mixture into the food processor or fold together in a separate bowl. My chopper bowl is not that big so I did this in a bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and fold until just blended. Don't overdo the mixing part.



7. Scoop into greased tray and smooth out the top layer evenly.



8. Bake for about 40 mins or until the top turns golden brown and the cake passes the skewer test. Remove and let cool completely before frosting.



For Frosting:

Whiz together all ingredients in the food processor for about a minute until well blended. Chill until needed to frost. You can mix by hand too, just make sure the butter and cream cheese are softened to room temperature so that they blend well when mixing with hand.

Frosting from the first time I made the cake

When the cake is cool, layer on the frosting on all sides. Cut and serve. With sour cream, the cake turns out much much softer so try and use it instead of buttermilk, if you can. Yum.

The first time I made this cake. Came out denser, but equally yummy.

Chocolate Banana Hazelnut Crumble with Vanilla Custard Sauce

The chosen recipe for this month's Sweet Punch was Pear and Chocolate Crumble with Almonds. I wasn't too keen on trying baked pears so I decided to use bananas instead. Then I realised I didn't have almonds at home so used hazelnuts. Finally, the recipe got adapted quite a bit but the end result was amazingly delicious. Its quite light since they are individual portions and with the vanilla custard sauce that I usually serve with my apple crumble, this was was a sure winner. What's more, this is a super simple eggless dessert for those of you who don't eat eggs in any form!

With each spoonful, I kept asking TH, "isn't this delicious?" as if I wasn't responsible for the deliciousness. It really was that good. Its super easy to make and there are no exotic, hard to find ingredients either.

Chocolate Banana Hazelnut Crumble
Adapted from here
Serves: 6

Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas
1/4 cup brown sugar (white should work too)
1/2 cup hazelnuts (or almonds)
A generous pinch of powdered cinnamon (optional)
100gm chopped bittersweet chocolate (you can also use milk chocolate or semi sweet - choc chips not recommended since they are designed not to melt)

For the crumble:
100gm / 3/4 cup plain four (or, try atta)
55gm  / 1/4 cup chilled butter
10gm chopped bittersweet chocolate (I omitted this)
A pinch of salt, if using unsalted butter

How I Made It:

1. Toast the hazelnuts in a dry pan until browned on few sides. Cool and chop into small pieces.



2. Chop up the chocolate.  I used these gorgeous Lindt bittersweet discs I got from Sydney and they were so delicious, all melted and gooey in the crumble.



3. Cut the banana into small pieces and mix in a bowl with cinnamon, chocolate, sugar and the hazelnuts. Spoon equal portions into 6 ramekins (no need to grease) or one pie-dish, if you wish. Make sure you spoon in any juices and liquids too.



4. Add diced, chilled butter to the flour (+salt) and use fingertips to mix together, until it resembles bread crumbs. Add the chocolate (if using), and mix well. Lay over the banana mixture and press gently.

5. Bake in a 180C preheated oven for about 35-40 mins until the top turns brown and the mixture is all bubbly.



Serve with vanilla ice-cream or vanilla custard sauce, recipe below.

Vanilla Custard Sauce (with egg)

Beat with a fork, 1 egg yolk with 1 teaspoon cornflour and add 2 tablespoon sugar with that. Add one cup warm milk and beat well again. Cook on a low fire stirring constantly until pouring custard consistency. Add 1/2 tsp vanila essence, cool, chill and serve with warm apple crumble.

Vanilla Custard Sauce (eggless)

Blend vanilla flavoured custard powder with 1.5 cups of milk and 4 tbsp sugar (adjust to taste). Cook on a low fire until pouring consistency. Cool, chill and serve with warm apple crumble.

Easy Eggless Chocolate Mousse - Nigella Lawson Recipe

I barely had time to do this month's Sweet Punch - Easy Eggless Chocolate Mousse - a Nigella Lawson recipe. We are packing to go off on our big vacation of the year, the house hunt just got over and we are shifting first week of December, having moved to a new role, work is also not that laid back anymore - so a lot of stuff happening all at the same time!

Still, I couldn't pass over this easy chocolate mousse recipe because even before this month's challenge was shared, I had bookmarked to try this, along with the Chocolate Pistachio Fudge which I managed to make sometime back. 

