March 3, 2022

BANANA, PECAN AND MAPLE SYRUP CAKE


This is a Be-Ro book recipe that I spotted in a Facebook group fairly recently and wondered why I had never noticed it before.  The reason is that it’s a new recipe in the most recent edition, which I very rarely use, preferring the book before. 

It sounded so good that I just had to try it.  

In the Be-Ro book it is baked in a loaf tin but the person who posted the picture had used a round tin, which I also prefer.  I have found that all recipes for a 2lb (900g) loaf tin bake perfectly well in an 8” (20cm) round tin instead.  You have to keep your eye on the cooking times and check sooner than stated.  Sure enough, my cake was done in exactly one hour which is less than the time in the recipe.  I also thought it was looking brown enough after 35 minutes so covered it loosely with foil.

It was interesting to see the quantity of bananas given by weight.  So many recipes just say "three medium" or "two large" bananas but how large is large?  This one states the weight of unpeeled bananas which is very reassuring.  

It’s a contender for my current favourite banana cake.  It had a lovely texture, a nice glossy top and just the right bananarish flavour.  The dried banana slices became chewy and I was glad I didn’t substitute walnuts for the pecans just because I always have so many windfall walnuts in stock!  A 100g bag is just right for the cake.  There’s no doubt the people at Be-Ro know how to write a good recipe and I preferred it to the other version that I made exactly a year ago, see here.  Sorry, James!

Ingredients 

For the cake

225g self raising flour

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Pinch of salt

75g butter (I used Sainsbury's Buttersoft)

110g light soft brown sugar 

2 eggs, beaten 

450g bananas, weighed in their skins (exactly four small bananas)

75g pecans, chopped 

2tblsp maple syrup

For the topping

25g dried banana slices

25g whole pecans

1tblsp maple syrup 

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 160° fan /gas mk 4.  Grease and line the bottom of a 20cm round springform tin (or use a lined 2lb loaf tin).

First make the topping by simply placing all the ingredients in a small bowl and mixing together.  Set aside.  Peel and mash the bananas.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar using a hand held whisk until fluffy.  Beat in the eggs in thirds with a little flour.  

Stir in the remaining flour and the other ingredients and spoon into the tin.  Level the top and spoon the topping ingredients over the top.  Pour over any residual syrup.

Bake for about an hour, covering loosely with foil after 35 minutes.  (The recipe gives a longer time of one and a quarter hours in a loaf tin.)  Cool in the tin.

Cuts into 10-12 slices.

8 comments:

  1. Impressive cake. I love those flavours. For some reason, I seem to use pecans only in the Christmas period. I must be nuts (see what I did there?). I haven't used dried banana for many, many years and now I can't understand why.

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    1. I don't usually like the crunchyness of banana chips and was pleased they became chewy. I shall definitely make this cake again.

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    2. Have you ever found dried bananas here in France?

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    3. Ken, I'm not sure but I think so! Most likely in the section where they sell all the other dried fruit, nuts, prunes etc. Or maybe in the home baking section. I will keep my eyes open and report back!

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    4. I'll have to look at the bulk foods bins at Terre Y Fruits and at Intermarché. I can't ever remember seeing dried bananas here. I'd like to make this cake. We have plenty of pecans and maple syrup, and bananas are easy to come by.

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    5. Ken, the cake would be perfectly good without them, in fact I nearly didn't use them as it was barely a handful!
      However......as it happens I brought some with me. You can have them the next time we see you!
      (Baking items seem to be one of the things we can still bring over from the UK to France post Brexit. Meat and dairy items are no longer allowed, sadly.)

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  2. Ah yes, the faff factor. A major reason why I gave up cooking the evening meal during the two years between my earlier retirement and my wife's. I had 15 recipes (one of them sandwiches) which I rotated twice each month. Fish pie was the high spot. Wife said said she didn't mind the lack of imagination; it was enough that she wasn't, herself, cooking. That was 24 years ago.

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    1. As time goes by I find I have less inclination to do faffy recipes, even though I theoretically have more time!

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