Sugarless Apple and Banana Cake

Hold on, hold on, I hear you say. I know! Today I am giving you something which doesn’t normally appear much here at C&T HQ. When people ask me for alternative ingredients, or diet related recipes I usually give them links to some of my favourite blogs. I don’t do that out of laziness. Most of the time I go out of my way to look for good nutritious recipes that don’t take loads of time and faff to make. This doesn’t apply to food allergies or any other health issue. I do take issue with those who look down on others because they don’t eat “clean”. What? Are the rest eating dirty? And this is not one of those recipes, so there’s a sigh of relief! I can hear it from here.

But that is another story, or rather another blog post. Having said that I am waiting for some books on the subject to arrive through the post very soon, which I hope to be reviewing in the next few weeks. If they decide to get here, that is. I’ve been waiting for over a month now.

However because there always has to be one, isn’t there? this cake recipe here made the cut. It was passed down to me by two of my closest friends, a mother and daughter, Rose and Stef. They love experimenting and making new stuff, a mutual feeling, shared with a number of other dear friends. (Could this be the birth of a baking club?)

This cake is free of sugar, except of course those found in the fruit. I adjusted the original recipe out of necessity, simply meaning I was out of a couple of ingredients. The result is more of a bread I think, and to be honest I missed the extra sweetness but it was good, no doubt about that.

There is no reason why those who wish to cut down on refined sugar can’t have any cake. This is a case in point. I would go for chocolate cake but I can understand those who can’t.

The cake will be cracked at the surface. I love the rustic look so I didn’t mind at all!

• 150g dried prunes, diced
• 4 (x15ml) tablespoons milk or water
• 2 bananas, peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 apples, peeled, cored and cut into cubes
• 100g walnuts, shelled and sliced in chunks
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 125ml rapeseed or vegetable oil
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 350g plain flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder

In a small bowl, wet the dried prunes into the milk (or water) and set aside for around 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Grease and line a 23cm round cake tin with parchment or baking paper.

Sift the flour and baking powder in a medium-sized bowl and set aside until needed.

In a large mixing bowl tip in the dried prunes with any liquid that remains together with the chopped bananas and apples. Give everything a light mix.

Add the walnuts, vanilla extract, cinnamon, oil and eggs. Lightly mix.

Now add the flour and baking powder in batches into the rest of the ingredients. It’s going to get harder and harder to incorporate everything together but gradually it will happen.

Tip the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake in the oven for around 40 to 45 minutes, until the top turns a golden colour. Alternatively insert a skewer or knife in the centre of the cake to check if it’s done.

Rob.

One year ago: Mock Pizza with Spring Onions and Eggs

Two years ago: Beijing Rice

Three years ago: Tools for Basic Baking

Four years ago: Coronation Chicken

Five years ago: Lemon Muffins

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