We love Fair Trade at the Nelson Grocer, and we can’t ever get enough bananas… So this week Guest Blogger, Grant Dicker, has a great recipe for banana cake. – Find Grant on Facebook.
But first… Bananas vs. Plantains.
Bananas are a very good source of vitamin B6 and a good source of manganese, vitamin C, potassium, dietary fibre, biotin and copper. Plantains are members of the banana family, but they are higher in starch and lower in sugar, which means that when they are ripe, they will still be green in colour. If you get them when they are over-ripe, they may have started to turn yellow or black. While a banana makes a great snack, plantains aren’t usually eaten raw because of the high starch content.
Why not head down to Fresh Choice, Nelson\’s produce department, and pick up some Fair Trade bananas for this great recipe?
For the banana cake:
- 250g soft butter
- 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla essence
- 4 very ripe bananas, mashed
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup hot milk
- 3 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
For the lemon icing:
- 50g butter, at room temperature
- 3 cups icing sugar
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tbsp hot water
Method:
- Preheat oven to 170C. Line a medium cake tin with baking paper.
- Cream butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, then vanilla and the bananas.
- Dissolve baking soda in hot milk, add to the mixture and stir to combine.
- Sift in flour and baking powder and fold into the mixture. Do not over mix.
- Spoon the mixture into the tin and smooth the top.
- Bake for approximately 50-60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
- To make the lemon icing, beat together butter, icing sugar, lemon juice and hot water until smooth and creamy; spread evenly over the top of the cake.
Organic Produce, Fruit & Veg in Nelson