England is currently in the midst of a heatwave, or so the folks on the TV tell us. I'm a little sceptical about whether a week or so of great weather in the middle of summer actually constitutes a heatwave, but I will admit that it has been really quite warm lately. We are loving it, since we haven't had a summer in a year what with moving here in winter immediately after our own NZ winter. Our flat, though, is rather unpleasantly warm and seems impossible to cool down. One of the consequences of this sauna-like residence, is that the fruit doesn't last. The bananas which I bought green last weekend were already over-ripe by Tuesday. All week they have been sitting there getting browner and browner and urging me to bake them into a delicious cake. And all week I have resisted them, not only because I've been lazy, but also because baking when the house is already 27+degrees seems unnecessarily sadistic! Today, however, there is a lovely cool breeze and we're back to 23 degrees inside, which is much more conducive to baking and this has spurred me into action (well, that, and the discovery that one banana had gone well past the point of no return! Ick. Who knew bananas could liquefy like that??)
This is my normal banana cake recipe. I do have one for a banana bread/loaf too, but after experimentation I've found that they both yield similarly lovely cakes, and since this one has one less egg in it, I have tended to favour it. It is a cake recipe, but I'm currently without a proper cake pan, so I make it in my brownie tin and it's sort of a cross between a loaf and a cake. You can ice it with chocolate, lemon or cream cheese icing if you like...I usually don't - mostly because Andrew is incapable of waiting for the cake to cool down before eating it, and once it's been chopped into, icing seems pointless.
The recipe, like so many of my favourites, comes from Alison Holst (her Ultimate Collection). It's best made with bananas that have been sitting in the fruit bowl for much too long, as the flavour really is best then! (the perfect justification for my occasionally slovenly house-keeping!)
Banana Cake
1 1/2 c self-raising flour
1 tsp bicarb of soda
3 ripe bananas
125g butter, at room temperature
3/4 c sugar
2 large eggs
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
Turn oven on to 180deg C. Line a cake tin with baking paper or grease it.
Seive flour and bicarb of soda into a large bowl.
Mash the bananas roughly with a fork, then put in food processor with butter, sugar, eggs, milk and vanilla and process until smooth.
Add to flour mixture and mix until just combined.
Pour into prepared pan and bake for 35-40 mins or until a skewer comes out clean.
Serve dusted with icing sugar, or ice with your favourite icing.
NB: If, like me, you discover half way through making this cake that your food processor has died, then just make the cake in the traditional style - cream the butter and sugar, add eggs and vanilla then stir in the mashed bananas before adding to the dry ingredients. Not quite as easy as bunging it all in the processor, but so far the outcome seems to be the same! Note to self...check equipment works before starting to bake!
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