Banana- and Data Cake
23. February, 2011
This is a simple yet delicious cake. I often make it for my family on lazy Sundays. It goes well with a glass of cold milk (or so my husband thinks). If you don't like bananas (there are some crazy people out there!) you can use ripe pears, thinly sliced or ripe mango instead.
Note that you will need a food processor and a spring form cake tin, 22 centimetres (8.7 inches) in diameter.
This recipe is:
- Egg free
- Lactose (dairy) free
- Vegan
This recipe is easy to make:
- Gluten free
Banana- and Data Cake
Makes one cake
Ingredients
Bottom:
- 100 grams (3½ oz) cashew nuts, ground
- 60 grams (2 oz) rapadura cane sugar (or other cane sugar)
- 150 grams (5¼ oz) spelt flour
- 1 teaspoon aluminium and gluten free baking powder
- 60-70 millilitres (2-2½ fluid oz) soy milk (or any other milk you prefer)
- 60 millilitres (2 fluid oz) boiling hot water
- 5 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (from a health food store)
Frosting:
- 120 grams (4 oz) dates, chopped coarsely, cooked and blended
- 125 millilitres (4¼ fluid oz) orange juice
- 80 grams (3 oz) cashew nuts, ground
- 2 tablespoons potato flour (or corn flour)
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder (optional)
- ½ teaspoon salt (Himalaya or sea salt)
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract (from a health food store)
- Water as needed
- 2 ripe bananas, sliced
- Ground cinnamon for topping (optional)
Preparation
For the bottom:
- Place 100 grams cashew nuts in a food processor and blend for approximately 1 minute or until finely ground. Blend for longer if needed. Transfer to a large bowl and add the 60 grams cane sugar. Stir well.
- Sift the 150 grams spelt flour and 1 teaspoon baking powder into the bowl and stir well.
- In a small bowl combine the 60-70 millilitres soy milk, 60 millilitres boiling hot water, 5 tablespoons coconut oil and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Stir well and pour into the large bowl. Combine well. The dough will be very sticky but this is normal.
- Line a spring form cake tin, 22 centimetres (8.7 inches) in diameter with baking parchment.
- Pour mixture evenly into the cake tin.
- Bake at 180 degrees Celsius/350 Fahrenheit/Gas Mark 4, for 20-25 minutes.
- Let cool completely.
For the Frosting:
- Whilst the bottom cools prepare the frosting.
- Chop the 120 grams dates coarsely and place in a saucepan along with the 125 millilitres orange juice. Cook the dates for 10-15 minutes or until soft. Let cool.
- Place 80 grams cashew nuts in a food processor and blend for 2 minutes or until very finely ground (almost oily). Laave in the food processor bowl.
- Add the date mixture to the processor bowl along with 2 tablespoons potato flour (or corn flour), 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract and ½ teaspoon salt. Blend for 10-15 seconds or until mixture becomes soft/silky. The frosting should be thick and silky and it should run off a spoon in large clumps (not dripping). If the mixture is too dry/stiff, add a couple of tablespoons soy milk and continue blending for a few seconds.
- Slice the bananas and arrange on top of the cake bottom.
- Spread the frosting over the cake.
- Sprinkle cinnamon on top.
Tips
- You can use this frosting for many other cakes.
- You can use skimmed milk, rice milk, oat milk or almond milk instead of the soy milk.
- If the coconut oil is cold (in which case it becomes solid), place the jar in a bowl filled with hot water for a couple of minutes.
- You can use carob instead of the cocoa powder.
- You can make the cake gluten free by using buckwheat flour instead of the spelt flour.
- You can use ripe pears or ripe mango, sliced thinly instead of the bananas.
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