I like to use honey in banana cakes as it gives a wonderful moist texture, a golden crust and a rich caramel flavour. To make four small cakes instead of one big one, use 10cm tins (recycled large tuna cans are perfect) and bake for 45-55 minutes. To make banana muffins, simply divide the mixture between 12 muffin tins and cook for about 20 minutes.
The Ultimate Banana Cake
Prep time 15 mins
Cook time 1 hour
Makes 1 medium cake
250g butter, at room temperature
1½ cups raw sugar
¼ cup honey
4 eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 large, very ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
2 tsp baking soda
½ cup hot milk
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
PASSIONFRUIT HONEY FROSTING
Ingredients
100g butter, at room temperature
2 tsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp passionfruit pulp, plus extra for drizzling if desired
3 cups icing sugar
Method
Preheat oven to 160degC fanbake. Grease a 23cm-diameter springform cake tin and line the base with baking paper.
Beat together butter, sugar and honey until creamy. Add eggs, vanilla and bananas, beating hard for 2-3 minutes. The mixture will look quite separated. Dissolve baking soda in hot milk and add to mixture. Gently stir in flour and baking powder until just combined (do not over-mix). Spoon into prepared tin and smooth top. Bake until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean and the top bounces back when pressed (60-70 minutes). Cool in tin, then turn out and ice.
To make Passionfruit Honey Frosting, beat together butter, honey, vanilla, passionfruit and icing sugar until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes). Spread evenly over the cooled cake. If desired, drizzle with extra passionfruit pulp just before serving.
Store iced or uniced cake in a sealed container in a cool place for 2-3 days or freeze.
• This recipe is from Annabel's new book Annabel Langbein The Free Range Cook: Through the Seasons
