A conversation at a party yesterday has inspired me to revive this ailing blog. Life has been taken up with triathlon training, work and other things of late…time to get back to cooking and writing!
We could all do with eating less refined sugar, and whilst I’m not about to advocate a celeb-worthy extreme deprivation diet – Gwyneth, I’m looking at you – this cake makes a tasty change from the usual fare if you fancy being moderately virtuous. It has quite a dense texture which lends itself to enjoying alongside a cup of tea or coffee.
Banana, Nut and Dark Chocolate Cake
3-4 ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup flavourless oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or cinnamon and/or nutmeg)
1/3 cup plain yoghurt – I used goats milk yoghurt
2 cups plain flour (or wholemeal plain flour, in which case leave out baking soda and baking powder)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
approx 1 cup mixed nuts, chopped – I used brazils, hazelnuts, almonds and walnuts
approx 100g dark chocolate, chopped – I recommend dark chocolate Toblerone
Preheat oven to 180°C and line a 2lb loaf pan.
Beat the banana, oil, eggs, vanilla and yoghurt together.
In another bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder (and spices if using). Add to the wet ingredients and beat well.
Fold in the chopped nuts and chocolate.
Pour the batter into the prepared tin and cook for around 1 hour, until a skewer comes out clean. You may need to cover the cake with foil for the last 10 minutes or so, to stop it from burning.
Remove from the tin and cool on a wire rack.
