Thursday, March 1, 2012

Butterscotch banana cake

Butterscotch banana cake / Bolo de banana caramelada

And just when I thought that Flo Braker’s banana cake would hold the title of “best banana cake ever baked in my kitchen” forever Mr. Dan Lepard showed up with the idea of caramelizing the bananas before adding them to the cake batter – how great is that? The cake turned out absolutely tender, with a deep, beautiful golden hue and a delicious, strong banana flavor.

Inspired by one of my favorite performances by Robert DeNiro I’ve been thinking of Dan Lepard’s cake topped with Flo Braker’s streusel – if there’s anyone out there willing to try that combination I would love to know how it turns out. :D

Butterscotch banana cake / Bolo de banana caramelada

Butterscotch banana cake
slightly adapted from the delicious Short and Sweet (mine was bought here)

Butterscotch bananas:
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
¼ cup (60ml) water
250g bananas, chopped into 2cm pieces
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cake:
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
¾ cup (180ml) canola oil
2 large eggs
¼ cup (65g) plain yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup + 1 tablespoon (150g) all purpose flour
½ cup + ½ tablespoon (75g) whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt

Make the butterscotch bananas: tip the sugar into a frying pan with the water and cook over medium heat stirring until sugar is dissolved – after that, do not stir again. Bring to the boil then cook over high heat until the sugar turns to a dark reddish caramel. Add the banana pieces, butter and vanilla – carefully, caramel may spit – and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the bananas break up in the caramel and the mixture is thick. Spoon on to a plate and leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 20cm square pan and line the base with baking paper. Butter the paper as well*.
Beat the sugar with the oil and eggs until thick and slightly aerated, then beat in the bananas, yogurt and vanilla. Sift the flours, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt together over the bowl, then fold this through the banana mixture.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes or until golden, risen and a skewer inserted comes out clean.

* I used a pan with a removable bottom and did not line it with baking paper – just buttered it really well, especially in the corners

Makes 16 squares

13 comments:

Laura (Tutti Dolci) said...

Caramelizing or roasting bananas is the best! I recently made roasted banana bars, and I was pleasantly surprised by how delicious they were. I love your coffee mugs!

martina said...

I'm sorry but I'll leave you with your bananas... even if I love everything with banana (yoghurt, juice, ice cream...) I cannot stand banana cake!!! This one looks delicious, but it's not for me! :)
More cake left for you!!!
Martina

Kelli said...

Butterscotch and banana! What's not to like? If I made this my boyfriend would find me slumped over the pan spouting butterscotch-addled gibberish with crumbs everywhere and a big dumb grin on my face.

Ambika said...

butterscotch & banana!! Its a killer combination! Love this cake!

David Whitehouse, Editor, Short & Sweet said...

Hi there,
It's really nice that you like this Dan Lepard recipe, but we do ask bloggers to simply say where the original recipe was taken from and then to write about any changes they've made, and how they adapted it to the tools and ingredients they had in their kitchen, but not to print the whole recipe. I hope you'll understand that it's very easy for the entire contents of a book to end up online without the author's approval, and we would instead encourage bloggers to "talk around" the recipe and major on their own ideas and photos. I hope you'll understand and agree to this request
Thanks for your cooperation,
David Whitehouse, Editor, Short & Sweet

Patricia Scarpin said...

Hi Mr. Whitehouse,
I understand your concern about the book, but if you'd read my version of the recipe you would have noticed it is an adaptation of Mr. Lepard's recipe, one I found online and it is published on a website where anyone can read:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2007/nov/24/foodanddrink.baking38

And I was kind enough to link to his book so people would be interested in buying it, like I did.

Melissa@Julias Bookbag said...

Patricia, this looks DIVINE! Cannot wait to try! I'll be making this ASAP.

Melissa@Julias Bookbag said...

And guess what Miss Patricia! I just saw your feature on DESIGN SPONGE!!! Wow!!! Good for you!!!

1) You are lovely.

2) That cake looks amazing, I pinned it quick as quick.

3) I wrote a comment about you because I was so excited to see you there! So happy to see your face, you are so darling!

Anonymous said...

I love banana cake, but nver add cinnamon to it. I should try...!!!

Unknown said...

This could be a great cake!! I'll have to try it!!!

mr. pineapple man said...

Sounds amazing!

Anonymous said...

I made this cake today and it came out great! I made it in a 9" round cake pan and it just fit. I put some homemade salted caramel on top after it had cooled. It was fantastic- really nice moist crumb and excellent flavor. It's a favorite. Thank you!

Patricia Scarpin said...

Hey, Anonymous!
I'm so glad to hear you liked the recipe! Thank YOU for letting me know - I love the idea of adding salted caramel to this cake, it's genius!

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