It was my dad’s birthday and I said I’d bake him anything he wanted, anything at all, this was the result.
He actually just said ‘Banana and Walnut’. For a moment I thought of bringing over a bowl of chopped bananas and walnut pieces, then quickly realised that that was only funny in my head and everyone would be disappointed if I went through with the joke. So, to keep everyone happy, I thought I’d do something healthy (therefore no one would feel guilty about that second slice) but as it’s a birthday, I wanted something a little indulgent too. Hence the butterscotch sauce.
This cake is ridiculously moist, prepare yourself my lovelies.
Ingredients
For the cake
150g wholemeal flour
75g ground almonds
1tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
3 eggs
75g honey
75g maple syrup
5 medium bananas, ripe (3 mashed with a fork, 2 sliced into 2cm & then halved again)
80g non fat yogurt ( I used ‘TOTAL’)
50g choc chips (optional, I like dark choc)
100g walnuts (halved/crushed/roughly chopped) plus a few extra for decortation
For the butterscotch sauce
25g unsalted butter
55g dark brown sugar
25g honey
3 tbsps milk (semi skimmed or whatever you have in the fridge, almond/soy if dairy free)
65g icing sugar
Loose bottom cake tin, well greased
Preheat oven to 180oC
1) In a medium bowl combine the flour, ground almonds, baking powder and cinnamon. Set aside.
2) In a large bowl crack in the eggs, add the honey and maple syrup and whisk well. Next pop in the 3 mashed bananas and yogurt. Whisk again on a high speed so everything is well combined.
3) Slowly fold half the flour mixture into the egg mix bowl. Once that is just combined, add the remaining half and repeat. DO NOT OVER MIX. Now add the rest of the chopped bananas, walnuts and choc chips. Mix until everything is evenly dispersed.
4) Pour into the prepared cake tin. It will rise a little, so leave a tiny bit of room for it to grow in the oven. Place it on the middle shelf for 55 minutes. After about half an hour cover the top loosely with foil so it doesn’t brown too much. It’s done when a skewer inserted comes out clean and has slightly browned round the edges. Remove from oven and leave to cool in the tin, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
For the butterscotch sauce:
1) Place the butter, sugar, honey and milk into a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Slowly bring to the boil, stirring now and again. Once boiling, turn down to a low heat for a few minutes and continue to stir occasionally.
2) Remove from heat and add the icing sugar. Whisk with an electric mix on a high speed for at least 2 and a half minutes ( even a little longer if you can bear it)
(If the sauce looks a little thick for your liking add a few more drops of milk and continue whisking. If you would like it a little thicker, add some more icing sugar and continue to whisk. If you’re feeling even naughtier add a few drops of rum!)
3) Drizzle over the cake and decorate with a few crushed walnuts. Save some sauce for a little jug, so people can add for their taste. Yummmmmmmmmmmm. X
