April
08
Tags
Banana, Raspberry and Coconut Cake
My clumsiness has reached new levels of slapstick. During the course of making this recipe, I dropped things SIX times. Including my phone. Twice. Into mashed banana.
But even the onset of motor neuron degeneration and the lingering smell of banana on my phone cannot dampen my delight with this recipe. Another case of a blogger’s post, this time Laura’s Mess, dropping into my Inbox and falling truly, madly, deeply right away.
Laura’s original recipe was made with strawberries, but my supermarket had sold out. It was also made in a loaf tin to be more bread-like, but I didn’t have one so I made it in a cake tin. And to make matters really difficult, the battery in my electronic scales had died, and I had no way of accurately measuring anything. In the world of baking, this is as foolhardy a mission as putting a man on the moon with all the computer power of a 1982 Casio calculator (niche one for the nerds there). Thankfully, in her post, Laura says that this recipe “forgives many common errors that haunt novice cooks“. I can confirm that it also forgives not-so-common errors, such as flour weighing via the method of sight and making lots of “um…errr...” sounds.
The result is both forgiving and undeniably scrumptious. An excellent crumb (as Mary Berry would say) bursting with sweet banana, sharp raspberry and exotic coconut. It’s like all of your favourite holiday memories wrapped up in a cake that’s great against all odds. If you want to bake but you’ve been too scared to try, this is the beginner’s best friend. Now you have no excuse!
Spongy crumb, sweet fruit and crunchy coconut topping.
You can find the original recipe here, but to follow is how I miraculously made mine.
Need This
100g unsalted butter / greaseproof paper / 225g self-raising flour / 1/2 tsp salt / 175g soft light brown sugar / 55g dessicated coconut / 200g fresh raspberries / 3 large or 4 medium bananas / 1/2 tsp vanilla extract / 3 tbsp milk / 1 egg / 1 tbsp demerara sugar / 1 tbsp extra dessicated coconut
Do This
Grease cake tin & line with greaseproof paper / oven 160C / flour + salt + butter / rub with fingers until breadcrumbs / stir in sugar + coconut + raspberries (pic 1) / mash bananas in separate bowl / add vanilla + milk + beaten egg (pic 2) / pour liquid into dry / combine well / turn into tin & smooth top with back of spoon (pic 3) / sprinkle over demerara sugar + extra coconut / oven 90 mins / skewer should come out with crumbs not wet mix / cool in tin (pic 4)
Pic 1: Dry mix.
Pic 2: Phone magnet.
Pic 3: Looks undeniably cakey.
Pic 4: An abused cake, skewered more times than was humane.
La Petite Gourmande Anglaise 
Fiona, your cake looks absolutely delicious! Love that crispy, crunchy oat streusel topping, perfect for afternoon tea. Great idea to use the frozen raspberries…yum yum yum! Thanks for linking back to me xx
That’s very kind of you. I can confirm the additional dunkage of my phone did not at all detract from the yumminess! xx
I just realised that I wrote an entirely incorrect comment… *grovel* so sorry, I was reading your recipe at an ungodly hour (in Australian time) and whilst half asleep I somehow managed to assume that there were both oats and frozen (not fresh) raspberries in your cake! Argh! I think that’s a worse faux pas than dropping your phone in the batter (but just so you know, a friend of mine dropped her phone in a saucepan of hot, sticky spiced lemon syrup which is entirely worse than mashed banana). Anyway, ahem… let me revise. Your post is really well written as always. You are way too modest about your cooking abilities. The fresh raspberries peeking out of your cake look entirely happy to be there (under their crunchy coconut roof) even though some of them probably got impaled by your overzealous skewering. Oh, and no one would know that the bananas were phone-infused (but if they did, you could probably charge extra… that’s an entirely unique flavour right there!). Okay. That’s better. Thanks again lovely! You are awesome (and I still love the fish-bait worm) xx
Hehe, I think maybe my phone added a certain je ne sais quoi to the overall flavour! Thank you so much for all the lovely things you say. I’m glad you enjoy my posts, and I will try to be more confident in how well I can cook, try some advanced recipes soon. xx (p.s. I still keep expecting a cartoon shark to suddenly appear from the right of the screen to eat him!)
You did good PetiteGourmand, phone schmone! It’s all part of the fun in the kitchen, certainly better than anything in the supermarkets. love LOVE
Thanks for the compliments! Great to get positive feedback (beyond my boyfriend hungrily devouring what I put in front of him) 🙂