Our chocolate banana cake is the perfect combination of a healthy chocolate cake and decadent banana cake.

Choc-banana cake

I first wrote the post for choc-banana cake back in 2011.

I’m slowly going throw all my posts & re-testing recipes to make sure they’re still as good as I thought back then. 

This one certainly is. I’ve left my little story in there…

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I’m a bit of a book nerd.

I love reading.

It used to just be chick-lit, the sort of thing you can devour in one sitting on a lazy afternoon.

Now I’m into all sorts of books and love taking recommendations.

A few months ago I read ‘Promises to Keep’ by Jane Green.

Her books fall into that first category.

They’re light-heated and easy to read with cute characters and compelling stories that make you want to read just a few more pages every time you go to put it down.

Her latest book is probably my favourite of all.

Although the plot is heart-wrenching each chapter ends with the recipe for one of the meals mentioned in that chapter.

I think it just goes to prove my belief that food really does help when nothing else will.

The recipes are described so vividly you could be there tasting it right by the characters.

This is the first recipe I’ve made from it but it won’t be the last.

A few years ago I would have turned my nose up at the thought of banana in a cake.

Now – bring it on especially with chocolate!

I think I need a little code for ‘beat butter and sugar together until fluffy.’

It’s the start of so many recipes (my first ever and most favourite being my grandmother’s cinnamon tea cake).

With the motor still running, add the egg yolk and mix until it’s combined with the buttery sugar.

Take the bowl off the stand and sift in the dry ingredients.

Stir them through with a wooden spoon.

Can anyone tell me why recipes always specify a wooden spoon as opposed to a different type of spoon?

I’d love to know.

Now it’s time for the stars – the chocolate and banana.

Tip them into the bowl and fold them through.

Try to resist eating the batter before you cook it.

It’s tough but worth it for the end result.

Spread the batter into a greased and lined baking tin and even out the top.

Bake it at 160C fan-forced for 45 minutes or until a cake-tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Leave the cake to rest in the tin for about 5 minutes.

Transfer it to a wire rack to cool.

I think this cake is best eaten slightly warm which is a good excuse to dive right into it fresh from the oven.

Dust the cake with icing sugar to serve.

Because it’s got banana and chocolate in it it lasts quite a few days in an airtight container.

I mean it has the ability to last a few days, it probably won’t last that long though, it’s way too good.

Enjoy!

What about you? Are you a big reader? Which books would you recommend I read in 2012?

Choc-banana cake

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Ingredients

• 1 cup plain chocolate (I used dark chocolate)
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup caster (superfine) sugar
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup plus 2 tbsp plain AP flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp cocoa
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160C (320F) fan-forced and grease and line a 20cm cake tin (round or square).
2. Break the chocolate into a heat-proof bowl and about 10-15 seconds at a time, microwave it until is is melted.
3. Use an electric mixer to beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. Continue to beat the mixture and slowly add the eggs.
4. Remove the bowl from the mixer stand and sift in the dry ingredients and fold them through.
5. Stir in the melted chocolate and mashed banana until the batter is even.
6. Bake the cake for 45 minutes or until a cake-tester or skewer comes out clean when inserted in the middle of the cake.
7. Let it rest in the tin for 5 minutes before turning it to a wire rack to cool slightly.
8. Serve the cake warm dusted with icing sugar.