Banana Loaf ~ #CakeSliceBakers

The #CakeSliceBakers are back with their next cake from World Class Cakes by Roger Pizey. As always there were some great choices again this month, and I'm looking forward to seeing which cake my fellow bakers chose to make.

Each month the Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the book and we each choose one cake to bake. On the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important one is to have fun and enjoy baking and eating cakes! We continue to bake from World Class Cakes by Roger Pizey. The choices this month were Thierry Busset's Ten Layer Coffee Chocolate Cake, Greek Coconut Cake, Banana Loaf, Mandarin, Polenta, and Macadamia Cake. Since I had another very similar recipe saved that I wanted to make, and I knew I could make the cake from this book and then add the sauce from the other recipe I choose the Banana Loaf.

I decided to make two loaves as this banana loaf, as banana bread is always a favorite with my family.  This turned out to be a very smart thing to do, but more about that a little later.  This cake comes together so quickly as I was able to measure out the ingredients and took notes regarding the metric conversions, make the cakes and get them in the oven, did all of the clearing and washing up, all while texting with my daughter in Australia about what I was doing in just over hour. All I had to do was wait for the cakes to come out of the oven.

This recipe calls for the cake to go into the oven for 10 minutes, then you remove it and top the batter with the sliced banana, and return it to the oven to fully bake.  As I mentioned, I made two loaves and decided to put them in at slightly different times as I had some doubts about whether the banana would actually stay on top of the batter.  Of course the banana on the first loaf did sink. Like completely disappeared into the cake. I decided to call that one my surprise inside cake. Thank goodness I decided to bake a second loaf. For this one I baked it an extra 5 minutes and cut the banana in half before cutting thin slices in the length-ways direction, and this time they managed to stay on top. The changes I made are reflected in the recipe below.

The flavor for this cake was very good, considering it only has one mashed banana in the batter. However, it may have been better to just put the banana in the pan first and make it a banana upside down cake rather than keep my fingers crossed that the banana would not sink. I'll probably try that next time.

The Bundaberg Rum sauce I made to go with the cake was really good. The Bundaberg Distilling Company began producing rum in 1889 in Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia. Aussies usually call it "Bundy", keeping up that fine Australian tradition of dropping the end of a word and adding an "eee" sound. Besides tasting great, I liked that the recipe did not make a large amount. I drizzled a little over the top of the cake and the served the rest on the side.  This sauce would also be great on apple pie or vanilla ice cream.

Please scroll down after the recipe to see all the beautiful cakes that were baked this month, and don't forget to check out our Facebook page.


Banana Loaf 
Printer Friendly Recipe

Ingredients
Cake ~

• 2 bananas, very ripe
• 150g butter, softened
• 200g sugar
• 80g ground almonds
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 190g all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 130g sour cream

"Bundy" Rum Sauce ~

• 80g butter
• 100ml whipping cream
• 70g brown sugar
• 80ml maple syrup
• 15ml Bundaberg rum (or other dark rum)

Preparation
Cake ~

1. Preheat the oven to 160℃.
2. Spray a loaf tin (18cm x 9.5cm x 9.5cm) with baking spray and line with parchment paper.
3. Mash one banana until smooth.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and the sugar together until light and fluffy.
5. Add the ground almonds, followed by the eggs and mix until combined.
6. Sift the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder into the batter and mix until just combined.
7. Add the sour cream and mashed banana and mix until incorporated.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 15 minutes before removing from the oven and adding the remaining banana, sliced lengthways, in a line along the length of the loaf (which will prevent it from sinking into the batter).
9. Return to the oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
10. Remove from the oven, let cool for 20 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and remove the parchment.

"Bundy" Rum Sauce ~

1. Place the butter, cream, sugar and maple syrup in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the butter melts.
2. Cook for a further 10 minutes or until thickened slightly.
3. Remove from heat and stir in the rum, and et aside to cool slightly.
4. Drizzle warm cake with a little rum sauce. 
5. Serve with ice cream and remaining sauce on the side.

Recipe from World Class Cakes by Roger Pizey

For US measurements please click here

An InLinkz Link-up