I had always assumed as a leftie that one day if I got married, I would wear my ring on my right hand (like a watch), I had always assumed that everyone just guessed whether to use 'a' or 'an' before nouns and I had also always assumed that chocolate icing was the stock standard icing for banana cake. but, I was so wrong! everyone is meant to wear their ring on their left hand, I had never heard of the vowel rule for a/an choosing and everytime this cake is offered to friends, chocolate icing is a foreign and novel idea. however, it is the perfect combination that never fails to win people over and it is how my granny always made it and she was a baker-extraordinaire! never doubt your granny!
now onto the cake - the cake recipe is adapted from the amazing the cooks companion by stephanie alexander which has saved my (cooking) bacon on more than one occasion. it is the bible of the australian kitchen and I can't recommend it enough!! it is a great reference to learn the basics of cooking and is full of tried and true recipes. I have made this cake so many times that this giant tome of a book naturally opens to the page. I kind of made up the icing recipe as I went but have included a great one that will be a lot more reliable than what I made!!
banana cake with chocolate icing
cake adapted from the cooks companion by stephanie alexander
125g softened margarine
1 cup (220g) firmly packed brown sugar
2 free range eggs
1 cup (approx. 220g) mashed ripe banana
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 2/3 cups (250g) plain flour
1 tsp bicarb soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 cup (125ml) buttermilk or milk mixed with 1 tsp lemon juice
prepare a 20cm square cake tin and preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan forced
cream the butter and brown sugar. add the eggs, banana and vanilla and beat to combine.
sift together the dry ingredients and add to the mixture, alternating with the buttermilk (i.e. a little bit of flour, a little bit of milk until they are all used up)
pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 45min-1 hour until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the middle.
chocolate icing
120g butter (or margarine)
1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
2 1/2 cups (400g) icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbs milk
beat the butter and cocoa together until smooth
stir in the vanilla and powdered sugar and beat well.
gradually add the milk until the icing gets to the right consistency, you may not need all the milk.
spread over the cooled cake and enjoy!
