Banana & Cocoa Cake

This banana cake has a very different texture compared to the one I normally bake. Very spongy and light... and yet very moist. Is it because I changed some ingredients or method? I'm not so sure. One thing I did very differently from my normal method was to use an electric hand blender which I use for making smooth soup. Blitz ..... By  mixing the wet ingredients by blender, the mixture became very fluffy and smooth.... like a banana smoothy texture. Anyway, this cake contains sunflower oil instead of butter or margarine, so it keeps the moisture longer... so I heard. 

Ingredients

• 175g caster sugar
• 175g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 4 tbsp cocoa powder
• 80ml sunflower oil
• 70ml milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 2 bananas (200g ish)

For crumble topping

• 30g Plain Flour  
• 15g Granulated Sugar (or Demerara Sugar) 
• 15g Butter (or low-fat margarine) 
• walnuts  

Method

1. Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin with baking parchment.
2. Mix the sugar, flour, baking powder, and cocoa in a large bowl.
3. Mash the banana in a bowl and add oil, milk, lemon juice and eggs. Then mix thoroughly with the electric hand blender.
4. Put the wet mixture into the dry mixture and mix gently.
5. Pour the mixture in the tin and sprinkle the crumble topping. (put the all ingredients for the topping in a bowl and make a breadcrumb like texture using your finger tips)
6. Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.  

Banana and Cocoa Muffins

Banana and chocolate .... a winning combo, isn't it?
So, here are Banana and Cocoa muffins. I could have used a melted bar of chocolate, but I used cocoa instead for a light texture. They tasted really chocolatey and yet very light. The walnut crumble topping worked really well with the chocolate flavour. The crumble topping I used is, actually, leftover from making Apple Crumble Muffins. I made too much crumble topping that day, so I froze the leftover. It was great just to take it out of the freezer and to sprinkle it on top of these banana and cocoa muffins before putting them in the oven. These are lovely warm, but can be nicely reheated to enjoy the "just out of the oven" effect.

Ingredients                

• 200g Plain Flour
• 100g Soft Brown Sugar
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 4 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
• ¼  tsp Salt
• 100ml Milk
• 2 ripe Bananas, mashed
• 50ml Vegetable Oil
• 1 Egg

For crumble topping 

• 30g Plain Flour
• 15g Granulated (or Demerara) Sugar 
• 15g Butter (or Low-fat Spread)
• Walnuts crushed  

 Method 

1. Preheat oven to 200 C / Gas 6 and add paper cases to a muffin tray.
2. Measure out flour, sugar, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt in a large mixing bowl.
3. Measure milk and oil in a large measuring jug. Add egg, vanilla, and banana then whisk well.
4. Add the wet mixture (3) into the dry mixture (2).  Stir until just combined (mixture will be lumpy).    Do NOT over mix!
5. Sprinkle the crumble topping on top of each muffin. 1 teaspoon full each would be enough.                    The crumble topping can be frozen if there is any leftover.
6. Bake for 20 minutes. 

  

Cocoa Banana Bread

Here is humble banana bread with a bit of twist. I added some cocoa powder and walnuts. I must say that it's not really chocolatey. Cocoa is more like in the background. So, if you REALLY like a chocolatey taste, you'd better add melted chocolate. This is low-fat banana bread if you use low-fat spread rather than butter.

Ingredients

• 75g Caster Sugar
• 225g (8oz)SR flour
• 3Tbsp Cocoa Powder
• 100g (3½oz)Softened Butter (Low-fat spread)
• 2 Eggs
• 2 Bananas
• 2 Tbsp Honey (or Golden syrup)
• Walnuts

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160°c
2. Sieve the flour into a mixing bowl.
3. Rub the butter (or low-fat spread) into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
4. Stir the sugar, chopped prunes, bananas, beaten eggs and golden syrup into the dry ingredients. 
5. Mix together to form a soft dropping consistency.
6. Spoon the mixture into the prepared loaf tin.
7. Bake it in the oven for about 40 to 50 minutes. 

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