Do you have cravings?
Occasionally I do.
And sometimes for the oddest stuff.
Last Sunday while I was at the wet market, I saw this bunch of lovely “pisang rasthali” at my regular fruit stall. I found out that pisang rasthali is known as “manzano banana” in English. I didn’t take a photo of the bunch I had but here’s a photo I found on Google, just to let you have an idea of how they looked:
Well, coming back to my cravings… it was for Banana Cake! This is actually readily available in most bakeries everywhere – in fact, there’s also a stall at the wet market selling this. After all, bananas are available whole year round here and not that expensive too.
But… rather than taking the easy way out and just buying it, I took the trouble of baking one myself. You see, the problem was this: I find most cakes sold in bakeries/market are either too sweet or too full of artificial flavours or worse, there’s too much soda bicarbonate in them (especially in banana cakes)!
For banana cakes, I always use pisang rasthali/manzano bananas as they give the best flavour and texture to the cake. Do use very ripe ones as those which are not ripe enough will give a certain tartness to the cake, which, I find to be quite unpleasant.
So, come on over… have some tea and some banana cake! 🙂
Sean says
can make a mangosteen cake? or a ciku cake? those are my two favorite malaysian fruits 😀
Pureglutton says
Hmm… not sure if i can use mangosteen & ciku in a similar recipe. Hehe, will let u know if i do try 😉
Marian Eu says
Your banana cake was so looovely! I also like pisang rastali. Gives a nice texture to the cake.
Pureglutton says
Thanks, Marian – pisang rasthali is the best banana for cake!
minchow says
Oh I remember this with such fondness! It was so wonderful with my morning cuppa!
Pureglutton says
Min, that was quite some time ago eh? Nice to know it brought back fond memories 🙂
jason says
You should run baking classes already! 😀
Pureglutton says
Jason: Will u attend ahh? 😛
iamthewitch says
Ahh nice and fluffy! I LOVE banana cakes! Can I come over now? 😉
Pureglutton says
Witch: Banana cakes are easy to love eh? 😉 Come over before it’s all gone, LOL!
Baby Sumo says
Wow your banana cake looks lovely!
I used to bake banana cakes all the time whenever they became too ripe..
Pureglutton says
Baby Sumo: Thanks 🙂 Yes, ripe bananas are excellent for cakes!
Life for Beginners says
You’ve got me going bananas over your banana cake! 😀
Pureglutton says
LFB: Didn’t know u like banana cakes 😛
gfad says
I love banana cakes that are speckled. I have difficulty finding bananas like the rastali here which gives a fantastic speckled appearance and great aroma. Maybe I should try some of those small Indian bananas which look like our rastali and see how it goes. They did make nice kuih kodoks though but not as fragrant as our local pisang.
If you’re on the lookout for other banana cake recipes, this one is quite good (http://auntyyochana.blogspot.com/2006/07/banana-cake.html). Really light and moist. I don’t like those banana bread-type as they are too dry and dense.
Pureglutton says
GFAD: Only the rastali gives that speckled effect, that’s why I said it’s the perfect banana for cake-baking! Hmm, i’ll check out that recipe you linked… my own recipe also yields a killer cake 😉
val brown says
Looking at this banana cake is literally making my mouth water. after i find, make, or steal a pie with cheese on top, gotta find, make, or steal a banana cake. my work is cut out for me today…