On envy and banana cake

A couple of weeks ago, not in the brightest of moods, I was walking to work when my sister in London called. She was at the Arcade Fire concert and I was walking to work - probably running late, definitely pre-coffee, and not wearing appropriate clothing for the recent drop in temperature. She sounded so happy. I nearly cried.

When she'd sobered up the next day, we had an actual conversation and got talking about the benefits of baking with natural yoghurt. I'm a huge fan - my plum and yoghurt cake is solid testimony to that. I'd never tried it in a banana cake before - until recently when I made two (which my hazy memory I think informs me was actually the last time I baked). It was with those free ripe bananas from the (dreamboat who works at the) mini-supermarket on Lambton Quay.

I ended up icing one with lemon icing and one with chocolate. They were large, dense cakes (I doubled the recipe and made two) and their moistness bordered on slightly undercooked in the middle. They were however really delicious. Whether it's a slither for a morning tea treat, an chunk for an afternoon sugar-lift, a luscious dessert (especially served with more yoghurt on the side) or just a woe-is-me-I-wish-I-was-in-Hyde-Park-right-now-I-want-cake kind of moment, you cannot go wrong with a good banana cake. Thanks to said-sister for the photo. Bananas and yoghurt for the win!

Banana Cake (with natural yoghurt)
My friend Paul's sister wrote this guest post about it for the ladies who write the blog Lovely Wee Days. It's originally a Jo Seagar recipe.

1 cup sugar
100g butter, melted
3 eggs
3 bananas, mashed
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp baking soda
150ml natural or fruit yoghurt
2 cups standard flour
3 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 160*C. Line and grease a 20-22cm springform tin. Beat the sugar, melted butter and eggs until thick and creamy (I used an electric mixer for this). Add the mashed bananas and beat well (I just used a wooden spoon). 


Heat the milk in a small bowl or a glass jug in the microwave until almost boiling (approx 1 minute - mine took closer to two, but I was of course, doubling it, so duh..). Stir the baking soda into the milk then stir into the banana mixture. Add the yoghurt, flour and baking powder. Mix well and pour into the prepared tin. Bake for 45-50 mins, until the cake is cooked in the middle and just pulling away from the edges of the tin. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the lemon icing, I usually just place a knob of butter, the juice of a lemon and some zest in a bowl. Then add icing sugar and a tablespoon of boiling water and stir well. Apparently this cake won't keep for long, but can be stored in an airtight container for 2-3 days. You can also freeze it un-iced. 


Enjoy!