KITCHEN | Winter favourite: Banana Cake

Banana cake is an old faithful, and we love this faultless recipe by Adelaide-based food blogger Rachael of Polka Bakes. With a thick spread of cream cheese icing on top, this recipe is a true crowd pleaser.

Rachael says: This recipe is basically bulletproof! Do as you will with it. Serve it smothered with cream cheese icing or cut in half and sandwiched with whipped cream. Cover it with toasted walnuts or just enjoy it simply as it is, with a dusting of icing sugar over the top. I’ve decided to stick to tradition and serve it with vanilla buttercream and a sprinkle of desiccated coconut.

Serves 6-8.

Ingredients:

125g butter, softened to room temperature
½ cup (100g) caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 overripe bananas (about 100g each), mashed
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 ½ cups (225g) self raising flour, sifted
½ cup (125ml) full cream milk

For the vanilla buttercream:

1 ½ cups (225g) soft icing sugar mixture
60g butter, softened to room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon full cream milk

Prep | Rachel Linke | Polka Bakes

Method:

Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin with greaseproof baking paper.

Using an electric mixer, cream butter, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl until fluffy and light in colour. Gradually add eggs, a little at a time, beating well between additions (the mixture will look a little curdled, but worry not- it will come back together with the addition of the flour!)

Add mashed bananas to the mixture and use a plastic spatula to fold through. 

Add baking soda to milk and stir to combine. Set aside.

Using the spatula, gently fold in in one third of the sifted flour, followed by one third of the milk. Repeat, alternating between milk and flour until the mixture is just combined.

Pour cake mixture into prepared cake tin. Bake in conventional oven at 170 degrees for approximately 50-55 minutes, depending on your oven. The cake should be golden in colour and spring back when lightly pressed on top (if unsure, test for 'doneness' by inserting a skewer slightly off centre- it should come out clean).

Leave cake to cool in tin 10-20 minutes before turning out, top side up, onto a wire rack, leaving the baking paper on the cake. Place a large upturned plastic container over the top of the cake and leave to cool completely (this helps the cake to stay super moist).

To make the icing, beat butter, sugar, milk and vanilla with electric beaters until smooth and fluffy.

Remove baking paper from cake. Transfer to serving plate. Spread vanilla buttercream over cake and serve.

The cake will keep stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. Alternatively, cut into portions and freeze.

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KITCHEN | Hummingbird Cake

We know we've been sharing quite a few cake recipes over the past couple of weeks (The Caker's Rhubarb and Maple Cream Cheese and My Darling Lemon Thyme's Rhubarb and Lemon flourless number). Maybe we're just in a cake kind of mood. We're working on some mouth-watering (non cake) recipes for you over the coming weeks. But how could we say no to this one, a light-as-a-feather, fruity and just a little bit naughty Hummingbird Cake. It's a recipe by Sunday Folk, one of our favourite food bloggers (her instagram is pretty great, too). We love Bianca's happy, heartfelt approach to vegan and vegetarian cooking - and this cake is no exception. We hope you have a warm, baking-filled week.

KITCHEN | Hummingbird Cake | Sunday Folk

 

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 large eggs, beaten * egg replacer can be used.
1 cup vegetable oil
 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups crushed pineapple, undrained * More can be added if needed
1 cup chopped pecans
2 cups chopped bananas
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Method: Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; add eggs and oil, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. (Do not beat.)

Stir in vanilla, pineapple, 1 cup pecans, and bananas. Pour batter into three greased and floured 9-inch round cake tins.

Bake at 175°C for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

Spread Cream Cheese Frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake; sprinkle 1/2 cup chopped pecans on top. Store in refrigerator.

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:
1 container cream cheese, softened – Philadelphia regular cream cheese is perfect.
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 small package icing sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method: Beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla.

Read more from our Kitchen recipe series here.

