~BANAMOND TEA-CAKE~

“In Britain, a cup of tea is the answer to every problem.

Fallen off your bicycle? Nice cup of tea.
Your house has been destroyed by a meteorite? Nice cup of tea and a biscuit.
Your entire family has been eaten by a Tyrannosaurus Rex that has travelled through a space/time portal? Nice cup of tea and a piece of cake” said David William in his “Mr.Stink” and he is true to every word.  I love Tea-time and much more to that I adore tea-cakes accompanied with it. I have always believed a good tea-cake actually amplifies the pleasure of a good tea and someone like myself who can’t live without tea, it’s a must. 

When Emma Donaghue said ” if I was made of cake, I’d eat myself before someone else could”, I believe she was talking to me because cake for me is simple Joy, even though it makes me run the following day faster and further than my usual exercise track, I would still go home after a good run and have a big fat chunk of it and not regret it. I was reading Maureen Johnson’s “let it snow” a couple of days ago and I came to a paragraph that made me feel like “me, myself and cake”, the excerpt was as follows, 

       “Debbie had to get up and slice me a thick piece of cake before she could answer. And I do mean thick. Harry Potter volume seven thick. I could have knocked out a burglar with this piece of cake. Once I tasted it, though, it seemed just the right size.” So, no offense to Mary Berry who believes that “cakes are healthy too, you just have to have a small slice”, I can’t enjoy cake until and unless I eat a big piece of it.

I will be honest, the first time I made This cake was at a friend’s house with her 9 year old daughter, with half the ingredient portions as mentioned below in the recipe. The original recipe was a simple banana cake, when I read it, my mind just went to work in my friends kitchen. I saw some almonds and coconut in her pantry and hence started to add my bits and bots to it. Her daughter, bless her, just nodded along with everything without objecting to my additions to her recipe. The end result was mind-blowing and she was one pleased kid. She was delighted and I was happy. That day we made a frosting for this cake as well. We topped it with a salty buttercream frosting, which came into being as a result of No unsalted butter in the fridge. The harmony of the salty frosting and the cake was actually pretty amazing. Also, I made this cake in a Bundt pan but if you don’t have it, no worries, you can make it in any regular 9″ cake pan. 

Okay, let’s talk about the cake; it is simply sublime for tea. The cake is made of three blends i.e. Banana, almonds and coconut and has an extremely crumbly texture. I merged the Banana and Almond to name the cake Banamond Tea-Cake. The flavours combined are so perfect that for me personally, the cake is exquisite on its own and does not need any frosting, even though when I baked this the first time, it was finished off with a salty buttercream frosting. The crust of the cake becomes more and more luscious as the cake sits after bake. The crust becomes sticky with time because of the milk poured over it right after it is baked. The sticky crust with a crumbly texture inside is endearing that will surely make you go back for seconds and it’s true “there are many temptations in this life, but cake is probably one of the biggest of them” (Alexander McCall Smith, In the company of cheerful ladies).

So, don’t sit around, here is your way to happiness; ready, steady and bake. This gorgeous golden cake isn’t going to get eaten by itself as C. Joyell avers, “if you wait for a cake to be given to you so you will be happy- than you will be happy when someone gives you a cake. But if you buy a cake or bake it for yourself, so you will be happy, you have found the way of happiness”. 

serves 6-8 

Ingredients 

3/4 cup flour 

1/2 cup powdered almonds 

1/2 cup desiccated coconut 

2/3 cup sugar 

1 tsp baking powder 

1 tsp baking soda 

1/2 tsp salt 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1/2 cup vegetable oil 

2 eggs 

1/3 cup sour cream 

2 ripe bananas

1/2 tsp lemon juice 

1/2 cup evaporated milk 

1/2 cup milk to drizzle on top 

grapes, strawberries, seasonal berries, canned pears for garnish 

powdered sugar to sprinkle on top 

Method – 

• Pre-heat the oven at 350F. 
• Grease and lightly flour a 9″ inch Bundt pan or use a non-stick cooking spray. 
• In a bowl sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 
• Ground the almonds in a blender with skin and grind them into fine powder. Add it and the dedicated coconut to the dry ingredients and mix together. 
• Add in the sugar and mix. 
• In a stand mixer beat the eggs until light and fluffy. 
• Add the oil in the eggs and mix for one minute. 
• Add the sour cream and the evaporated milk and vanilla essence and mix another one minute.
• Fold the dry ingredients into the egg batter making sure not to stir or mix as it will deflate the eggs.
• Lastly, mash the bananas with tge lemon juice and fold it in the batter. 
• Do not fold the batter more than 20 times as it will deflate and the cake will turn out soggy. 
• Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. 
• Poke the cake with a skewer all round and pour the milk with the help of a spoon all over. 
• Let it leave to cool completely before taking it out of the pan. 
• Decorate with your choice of fruit and icing sugar. 

Happy eating –