Banana, Cocoa and Carob Cake
A Healthy Banana Cake
What can you do with overripe bananas?
We buy plenty of bananas whenever we go to Komiza on the island of Vis, so they often become overripe. When they are nearly too soft to eat raw, they become perfect cake material. Their starchy sweetness provides enough sugar and moisture to make the cake delicious. After baking a simple banana, egg, and oat cake several times, I began playing with creative variations. Here is one cheerful and delicious version: banana, cocoa and carob cake.
This is a genuinely wholesome cake with no added sugar and no gluten. Oats and eggs make it a protein-rich meal. It belongs to the family of “breakfast cakes”: you might eat one less slice of bread at breakfast, or simply enjoy a slice of this cake with tea or coffee. It is less suitable after a large lunch because it is filling and may slow digestion, but it is excellent after sports or yoga because it restores energy quickly. For children, babies, athletes, and anyone hungry, this is a finger-licking solution made from ingredients you probably already have at home.
I love an interesting meal, and this cake is fun both to make and to eat. As soon as we combine different colors and flavors, the mind begins testing them: “Do I prefer the dark part or the light one?”
INGREDIENTS
– – four overripe bananas
– two eggs
– 3/4 cup rolled oats
– 1/4 cup coconut flour, or a little more oats
– one teaspoon baking powder
– a pinch of salt
– two tablespoons oil, coconut or sunflower
– two tablespoons carob powder
– two tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
– almonds
– dark chocolate pieces
– oil for the baking tin
PREPARATION
First make the basic mixture from the bananas, eggs, oats and/or coconut flour, salt, oil, and baking powder. Blend everything in a bowl with an immersion blender, which is easiest for me, although any blender will work. If the bananas are only moderately ripe, you may need to add a little milk or water, but only a few tablespoons. Fully ripe bananas are already almost a puree. Coconut flour is optional. It adds some firmness, but you can replace it with oats. Let the mixture rest at room temperature for at least one hour so the oats can soak and all the ingredients can come together.
Divide the mixture into two equal portions. Stir cocoa into one and carob into the other. It is helpful to let the batter rest again before baking so the ingredients can blend. Its consistency before baking should resemble thick oatmeal.
Next, arrange the batter in the tin. I was inspired to alternate the two mixtures so every served slice contains both flavors. Once the batter was in place, I decorated it with almonds on the carob sections and chocolate pieces on the cocoa sections. The cake is now ready to bake for about 25 minutes at 180 C in a preheated oven. Its dark color makes browning difficult to see, but mine pulls slightly away from the sides of the tin and browns at the edge, which tells me it is ready. It does not bake for long and can be eaten warm, though not piping hot. Serve with some fruit, a scoop of ice cream, a little jam, or simply a cup of warm tea.
Enjoy, and may it leave a happy trace on your lips!
