Banana Cake

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Two ripe bananas,
Staring at me from the pantry.
My heart beats fast..
Imaging their destiny.

Two ripe bananas,
Trying to tell me a story.
The eyes of desperate mom..
Trying to solve this mystery.

The mystery of "What will my kids eat",
The mystery of "What should I bake",
The mystery of "How do I save these bananas"..
The mystery of "What should I make".

In attempt to save the most ripened bananas ever, I started mixing stuff for a banana cake. I browsed through tons of recipes on the internet.

Some used eggs, some did not. I wanted to use eggs.. so I filtered that list.
Some used sour cream & some did not. I had not sour cream at home.. So ignore that list.
Some used whole wheat flour & some used all-purpose. I wanted to keep it traditional, so I stuck with AP flour.

The filtering process was so intense that I was left with a recipe with "NOTHING" !!!!

Then, I used 3 or so recipes & combined them together.
This baking exercise taught me one very important life lesson....

"When life gives you ripe bananas... bake a cake !!!!!"
(Inspired by When life gives you lemons....)



Here's what I used.
  • 2 very ripe bananas (must have produced 1 whole cup of mashed bananas + some more)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/4th cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4th cup (loosely packed) light brown sugar
  • 1/4th cup milk
  • 1/4th cup vegetable oil (+ more for greasing the cake pan)
  • 1 & 3/4th cup AP flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon powder

Process
  • Set the oven on 350 F (The traditional huge oven which comes with the apartment / house)
  • Mix the ingredients
    • Mash the bananas nicely using a fork in a big mixing bowl
    • To the bananas --> add Eggs + Milk + Oil + white sugar + brown sugar and mix using a wire whisk
    • Keep a sieve on top of the mixing bowl & add AP Flour + Salt + Cinnamon Powder + Baking Soda + Baking Powder
    • Tap the sieve so that the dry ingredients get sieved down into the wet mixture
    • Mix everything well using the wire whisk (Yes the same one... duh !!)
  • Grease a square pan with vegetable oil (same kind that you used in the cake batter) - Make sure you cover all nook & corners & sides nicely. Use your hands if that's what you need to use. 
  • Pour the batter into the greased pan & bake for 20mins --> Toothpick test --> 5 more mins (to allow the cake to brown a bit & cooked through).
  • For this big a cake, I did not need more than 25mins. So be careful when you increase time. Keep doing the toothpick test to be 100% sure. 
  • Take the cake out & cool it down. 
Enjoy with coffee as an evening snack & this will serve GREAT as a breakfast item too for the kids who are too lazy or too busy in the mornings to sit down for a proper breakfast during week days. 

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