Sticking to the notion of not wasting food when possible, I decided to use my three extremely overripe organic bananas to make a cake. I didn't want to make banana bread again so I searched for a unique recipe. I came across this Banana and Almond Cake recipe on grouprecipes.com. I was interested in the fact that the recipe does not call for flour or butter. I initially wondered how this could technically be a cake without flour or butter. I have heard of flourless cakes but not flourless and butterless cakes. I was, of course, intrigued.
Put the whole almonds in a food processor until finely ground. Beat eggs and sugar for 10 minutes or until pale and fluffy. Stir in ground almonds and baking powder. Puree the bananas with lemon juice then stir through almond mixture with vanilla. Pour into tin and sprinkle over sliced almonds to cover the top. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow this to cool in the tin. When ready to serve, dust with icing sugar and pass yogurt separately.
The cake is unique and interesting indeed. The best way I can describe the texture is to say that it's a cross between almond butter and dense banana bread. I've never eaten a similar texture. Brad and I like the cake itself but we agreed that it doesn't need the yogurt. I served it with a vanilla greek yogurt and perhaps a different yogurt would work better. The cake is visually very pretty. All in all, this is an interesting take on cake but I don't think I will make it again. I tend to prefer my cakes to be more dense and "cakey". I'm not sure "cakey" is a word but if it's not, it should be. :)
Ingredients:
2 eggs
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 peeled bananas
1/2 cup sliced almonds
250 grams (8.8 ounces) raw whole toasted almonds
juice from 1/2 lemon
2 tsp vanilla extract
powdered sugar
yogurt
Preheat oven to 300F. Grease an 8 inch fluted flan tin with removable base. Take a good sized square of baking paper and moisten. Line base and sides of tin with paper. (I do not have a fluted flan tin but I do have a tin 8 inch pan which I chose to use. I am not sure if baking paper and parchment paper are the same thing. I only have parchment paper and it worked great for this purpose).
Put the whole almonds in a food processor until finely ground. Beat eggs and sugar for 10 minutes or until pale and fluffy. Stir in ground almonds and baking powder. Puree the bananas with lemon juice then stir through almond mixture with vanilla. Pour into tin and sprinkle over sliced almonds to cover the top. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow this to cool in the tin. When ready to serve, dust with icing sugar and pass yogurt separately.
The cake is unique and interesting indeed. The best way I can describe the texture is to say that it's a cross between almond butter and dense banana bread. I've never eaten a similar texture. Brad and I like the cake itself but we agreed that it doesn't need the yogurt. I served it with a vanilla greek yogurt and perhaps a different yogurt would work better. The cake is visually very pretty. All in all, this is an interesting take on cake but I don't think I will make it again. I tend to prefer my cakes to be more dense and "cakey". I'm not sure "cakey" is a word but if it's not, it should be. :)
A special thank you to my little blonde baking helper and her striped kitty.
No comments:
Post a Comment