It is rare for me to walk into a supermarket on one day, pick up their free magazine, then make one of the recipes the next. I usually have so many other recipes in mind that any new ones take their place in the inevitable queue. However, I had been planning to make a Banana Cake for some time so when I saw this I not only had the intention but also all the ingredients, including some very brown bananas. These overripe ones are ideal for baking: their natural sweetness develops as they age and mine were well past their eating best.
The recipe comes from the May 2010 edition of the ASDA free instore magazine: if you hurry you may still be able to pick up a copy, but I find they disappear like hot cakes (ho! ho!) and I often have problems getting hold of one. Never mind, this recipe for Banana & Date Cake is also available online, along with a selection of other delicious sounding ideas for cooking with bananas. For the record, I increased the amount of banana slightly without any problem. I’m not keen on rum so I used the alternative of orange juice for soaking the dates: my husband suggested using Southern Comfort, which is an interesting idea. This is a recipe I shall be making again (and again) so I think an alcoholic version would be good. I have made banana and walnut bread in the past so I would like to try adding nuts or other dried fruit in place of the dates or even chocolate chunks (omitting Stage 2, the heating and soaking, of course). I used my favourite loaf tin in place of the originally suggested square pan, however I felt that the cake was a little undercooked in the centre while being quite dark in colour outside, though not too bad. (Next time I will reduce the oven temperature a little and allow a longer slower cooking. Please be aware of this: I will update the instructions if I find an improvement.) The cake is supposed to be cut into 24 pieces but they would be rather small: 14-16 pieces is more realistic.
'Meanderings through my Cookbook' http://www.hopeeternalcookbook.wordpress.com
Banana & Date Cake
(aprox 14-16 pieces)
150g/5½ozs dried stoned dates
4tbsp/60ml orange juice or dark rum
200g/7ozs very ripe banana (peeled weight)
125g/4½ozs butter, softened
125g/4½ozs sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 small orange
2 large free-range eggs (or 2 smaller ones and a yolk)
175g/6¼ozs self-raising flour
1. Preheat the oven to 180oC/170oC Fan/350oF/Gas 4. Line a 2lb loaf tin or a deep 18cm square cake tin. (See note above about cooking time – may need longer & lower.)
2. Check that each date has been stoned and cut each into four using kitchen scissors. Put the date pieces in a small pan, cover with the orange juice (or dark rum) and gently bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
3. Mash the banana in a bowl with a fork and set aside.
4. Beat the butter, sugar and orange zest together until light and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, along with a tablespoon self-raising flour with each one.
5. Sift in the remaining flour, along with the mashed banana, the dates and their cooking liquid.
6. Pour the mixture in the lined cake tin, making sure it goes into the corners and the top is level. Bake for 45-50 minutes. When it is cooked the top will spring back when it is lightly pressed.
7. Turn out of the tin, removing the paper and cool on a wire tray.
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A friend of mine is coming to help me pack up my flat on Thursday and I wanted to make him a version of his favourite date cake as a thank you. I love the sound of this one, so I think I’m going to give it a go. Thanks for the inspiration hopeeternal!
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Thanks for your comment. I hope your move goes smoothly – I’m sure cake will help it along! It was possibly a little too moist and so may need to be cooked a little longer, however cakes with Banana do tend to be a bit sticky. Thanks for including me in your blogroll – I will return the favour!
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I could murder a piece of this cake right now! Looks beautiful!
I love the recipes in Asda magazine, but admittedly they are all in my recipe binder, behind a million other “must try recipes”. Seeing this picture, I may have to have a go :)
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Catherine: Thank you. I find ASDA magazine a very good source for recipes. Afraid I keep all the back issues too and have a huge pile of ‘must tries’! We will definitely be having this again.
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Looks delicious. I love banana cake. Would love to add dates next time. This would be lovely with a cup of tea.
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Mary: Thank you. The dates were a delicious addition, especially when flavoured with the orange juice.
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Your banana-date cake looks delish. I’ll have to show it to my mother who was considering making the recipe I posted recently but with the idea to substitute dates for the chocolate. She would like this.
Thanks for stopping by my site! :-)
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l&a: Thank you – you are welcome here as well! This is a lovely cake that I shall definitely be making regularly. I do hope your mother enjoys the it. At some point I will make a chocolate version, perhaps with some choc chips included too.
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