The secret to this recipe is marshmallows. The gelatine in this eliminates the need to use eggs and also the lengthy setting time that's common for classic mousse recipes.

Eggless Easy Chocolate Mousse Recipe
Source: How to be a Domestic Goddess
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:
Mini marshamallows - 150 g (I used regular ones)
Butter - 50 g, softened
Chocolate - 250 g (I used 60% dark chocolate, and it was super intense), roughly broken into pieces
Hot water - 60 ml
Cream - 250 ml
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

How I Made It:

1. In a heavy-bottom saucepan, melt the marshmallows, butter, chocolate and water together, stirring every now and then. Note that the marshmallows take a while to meld down so I cut each further into 4 pieces. I'd recommend you do the same if using regular marshmallows.

2. Meanwhile, whip the cream with vanilla until thick.

3. Fold it into the cooling chocolate mixture until you have a smooth mixture.

4. Pour into individual ramekins / small serving bowls and let it set in the fridge for about 1 hour.

I halved the recipe and got exactly 2 portions of intense, chocolate-y mousse that was silky and had a wonderful texture. Using semi-sweet chocolate is more advisable since the flavour is intense otherwise.

Sanjeev Kapoor's Pineapple Upside Down Cake Recipe

Machine-cut pineapples drenched in sugar syrup, how pretty and perfect! I used these babies in a pretty nice pineapple upside down cake recipe. I often end up baking with chocolate whenever I do bake and when I was asked to bring dessert for a potluck a few weeks back, I resolved not to let chocolate anywhere near the dish.

I had just received Sanjeev Kapoor's Cakes and Bakes, so decided to flip through it. I have to admit at this point that the first time I baked this cake, it didn't turn out well. I under-estimated the bake time, and when I turned the cake upside down, it was still squiggly in the middle. That turned into something of a disaster but I salvaged it and called it pudding in a way that would have made my mom proud. 

This recipe is slightly fansy-pansy. It calls for demerara sugar. I bought it just for this purpose, just so that I won't screw up a second time.

Sidenote: Is demarara sugar available in India? If you know if a place, do leave a comment. Thanks!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Makes one 9" cake
Adapted from Sanjeev Kapoor's Cakes and Bakes
(Amazon | FlipKart)

Ingredients:
1 cup regular all purpose flour or maida
8 slices canned pineapple, drained
150gm / 3/4 cup butter at room temperature
3/4 cup demerara sugar
1 tsp baking powder
3 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 cup milk (low fat works too)

How I Made It:

1. Preheat the oven to 190C / 275 F

2. Mix 1/4 cup butter with the demerara sugar and spread it at the bottom of a greased 9" cake pan.



3. Arrange a layer of pineapple slices over it, slicing them to adjust and fill the gaps.



4. Sift the flour and baking powder. Keep aside.

5. Beat the egg yolks in a small bowl and add in the rest of the butter (1/2 cup) and the vanilla essence. Combine until smooth.

6. Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Don't overdo this otherwise the egg whites will turn dry.



7. Fold in the sifted sugar, one tablespoon at a time. Then fold in the egg yolk mixture.



8. And finally the flour mixture, 1/4 cup at a time. Be gentle and only mix until the flour disappears into the batter. Don't over-mix.



9. Pour the batter over the pineapple slices and bake for about 30-40 mins.



10. Make sure that you test the cake and not go by time because the first time I did that, I ended up under-baking the cake by about 10 mins or so. This one below is done perfectly!



The butter-sugar mixture will caramelize and come up a bit at the sides. Its yum!



Unfortunately, I don't have a great final picture of the finished cake. I had to pack this in foil and take it for a party so no pics of slices.



Its definitely tasty but I am not satisfied with it. I think pineapple, butter, sugar and flour can make something better - so the search is still on. Leave a comment if you have a great pineapple upside down cake recipe on your site!

Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes Recipe

I know, that's a lot of chocolate discussion on this site over this week but when it comes to chocolate, there's never too much of it. Agreed? There you go!

This is our Sweet Punch challenge for October, so don't be surprised if you see a lot of chocolate lava cakes cropping up on blogs around you.

