Super-Fruity Banana Loaf Cake
Prep Time:15 Mins, Cook Time: 50 Mins, Total Time: 1 Hr + 5 Mins
November 11, 2013
I recently baked this very banana loaf recipe and it dawned on me it STILL had yet to make it’s bloggie debut on Eat Your Veg. And has in fact been baked and even photographed numerous times over the last few months, and each time gets sidelined in favour of more seasonal fruity offerings! These pics are actually from early summer, pre-move and back in France. So here we finally have it, my considerably healthier than average Super-Fruity Banana Loaf Cake. Chock a block full of better-for-you ingredients and fruit, yet still bursting with yum factor. I’ve used more sustaining and higher fiber wholemeal flour in the loaf in place of refined white, coconut oil and yoghurt instead of butter and dark soft brown sugar rather than white caster. And with three whole bananas and a generous amount of sultanas and dried apricots this really is about as virtuous as a cake can get!.
Banana cake’s obviously a great way to use up old and blackened nanas, and who doesn’t have a few of those lying around from time to time. And it’s really much more flavoursome if they are a tad on the old and worse-for-wear side. At this point in their life they’re sweeter too, thus reducing the quantity of additional sugar. To be honest I’m always mystified why there’s so much sugar in most banana cake recipes, it’s really quite unnecessary, especially if you add lots of other dried fruits too.
This is a very good cake recipe to make with kids, even very small kids, as there’s plenty of lightweight stirring and banana mashing action. And believe me this cake is very forgiving!
Since Banana Loaf has featured pretty often in our lunchboxes lately I’m enter it to this month’s Family Foodies, a new event co-hosted by myself and Vanesther of Bangers & Mash. This month Vanesther’s hosting and the theme’s Lunchbox Ideas, so do join in if you have any to share!. And to Karen & Kate’s Tea Time Treat’s event as November’s theme, hosted by Karen @ Lavender and Lovage, is Dried Fruit. The One Ingredient Challenge, hosted jointly by Laura and this month by Nazima at Franglais Kitchen, so happens to be Vine Fruits so my banana loaf is off there too! AND finally, phew, to Helen’s Breakfast Club, hosted this month by Utterly Scrummy and with a double whammy theme of Wholegrains and Breakfast on the Go I’d say this loaf qualifies for both!.
Bananas, Sultanas, Apricots, Coconut Oil, Wholemeal Flour, Yoghurt
Great For:
Toddlers, Pre-Schoolers, Big Kids, Grown Ups, Breakfast, Elevenies, Lunchboxes, Afternoon Tea, After-School Treat, Pudding, Picnics, Baking with Kids, Freezing
Notes:
Makes 1 large loaf cake.
If you can’t source coconut oil, use olive or rapeseed oil instead.
Wonderful served warm from the oven. Keeps for a few days in a tin in or out of the fridge. Freezes well.
Special Equipment:
A greased and lined large loaf tin
Super-Fruity Banana Loaf Cake
Ingredients Prep Time:15 Mins, Cook Time: 50 Mins, Total Time: 1 Hr + 5 Mins
To Make 1 Large Loaf Cake:
100g dark soft brown sugar
2 tablespoons coconut oil, softened (a few seconds in a microwave should do it)
2 large free range eggs, lightly beaten
1 heaped tablespoon thick yoghurt (I usually use Greek style yoghurt)
3 very ripe or blackened bananas, mashed
zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
100g sultanas
80g dried apricots, roughly chopped into smaller pieces
200g wholemeal self raising flour
1) Pre-heat your oven to 180º/160ºfan/Gas Mark 4
2) Grease and line a large loaf tin
3) In a large mixing bowl combine the sugar with the softened coconut oil, beating with a wooden spoon or a balloon whisk. A perfect job for a young assistant.
4) Next stir or whisk in the lightly beaten eggs and yoghurt.
5) Mash the bananas on a plate, another easy job for little hands, and stir into the cake mix
6) Now throw in the lemon zest, sultanas and apricots and give everything a good stir, followed by the flour
7) Once well combined spoon and scrape out into the loaf tin
8) Place in the hot oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour, but check after 45 minutes just in case. An inserted skewer should come out clean and the cake golden and firm to touch.
Looks delicious! I love banana loaf 🙂
Thanks Fiona! Can’t beat the smell of fresh-out-of-the-oven banana cake 🙂
What a great looking banana loaf, especially with all those extra fruits. A great entry for this month’s Family Foodies challenge!
Thanks Vanesther! Loving this month’s Family Foodies lunchbox challenge. So many fab ideas!
FABULOUS Louisa and I love the added fruit too, such a GREAT idea! Karen
Thanks Karen! Always looking for new ways to sneak in lots of extra goodliness!
Looks delicious, love everything with bananas!
Thanks Sylvia, me too!. Always a bit banana crazy!
Nothing beats a good banana loaf! And children love it. I love the look of your blog, so colourful and with lots of things going on! Thank you for your nice comment about my recipe on Foodies 100.
I am inviting you to a new challenge over at my blog called “Let’s Party!” beginning today. If you fancy enter a recipe! 🙂
Thanks so much Alida for all our lovely comments too!. I’ll pop over and have a look at your new Let’s Party challenge, sounds like fun 🙂
Love a cake that almost comes under the heading of health food and this one looks delicious!!
Thanks Anna, it so almost is good for you! And very tasty too for it 🙂
so very delicious as well as healthy. and love your pictures.
Thanks Nazima, these pics were all early summer actually, can’t believe it took me so long to post!