3 is the magic number apparently, and that was certainly the case with this banana cake; this is the third weekend in a row that I've tried to get this to work! The first time I tried it I must have overestimated how much fat it needed because it turned out as a really heavy, greasy mess. The second time I tried I overcompensated and it turned out too dry... And just like the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the third attempt was near-enough perfect. Granted, I left it in the oven a little too long, but other than that it's great! Really light and fluffy and because I offset the sweetness of the cake with a cream cheese filling, it tastes simply divine! This is best eaten in 2-3 days, but slice and freeze to enjoy for longer :)
3 Ripe Bananas (mashed)
150g Butter (softened)
150g Light Brown Sugar
250g GF Flour (or slightly less plain flour if you're making it non GF)
50g Ground Almonds
2 tbsps Poppy Seeds
2 tsps Vanilla Essence
3 tsps Baking Powder
3 Medium Eggs (lightly beaten)
1 tbsp Oil
Filling:
25g Butter (softened)
75g Full-Fat Cream Cheese (softened)
(Up To) 500g Icing Sugar
Preheat oven to 180C and line two 8" cake tins with baking parchment
1) Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Stir in the beaten eggs, oil, vanilla and bananas and beat again.
2) Mix the baking powder, flour, poppyseeds and ground almonds and sift gradually into butter mix, mixing well each time so the mixture stays light.
3) Distribute evenly between the two cake tins and place in the middle of the oven.
4) Bake for approximately 30 minutes until the cakes are golden brown and springy to the touch. A toothpick or skewer should come out clean.
5) Allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out onto cooling racks.
6) Beat the butter and cream cheese for the icing together until smooth. Gradually sift in the icing sugar, beating well, ntil the mixture is fairly stiff but soft enough to spread.
7) When cool, spread the filling between on the 'bottom' layer and sandwich them. Decorate with a final shake of icing sugar and enjoy!
