Moist Banana Cake

          Climate in the G.C.C has become all the more horrible. The sun is sizzling at degrees above 50 and you could literally fry an egg on the foot path. Taking kids to the park or going for a walk is out of the question. To top it all, there is the lingering episodes of summer colds and fever spiced up with sore throat and tonsillitis. The boys were down with fever and it made dreams of cooling the air with the air conditioner shattered to vapours pieces. Now, where have I heard something like 'between sea and the serpent'? So it was impossible to cook up anything new, nor was I in the mood for experimenting after culinary fads.. The hot weather and temper together with the sickness made me wee bit lax and lethargic. So I thought of posting something I have had in the draft for a long time. Banana cake is something you can rely on when the time is a bit scarce.

         If there is anything which I used to make every weekend, it is the banana cake. There are two reasons. Firstly, it is very quick and easy to whip up the batter and secondly it always helps to use up the over ripe, pitiful looking bananas which dwell on the corner of the kitchen, declined to be eaten by even my banana lover son. So, almost always, the last one or two bananas of the week, ends up as a cake and finally in the tummy of whoever declined to eat those bananas (queer, aint it?). It is one of the cakes, which always came out good for me. The addition of vegetable oil instead of butter makes it all the more moist and soft. It is a bit different from the banana bread, I posted sometime back and uses cinnamon for flavouring instead of nutmeg. You can see that cinnamon and banana blend well for a delicious flavour. Sometimes it takes the simplest ingredients to make a most delicious blend of flavours and here is an example. If you like to have a nutty bite to the cake, feel free to throw in some walnuts or pecans. Here I have left it plain.. just a delicate whiff of banana and cinnamon. Simplicity wins....., I guess :)

Moist Banana Cake

Things you need:


(To make a medium cake enough for 8 to10 persons)

2 cups (260g)all purpose flour
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups (300g) powdered sugar
1 cup (240ml) veg.oil/canola oil
2 ripe bananas, peeled and smashed
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp salt

Method:

1.Preheat oven to 180 degreeC (350 degree F) and place rack in center of the oven. Butter a medium cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

2.Peel and mash the bananas in a mortar or in the blender. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ground cinnamon.

3.In a bowl, beat the eggs until frothy (about 1 minute). Gradually add the sugar and beat until the batter is thick and light coloured (abt 3-4 min). Add the oil in a steady stream and then beat in the vanilla extract. Now fold in the flour mixture and mashed bananas with a rubber spatula until just combined.

4.Transfer the batter to the lined baking pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hr at 180 degree C.

5.Remove from oven when done or when a skewer inserted into the center come out with out crumps and let cool on a wire rack. After about 5 to 10 minutes, invert the cake carefully onto the wire wrack and cool completely.

6.Serve sliced with tea or coffee. Enjoy!

This cake goes to Favorite Cake Recipes event at Swathi's Zesty South Indian Kitchen.