Sunday 5 June 2011

Banana Yoghurt Cake



There has been far too much biscuit posting on here lately, so before I post yet another biscuit I will share my easy as, never fail, sure to please banana cake !
It always seems that in the fruit bowl there are always a couple of sad looking bananas hanging round. So living in the philosophy of ' waste not want not ' they always end up in my cake !
I am not a huge fan of banana cakes but my family eat them & I will force myself to consume a piece , every now and then at my own peril.
This recipe comes from a oldish cook book called ' quick 'n' easy cakes & muffins , biscuits , slices & more'  by Robyn Martin , which if you click the link was a best seller in its time ( 1991 ) she is still a wonderful publishing NZ baker.
I have had this book since I was around 12, and it has been used & used, with splattered pages, a great testament to any cookbook .  There is no creaming or complicated instructions and it turns out every time, which is why as a novice baker I liked it !
She suggests a lemon yoghurt icing , but I prefer a coffee icing - with walnuts stuck on top ( which the kids always pick off ). You can even get away with no icing if you are rushed or lazy!
A simple dusting of icing sugar will do the trick .

Banana Yoghurt Cake

150 g Soft butter
1 Cup sugar
2 eggs
1 Cup mashed banana ( around 3 ripe )
Grated rind of one lemon ( finely grated )
1/4 plain sweetened or unsweetend yoghurt ( or any flavour you have lurking in the fridge )
2 Cups flour
1 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Baking soda

Coffee Icing

1 tsp instant coffee
1 tsp boiling water ( more to mix )
1 tsp butter
Around 2 cups icing sugar

1. Turn oven  to 180 c -Place butter sugar, eggs, banana, lemon rind and yoghurt in a mixer bowl & mix on low speed to combine ( can always be done by hand , no worries )
2. Sift in flour, baking powder and baking soda
3. Beat on low speed to combine then increase speed & beat for 2 mins
4. Pour into greased or paper lined tin , 18 cm
5. Bake for 45 - 60 mins until skewer comes out clean - it will be quite brown, dont worry !
6. Leave in tin for 10 mins before turning out onto rack , Ice when cool

Coffee icing

1. Sift icing sugar into bowl
2. Melt instant coffee in boiling water
3. Add instant coffee with butter and start to stir adding more boiling water in small amounts till you have a nice consistency to ice (  consistency of soft butter )
4. Spread it on cake & throw on some walnut half's if you like , any nut will work !


1 comment:

  1. Aha, I too have that book. It's great. I won't be making anything with Banana's in it for a long time though... they are over $12 kg in Australia!!??!! Around $3 each. What the?

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