Banana Pound Cake
My mom came home from the market with two large bunches of ripe bananas. Sweet and fragrant, these bananas support healthy digestion when eaten fresh, but mashed into a cake, they taste just as delicious. Since bananas are naturally high in sugar, you can also reduce the amount of added sugar in the recipe. After a bit of thought and flipping through a few baking books, I settled on making this banana pound cake.
While this counts as a pound cake, the recipe calls for less butter than traditional versions; the higher quantity of banana makes the batter slightly thinner, but the baking powder helps it rise perfectly, with a lovely, even crack on top.
This banana cake is loaded with walnuts, cashews, dried blueberries and other nuts and dried fruits, boosting its nutritional value and giving it a hearty, dense texture. Enjoy a slice (or two!) for breakfast or as an afternoon snack for a super satisfying bite.
Ingredients
cake flour
100 g (Jinlongyu cake wheat flour)
banana
2 (net weight 250 g)
caster sugar
60 g
egg yolk
2
egg white
2
aluminum-free baking powder
3/4 tsp
lemon juice
2 tbsp
rum
1 tbsp
butter
70 g
nuts
25 g
dried fruit
25 g
Instructions
1
Step 1
Prepare all ingredients: Jinlongyu cake flour, 2 large ripe bananas (riper ones yield a richer flavor), caster sugar, aluminum-free baking powder, butter, eggs, rum, lemon juice, chopped walnuts, cashews, peach kernels and other nuts (cut into small pieces), dried fruit (raisins, dried cranberries, dried blueberries);
2
Step 2
Sift the cake flour and baking powder together; the Jinlongyu cake wheat flour used here is made from 100% high-quality imported wheat with a fine texture. Sifting evenly mixes the baking powder into the flour and incorporates air to make the mixture fluffier;
3
Step 3
Mash the bananas with a spoon into a smooth puree, the finer the better. Add rum and lemon juice, mix well and set aside. Toss the nuts and dried fruit with a small amount of flour so their surfaces are fully coated, which helps them mix evenly into the batter without leaving gaps. Sift the excess flour back into the flour bowl;
4
Step 4
Use a hand mixer to beat the room-temperature softened butter until smooth, with a consistency similar to mayonnaise. Add 30 g of caster sugar and mix thoroughly;
5
Step 5
The butter mixed with caster sugar will turn lighter in color, increase slightly in volume, and have a fluffy texture. Add the egg yolks in two batches;
6
Step 6
The butter mixture with egg yolks will be lemon-yellow, fluffy, and thick. Set it aside after mixing;
7
Step 7
Use an electric hand mixer to beat the egg whites on medium speed. Add the remaining caster sugar in two batches, beating until stiff peaks form;
8
Step 8
Take 1/3 of the whipped egg white mixture and add it to the egg yolk mixture, stirring until evenly combined;
9
Step 9
Sift in 1/3 of the dry flour mixture and mix evenly with a spatula;
10
Step 10
Pour the mixed batter back into the bowl with the whipped egg whites, mix evenly, then sift in the remaining flour and fold until well combined;
11
Step 11
Take one spatula-full of batter and add it to the banana puree, mix well, then pour it back into the large batter bowl and fold until evenly combined;
12
Step 12
Add the nuts and dried fruit to the banana batter and mix until evenly distributed;
13
Step 13
Clean a non-stick pound cake mold in advance. Pour the cake batter into the mold, filling it 8/10 full. Smooth the surface, then pull the middle part slightly towards the sides to create a slight indentation;
14
Step 14
Place the batter in the lower-middle rack of a preheated oven. Since my oven has a hidden bottom heating element, I place it on the lower-middle rack; if your oven has exposed heating elements, you can use the middle rack. Calculate the preheating time based on your oven to avoid letting the batter wait for preheating. Bake at 180°C upper heat and 210°C lower heat for about 50 minutes. Adjust the temperature and time according to your oven and the size and depth of the mold. If the surface reaches your desired color halfway through baking, you can cover it with aluminum foil. The crack in the middle is a natural baking result;
15
Step 15
There is no need to invert and release the cake from the mold immediately after taking it out of the oven. You can brush a layer of sugar syrup on the surface, but this is optional. Let it cool, then refrigerate it overnight before eating for a better texture;
16
Step 16
Banana pound cake is best enjoyed in autumn and winter.
