Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Banana streusel snack cake

Banana streusel snack cake / Bolo de banana com cobertura streusel

I’m not a huge fan of Jamie Oliver’s recipe names style like “the best ___ ever”, “the ultimate ___”, and so on – taste is such a subjective thing, something fantastic for some people might not be all that for others.
But if you allow me, I’ll be a walking contradiction today and tell you that this is the best banana cake I have ever eaten – it’s a good thing my grandma doesn’t read my blog. :D

Banana streusel snack cake
from Baking for All Occasions

Streusel:
6 tablespoons (60g) all purpose flour
6 tablespoons firmly packed (75g) light brown sugar
3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter, softened
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cake:
1 1/3 cups (233g) cake flour*
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (255g) mashed ripe bananas (2 medium or 3 small)
3 tablespoons whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (200g) demerara sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten with a fork

Make the streusel: in a medium bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, butter and cinnamon with your fingertips until the mixture is lumpy; refrigerate.
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 20cm (8in) square pan then flour the pan, tapping out excess flour. Have all the ingredients in room temperature.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a small bowl and set aside. Put the mashed bananas in a medium bowl and stir in the milk and vanilla; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat together the butter and sugar on medium-low speed until fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and beat until completely incorporated. Add the banana mixture (it will look curdled, but that’s OK) and beat until combined. Reduce the mixer to its lowest speed and gradually add the flour mixture, beating just until incorporated. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the batter.
Bake the cake until it springs back when gently pressed in the center and a round wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan completely before cutting and serving.
The cake is delicious and very, very moist – it will stay that way for 3-4 days if kept in an airtight container.

* homemade cake flour: 1 cup (140g) all purpose flour minus 2 tablespoons + 2 tablespoons corn starch

Serves 16

25 comments:

  1. Perfect timing, Patricia. I have bananas browning on my counter right now. I'll have to make this and see if it is the best ever. ;-)

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  2. Una ricetta davvero deliziosa! Buona serata

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  3. I have too many banana cake recipes! (I'm a little bit addict banana cakes...) I'll still have to keep yours. It looks too good and more if you say it's the best you've ever eaten, I want to believe you! You convinced me:)

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  4. oh, looks so delicious!

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  5. Oh my, that looks amazing! Now I know what to do with all the frozen bananas in my freezer! :)

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  6. Yummmm, that looks the "best ever" and "the ultimate" combined.LOL

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  7. I want to *snack* on this cake for sure

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  8. You never know if those 'best' are really the 'best'. I like to try recipes and then see if it was really the best one I had made. And this cake looks like it's the 'best'. :)

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  9. You always have such amazing pictures! I need to try making the best banana streusel cake. ;)

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  10. I don't even like bananas and I have printed the recipe to make this. you make everything look so appetizing and beautiful! I too, am a Flo Baker Fan!

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  11. Some sad, overripe bananas that have been sitting on my counter are about to get happy in this cake, it sounds delicious! I was getting sick of making banana bread, this is perfect :)

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  12. Lynn, I hope you like it - let me know, sweetie!
    xx

    Italians..., grazie!

    Victoria, I love banana cakes, too, like you! Hope you give this a go, it's so good! :)
    Thank you!

    Paula, thank you!

    Annalise, thank you! I hope you like the recipe!

    Anna, LOL! Thank you, sweetie!

    Torview, thank you!

    Jennifurla, I wish I could share it with you! Thank you, dearie!

    Helene, thank you! And trying the recipes is a lot of fun, isn't it? :)

    Tara, thank you for stopping by! I hope you give the recipe a go, it's really good! (It's Flo Braker's)

    Susan, you are far too kind, my dear! And Flo is wonderful, such an inspiration!
    xx

    Sweet and Savory Summer, I hope you make it! And let me know what you think, please?

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  13. Anyone try doubling the recipe and using a 9 x 13 inch pan to bake? I have a large group to feed and no smaller pan to use.

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  14. It does look wonderful! I love how doable all of Jamie's recipes are. I just made something banana too! Banana cream pie!

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  15. this was very moist, but my struesel ended up sinking into the cake, any idea what i did wrong??

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  16. Clare, thank you! Banana cream pie - yum!

    Anonymous, I don't know what could have happened - how was your streusel's consistency before baking the cake?

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  17. it was a sandy kind of consistency. it yasted great, my husband eat the whole thing (almost - i had a little :)~ )

    peggy

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  18. Peggy, I'm glad to hear it tasted great! But I wish the texture would have been OK for you.

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  19. WOWW! this is ah-maaaazing!

    I have made ooodles of streusel cakes for breakfast before, but this one takes the cake. ha. literally.
    I made two modifications actually; added 2 small eggs, since I didn't have a large one, plus I added two heaping tablespoons of plain natural yoghurt to the banana mixture.

    The result was a very tender, moist, YUMMY banana streusel cake.

    Oh, i almost forgot! I thought I ruined the streusal (with just melted butter, accidentally) but in the end, the melted butter gave the streusel a wonderful texture, and was niiiice and crispy! :)

    cheers!

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  20. Hey, there!
    I'm so glad to know you liked the recipe! Thank you for letting me know how it turned out!

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  21. Hi,
    I made this the other day to take to a brunch and it turned out lovely. It was moist and fluffier than most banana breads and the streusel adds a nice crunch and sweetness.Everyone loved it, even my boyfriend who is not really fond of banana breads. I am going to blog about it and post you a link if you like.

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  22. Hey, there - I'm glad to hear the recipe worked out fine for you, tks for letting me know!
    That would be lovely.

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  23. I made this cake today and I have to agree with your statement about it being THE best.
    The only change I made was to use buttermilk instead of whole milk.

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  24. Hey, sweetie - I'm so glad to hear you liked the cake! I love the idea of using buttermilk in cakes.
    Thank you for letting me know!
    xx

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