Diana Henry's Best Banana Cake

Diana Henry's Best Banana Cake

Desserts with bananas make me go bonkers, especially those with nuts. Bananas and nuts - they are like yin and yang - the perfect match. :)

I'm bringing this banana cake to IHCC's Party Pleasers. Who can resist biting into a slice of nutty, fragrant banana cake? I can't! I'm so in love with this recipe by Diana Henry. The addition of chopped nuts provide such lovely crunch and texture to the cake. This recipe is definitely a keeper.

Recipe from here.

Ingredients:
(Serves 10)

115g butter, room temperature
175g soft light brown sugar (I used 100g molasses sugar or dark muscovado sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 very ripe bananas
3 tablespoon sour cream (I used full fat plain yogurt)
100g plain flour
100g wholemeal flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
100g almonds, toasted and chopped (I used hazelnuts)
3 tablespoons mixed seeds (I used mixed organic golden and brown flaxseeds)

How to:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease and line a 23 x 13 cm (9 x 5 x 3-inch) loaf tin with baking sheet. Set aside.

2. Beat butter and sugar together in an electric mixer until fluffy. Mix in vanilla extract and, with the machine running at medium speed, beat in the eggs a little at a time.

Tip: The mixture will look curdled but don’t worry – it will come together when you add the flour.

3. Mash the bananas (getting rid of as many lumps as possible) and stir into the butter and egg mixture, followed by plain yogurt. Using a large metal spoon, fold in the flours with baking powder, chopped nuts, and seeds. Reserve some nuts and seeds for sprinkling.

Tip: Be careful not to over stir the mixture.

4. Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf tin and scatter the rest of the nuts and seeds over the top. Bake for an hour.

Tip: A skewer inserted into the middle should come out clean if the cake is cooked.

5. Leave the cake in the tin to cool for 5 minutes, then run a knife between the sides of the cake and the tin to loosen. Turn it out onto a wire rack. Peel off the paper, put the cake the right side up and leave to cool completely.

Tip: This cake is a good keeper – wrapped in foil, it will be good for four days.