I baked this decadence over the weekend. It rose beautifully and the crust was cracked and heavenly. Be very careful not to burn your tongue on this. I speak from experience, like I almost always do. Learn from my mistakes, ok?

Since neither TH nor I like very runny centres for our molten chocolate cakes, I increased baking time but made sure that the centre is still gooey and fudgy.



Molten Chocolate Lava Cake
Fills 4 medium-sized ramekins
Recipe source - showmethecurry.com

Ingredients:
Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate – 4 oz (113g)
Butter – 1/2 cup + to grease ramekins
Eggs – 2
Sugar – 1/3 cup (75 g)
All-purpose Flour – 1/4 cup (40g)

How I Made It:
1. In a double boiler, melt chocolate. Once melted and shiny, remove pan from heat and add in butter. Mix until the butter melts fully. Set aside to cool.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 mins by electric mixer, 5 mins by hand)
3. Add chocolate-butter mixture into the eggs, add all-purpose flour and mix until well incorporated.
4. Butter bottom and sides of ramekins (small glass/porcelain bowls) and pour in mixture until 3/4 way full.
5. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 C) for 10 – 15 minutes. Shorter for gooey (molten) inside, longer for stiff inside. I baked for about 13-15 mins.
6. Serve warm with ice-cream, fruits or whipped cream.



Yep, I had to push out some of the centre with my spoon to demo that ;) Now, one thing to remember is, you have to serve this with some fruits, whipped cream, or ice cream to balance out the dense chocolate flavour - its really overpowering. True death by chocolate!

Cheesecake Truffles Recipe

I love cheesecake but the slightly tedious process of making cheesecake, the water bath, the baking of the crumb, etc etc makes me want to just walk over to Secret Recipe and eat their perfectly baked cheese cake. And, I can choose what flavour I want!

So as you can see, I am a quick and easy bakes kinda person. I love my baked goodies but I want them quick and I want them good. That also explains why I made these delicious truffles.



These is not a cheesecake in the conventional sense. Its a crust-less cheesecake, more like truffles, that's dipped in chocolate. Yumville!



The recipe is from my absolute favourite baking book - A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman!

Cheesecake Truffles
Makes 20 small truffles

Ingredients:

For Cheesecake Batter:
250gm cream cheese (about half a pound), softened at room temp
1/2 cup sugar (or a little less)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup whipping cream (or normal cream)
Small pinch of salt

For Dipping Chocolate:
8 ounces of semi sweet or milk chocolate, melted (I used Hershey's semi sweet chocolate bar)




How I Made It:


1. Pre-heat oven to 350F. Line a brownie pan with parchment paper and set aside.



2. Whisk together all the ingredients for the cheesecake. Isn't that gorgeously simple?!



3.  Bake for about 35-40 mins until the cake is spongy but doesn't dry and curl in from the sides.



4. Cool completely and don't poke it with your fingers like I did.



5. Using small cookie cutters or ice cream scoop, make small pieces of the cheesecake.



6. Oh by the way, don't forget to melt the chocolate and set aside to cool.



7. Dip the cheesecake pieces into the melted and cooled chocolate and transfer to a plate lined with parchment paper or a baking sheet (so that it doesn't stick to the plate). You can also try using a greased plate for this in case you don't have parchment paper.



8. Don't worry if it doesn't look that glam because the chocolate is dripping around the cheesecake pieces. Trust me and stick the plate into your freezer for about 2 hours.

Serve the cheesecake truffles frozen or chilled. 

Need I say again that this is the most easy and quick cheesecake recipe I have seen? Once the cheesecake was done, it tasted so good as is (yes of course I tried it) so I am thinking of using a crush and the same cheesecake recipe to bake up a good 'ol proper cheesecake. Will let you know how that comes out, ok? Meanwhile, do yourself a favour and go bake this! Your family and guests will be wow'ed, guaranteed ;)

PS: you can dress these up by drizzling some melted white chocolate over the truffles, like you see in the book. I didn't have any white chocolate handy.

PPS: Marcy says chocolate chips won't work in this recipe. So to make the dipping chocolate for the cheesecake truffles, use chocolate bars.

PPPS: Check out my review of A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman.