Saturday, September 06, 2008

Pichet Ong's Banana Cake

banana cake

As weird as it may sound, one of the must have items in my freezer is banana. You know, those over ripen ones with black dots all over their yellow skin? Sometime I buy bananas with the sole purpose of freezing them. Undoubtly, a few will be consumpted when my back is turned, but most go to the freezer.

The freezed bananas offer me the spontaneity of whipping up a batch of banana cake when the craving calls. No longer do I have to go out to get some, and wait another day or two before they turn into the right stage for banana cake. You know how sometime you see an intriguing recipe in the middle of the night, and want to get into the kitchen to make it immediately? (note to self: don't read food blogs or cookbooks before bed) Such is the case with this banana cake recipe, from Pichet Ong's The Sweet Spot.

banana cake

I have a favorite banana cake recipe, which I am in a commited relationship and have used it in almost all the events that called for banana cake. But when someone shares a favorite recipe, especially like Chef Pichet Ong, whom I met in NYC, I know I have to give it a try.

The original recipe calls for baby bananas, in which a variety called "Pinang Emas" comes to mind. It is more readily found in South East Asia, although I see it at the farmer market here in Atlanta sometime. It is also the only kind of banana I eat. Did I tell you that I don't eat banana in its original form? Shocking, I know.

For this recipe, I used the regular bananas from the grocery store though. The resulting banana cake is very moist and tasty. Mine turns out a tad short because I used a bigger pan than the recipe called for. Other than that, there isn't much to pick about. I keep my loaf in the freezer, thinking that it would take us sometime to finish. Boy am I wrong! The last slice is gone before I know it!

I know I am going to make this recipe with baby bananas (Pisang Emas) when I go home in November.

banana cake



Banana Cake
adopted from The Sweet Spot: Asian-Inspired Desserts

1/3 cup (78g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
1 cup (155g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup (85g) honey
1/2 cup (72g)packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (228g) mashed ripe banana,dotted with black spots all over, from the freezer (or baby bananas)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup (130g) plain whole milk yogurt or sour cream
1 cup (155g) chocolate chips (semisweet or bittersweet), optional (I used about 1/2 cup)

Preheat the oven to 350F and lightly butter an 8.5 x 4.5 inch loaf pan, set aside.

Sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda and set aside.

Put the butter, honey, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon in a mixer bowl, and beat with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, add the bananas and vanila and beat on medium speed until the mixture looks lumpy, about 1 minutes.

Reduce the speed to medium low and beat in the egg until well incorporated. Turn the speed to low, and gradually add in the sifted flour mixture. Mix just until no trace of flour remains, about 10 second. Taking note not to overmix the flour. Add in the yogurt, and mix until the batter has only a few remaining white streaks about 5 second. If you like, stop the mixer and mix in the yogurt by hand instead. Gently fold in the chocolate chips, if desired. (I sprinkle the chocolate chips on the batter after it has been poured into the pan.They will sink slightly into the batter after baked)

Transfer the batter into the greased pan and bake in the center of the oven for 40 minutes or until the tester inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes, then unmold and cool completely on rack.

20 comments:

内間 said...

banana cake!
delicius
great pic
sole from argentina

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Mandy, wow, your cake looks really good, I love banana cakes! I have also started freezing bananas :) btw, I have an award for you over here .

Manggy said...

Mandy (Mrs. Ong?) your obsession with your hubby is showing! Ha ha ha. That is the moistest banana cake I've seen in a long while. Excellent! :)

Helene said...

SInce moving to the US I have become a banana cake/bread fan. I like baking and smelling the and B. likes eating them. I just love te smell of banana cake!! Another one to add to the list!

My Sweet & Saucy said...

I love Pichet Ong's book too! I just made one of his recipes yesterday! So glad you tried his banana cake...it looks delicious!

thecoffeesnob said...

Ooh that banana cake looks so good! I always have bananas in the freezer too- perhaps it's time i pull them out to make this. Thanks for sharing!

PheMom said...

This looks like a great recipe to try. I buy bananas for this exact reason too. Your cake/bread looks great!

Snooky doodle said...

hmm this cake looks so moist and delicious. Can't wait to try it. Good thing I ve got some frozen bananas too :-)

Clumbsy Cookie said...

Can not get enough of banana bread! So was it better that you go-to recipe? It looks great! Freezing the bananas is a great tip!

Debbie said...

I LOVE banana ckae and will try this right away! I keep frozen bananas in the fridge too. Didn't start doing that until this year. I didn't know if they would freeze well but they do!!!!

Maria said...

I always have too many bananas in the freezer! I will have to try this cake! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I have never throught of freezing bananas before:) what a great idea! I always buy a lot of them, then end up not knowing what to do with them:)

Great recipe! I make banana bread quote often, but slightly different one. This one sounds and looks amazing! I love a touch of honey in it. Printing the recipe!

Thanks a bunch!

Bakerella said...

that texture looks amazing!

Y said...

I don't like eating bananas either. Just banana cake :D

Mandy said...

Sole,
thanks for dropping by!

happyhomebaker,
thanks!You are always so nice to me.

Mark,
LOL~ Is that really so obvious?

tartelette,
yeah, I like the aroma of banana bread wafting in the kitchen too.

my sweet and saucy,
which recipe have you made? Hopping over to your blog to check it out now!

thecoffeesnob,
haha, glad to know that I am not the only one who freeze banana.

phemom,
Give me a high five! *wink wink*

snooky doodle,
you freeze bananas too, woohoo, we should start a freezer banana club or something.:p

clumsy cookie,
Both are great, but i still like my go-to recipe better. Got to post it here when I make it again.

debbie,
Isn't freeze banana a great thing? I was septical when I read about it the first time, but I am a convert now.

maria,
let me know how it works for you if you try, ok?

farida,
you are most welcome! Freezing bananas prolong their shelf life for a few more months until a nice recipe comes along.

bakerella,
thanks!

y,
haha, I bet you don't like the texture of banana? I use banana in cake and smoothies only. ;)

Anonymous said...

Hi there! Looks yummy! I just posted about Classic Banana Layer Cake at dishingup.wordpress.com. Check it out if you can!

Nancy

Leslie said...

This banana cake looks delish!
I have never stored bananas in the freezer.I suppose I need to start!
Thanks for your comment on my Oreo Turkeys! The kids loved em!

Lisa Choo said...

Hi and thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe. I tried it out last week and it turned out very yummy. Also posted a picture of it on my blog http://mannaheaven,blogspot.com

Also love the fact it uses honey and yugurt, less sugar. Would definitely bake it again.

Thanks again!

Lisa

Anonymous said...

Could use some help here-- I couldn't find whole-milk yogurt at the grocery store so I settled on low-fat (it was either that or no fat). Do you know if it will affect the taste/composition/etc of the cake?
Thanks~

Mandy said...

Pok,
the fat in the whole fat yogurt helps to keep the cake moist. So it's better to use it. The low fat yogurt tends to have more sugar, so your end product may end up tasting sweeter than the original recipe. That said, I substituted the low fat yogurt for the full fat version all the time.

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