Serves 8
We hardly ever bought bananas while I was growing up in Durban, because we always had them growing in the back yard. My father would cut the bunch from the tree and hang it up in the pantry. I love their perfume – it would sneak out under the door and into the kitchen. We ate the bananas till they began to get over-ripe and that was when my mother would bake banana bread; I would have thick slices of it spread with cold butter.
Cake
4 extra-large eggs
1 cups granulated sugar
1 cup (250 ml) sunflower seed oil
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup grated apple,
juice squeezed out
1 ½ cups lightly mashed banana
40 g walnuts, chopped
Topping
1/2 cup muscovado sugar
100 g butter
Preheat the oven to 180 ˚C. Grease and line two 22 cm round cake tins, or one large Bundt tin.
Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy (about four minutes). Add the oil and continue to beat until well incorporated.
Sift the flour, salt, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon into the mixture, and fold in gently.
Remove the batter from the mixer and stir in the fruit and chopped nuts. Divide it evenly between the two tins. Bake for about 60 minutes, or until firm and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
To prevent the tops of the cakes from becoming too dark before they are baked through, cover them loosely with a piece of aluminium foil. Leave the cakes to cool on a cooling rack before removing from the tins.
To make the topping, beat the sugar, butter and caramel until pale and fluffy. Add the cream cheese and continue beating until it is smooth and the sugar granules are no longer visible.
Spread a thick layer between the two cooled cakes and sandwich them together.
Cover the top (and the sides as well, if you like) with the remaining topping – don’t be afraid to let it ooze over the edges. Decorate with a few chopped walnuts or some salty caramel popcorn.
© Yumcious Cookbook by Jenny Morris 2018
