Saturday, November 19, 2011

Weekend Cooking: Sour Cream Banana Cake

Earlier this year when the flooding and cyclone hit Queensland, one of the casualties was the banana crop. As a result bananas have been extortionately expensive for months, and so there was no way that you would be buying bananas just to make cakes with.

Finally, prices are on their way down again, and so I have had a couple of bananas sitting in the fruit bowl, steadily ripening to the point where a cake can be made. I do have a favourite banana bread recipe, which was one of my earliest Weekend Cooking posts, but I did think it was time to try a new recipe, and this one looked, and tasted, delicious.

It was my intention to actually make this but it the little chef ended up taking charge and making it himself! The only thing he really needed assistance with was the icing.

Sour Cream Banana Cake

Ingredients

125g butter, softened
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup sour cream
1 cup mashed banana (you will need 2 large, very ripe bananas)
2 1/4 cups self-raising flour
1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Icing

180g white chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup sour cream

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease base and sides of a 7cm deep, 19cm square cake pan and line with baking paper.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each. Using a metal spoon, gently fold in sour cream and bananas. Sift flour and bicarbonate of soda over batter and gently fold through.

Spoon batter into cake pan. Smooth surface. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Stand for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
Make icing Place chocolate and sour cream in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Heat, stirring constantly with a metal spoon, for 3 minutes or until smooth. Remove from heat. Stand for 10 minutes or until slightly thickened. Pour icing over cake, allowing it to drizzle down sides. Serve warm.

Notes

Sour cream banana cake (without the icing) can be made a day in advance. Store at room temperature in an airtight container. To warm, place un-iced cake on a microwave-safe plate lined with baking paper. Heat, uncovered, on MEDIUM-LOW DEFROST (30%) for 4 to 6 minutes or until warm to the touch. Ice while warm.




Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs.

16 comments:

  1. Wow! This has Mr. BFR written all over it. I need to hide the photo from him or he'll be pointing to it saying, "Make that!" I'll save it to make December (after we get past the American Thanksgiving food-fest).

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  2. Looks delicious, especially with the icing! I have to try this one, we love banana cakes and breads! Great that the prices have come down.

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  3. I love sour cream in cakes...Copying this one down for sure!

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  4. Oh, this looks delicious, and I love banana cake so very much! I have a great recipe for banana bread with milk chocolate chips if you are interested. It's very easy, and so, so delicious! Email me if you want the recipe, and I will send it right out! Great post today, Marg!

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  5. Oh, yum! I'm saving this recipe.

    I have a little bit different sour cream frosting if you are interested:
    http://lettersfromahillfarm.blogspot.com/2009/03/zucchini-white-cake.html

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  6. Hey! Is it banana day today? My husband also made a banana sour cream cake (from an old Australian Women's Weekly Cookbook we brought from one of our Australia trips ;). Love it!!

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  7. I know I left a comment very early this morning. Where did it go? I love this cake and I know Mr. BFR would love me to bake it. I think it'll be perfect for a cold January night.

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  8. Beth, That's weird. You really did leave a comment because I read it when I got up this morning.

    Love those Australian Women's Weekly Cookbooks.

    Nan, I will definitely have a look. I don't recall having it before but there are so many cakes that sour cream frosting would go really well with!

    Zibilee, I would love to have a look at your recipe. I linked to one I have been making for a while now but it is always fun to try different versions!

    Caite, I have never made a cake with sour cream in before, but I liked it!

    Carol, it was delicious!

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  9. Sounds and looks yummy. My daughter makes great banana bread, but I don't think she's tried it with any sour cream yet. I'm going to pass on this link to her. :)

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  10. YUM! I'm a banana fan! Will have to try this one :)

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  11. We love bananas in my house and go through almost two a day so they're practically an auto buy for me twice a week at the market. Bananas sell for maybe $0.69 a pound here or $0.19 each at one store. I'm curious how much they cost in your area? Right now our dollars are just about equivalent.

    Anyway, this banana cake looks scrumptious! My family would LOVE it. : )

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  12. Christine, earlier this year they were up over $12 a kg. Now they are about $5 a kg so much more expensive than they are for you.

    Anglers Rest, it was very tasty!

    Peppermint Ph.D, I hope you like it if you try it.

    Mardel, this was my first try with sour cream. Won't be the last.

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  13. I love this! I will have to pin it for later reference :)

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  14. Perfect timing. I have some very ripe banana's and I hate to throw those things out, but I can only make so much banana bread.
    Thanks!

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  15. Yum. Bananas are a good price again so I can indulge. Love baking with them!

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