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KITCHEN | Rhubarb + Cinnamon Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Icing

Jordan Rondel is The Caker, a gorgeous cake-bakin' babe based in Auckland New Zealand, where she makes mouth-watering, truly gorgeous cakes from her kitchen (with a neon sign out the front) on the K'Rd. We love that her cakes are simple, with high quality ingredients and unfussy finishings, letting the flavours do all the talking. Jordan shared with us her recipe for a not-too-sweet, not-too-spicy cake with a rich maple icing, perfect for all the rhubarb that has been showing up in stores recently.

 Jordan Rondel | The Caker | Undone Journal

KITCHEN | Rhubarb + Cinnamon Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Icing | The Caker

In this moist cinnamony cake, the seasonal rhubarb lends both a sweetness and tartness, which is surprisingly harmonious.

Ingredients: 8 stalks of rhubarb, washed, trimmed and cut into 2cm chunks
2 tbspn maple syrup
150g butter, softened 150g unrefined golden caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 organic eggs
150g spelt flour
50g ground almonds
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
 ½ cup Greek yogurt

Icing: 200g cream cheese
½ lime juice
3 tbsp maple syrup

Method: Preheat the oven to 180ºC fan bake. Grease and line a 22cm diameter cake tin.
Poach the rhubarb by simmering it in 1/2 cup water along with the maple syrup until soft, approximately 5 minutes.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until pale, light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and then the eggs, one at a time. Sift in the flour, ground almonds, baking powder and cinnamon, and then add the yogurt. Stop your electric mixer once all the ingredients are combined, do not over mix.

Pour the batter into the tin and dot the cooked rhubarb into it, pressing the fruit down lightly with a spoon. Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until golden in colour, springy to the touch and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.

Meanwhile, make the icing. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat all the ingredients together until smooth. Once the cake is completely cool, ice with a generous amount of the icing. Decorate with some more cooked rhubarb along with its syrup.

Store in a cool, dry place in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

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KITCHEN | Flourless Rhubarb + Lemon Cake

My Darling Lemon Thyme is the creation of Emma Galloway. A mother, chef, photographer and old friend (previously she has written a pretty delicious chocolate and date slice recipe for us, one of our favourite posts of all time).

Her food blog has captured the attention of many, winning awards and accolades. Listed as one of the top 10 food blogs in Babbles 100 Best Bloggers 2013, Emma has been featured on Epicurious, Taste.com.au, The Guardian, and was a finalist in the 2013 Pedestrian Blogster Awards. But her biggest prize may be just around the corner as right now she is winging her way to Las Vegas to compete in the Academy Awards of food blogs; The Saveur Best Food Blogs Awards. 

As a finalist in the Best Original Recipes category, a top selling book now available in stores and international recognition abound; success could not have come to a more deserving person. We are so excited to see her images and world come to life in print and can't wait to see what's up next for Emma.

Recipe & Images by Emma Galloway | My Darling Lemon Thyme

Flourless Rhubarb + Lemon Cake When baking I use unrefined raw sugar that I've blended in my upright blender until powdered. You can also use caster sugar if preferred. 
Serves 8-10

250g rhubarb (about 4 decent stalks/2 cups finely sliced), sliced into 1cm pieces
2 1/2 cups (275g) almond meal (ground almonds)
150g soft butter
3/4 cup (150g) blended unrefined raw sugar* see headnotes
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
the finely grated zest of 1 large lemon
4 free-range eggs, at room temperature
blended unrefined raw sugar or pure icing sugar (confectioners), to dust, optional

Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Grease and line the base and sides of a 9 inch/23cm cake tin with baking paper.Combine the rhubarb and almond meal in a large bowl, mixing well to evenly coat the rhubarb in almond meal (this will prevent the rhubarb from sinking to the bottom of the cake during cooking). In another bowl combine soft butter, sugar and extract and beat with an electric beater or wooden spoon until light and fluffy. Add zest and one egg at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the wet mixture to the almond meal and stir to combine. Pour into the cake tin, smooth off the top with a spatula and bake for 60-65 minutes or until golden and a skewer comes out clean when pressed into the centre of the cake. Remove from the oven and set aside for 5 minutes before removing the tin and transferring to a wire rack to cool. Serve dusted with icing sugar. Will keep 3 days airtight, or refrigerated for longer. 

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