Chocolate Banana Cake + a baking tip

by | Apr 26, 2012 | Baking, Cake, Recipe, Tips/Hints | 15 comments

When it’s 9:30pm and the coldest night of the season is predicted AND you have no sweet treats in the house for school lunch boxes or afternoon teas, making a cake is the only sensible thing to do. Oh yes, we have bananas, heaps of them and if I had a dollar for everytime they fell out of the freezer and onto my toe, I’d be rich. It was time to get rid of them.

I used my ‘old faithful’ recipe for chocolate cake and added two mashed bananas. The smell was divine throughout the house, at 10pm. I topped with a basic chocolate icing and chocolate sprinkles. It was well received in the afternoon as an afternoon snack.

Chocolate Banana Cake

1
and half cups plain flour
3
tablespoons cocoa
1
cup sugar
1/2
cup water
2 mashed overripe bananas
1
teaspoon vanilla
1
tablespoon white vinegar
6
tablespoons oil (I use canola)
1
teaspoon bicarb soda
half
teaspoon salt
 
1 quantity chocolate icing

Turn oven to 180 C (375 F). Grease and line with baking paper an 18x28cm slice tin
well. Put the flour,
sugar, cocoa and water in a bowl. Add mashed banana, vanilla, vinegar, oil, baking soda and
salt. Mix with beaters until smooth. (Mixture is runny.) Pour into the tin. Bake
20 minutes or until cooked through. Cool for 10 minutes then take out of tin. Ice with your
favourite icing.

And now for the the baking tip. When baking a cake for kids or for a crowd, bake in a brownie tin or slice tin.
  • The cooking time is less.
  • There is just enough icing for just the right amount of cake.
  • Cutting the cake into small squares is easy enough to manage for small mouths as well as ladies who like to have a small piece of cake while still being able to carry on a conversation (unlike me who has mastered the art of pushing the contents of my mouth to the side while still being able to talk – I could talk under water).
  • A typical slice tin of 18x28cm will yield around 24 small pieces of cake unlike a typical round cake which will only yield around 8 big slices.
  • There’s very little waste by the children.
  • The square piece of cake is easy to pop in lunch boxes.
  • Any recipe could be cooked this way. (Just adjust cooking times, reducing and inserting with a skewer to check if it is cooked through.)
  • Cooking the cake this way makes a little bit go a long way and is perfect for a crowd.

15 Comments

  1. Marilyn Clark
    Marilyn Clark on April 26, 2012 at 2:59 pm

    What an excellent baking tip! 😀

  2. Megan
    Megan on April 26, 2012 at 3:23 pm

    I always need a tip.

  3. Tonia L
    Tonia L on April 26, 2012 at 5:27 pm

    A chocolate cake with bananas in is sounds divine! I hope to do some baking before this weekend but I'm running out of time!

  4. Nann from At Nann's Table
    Nann from At Nann's Table on April 27, 2012 at 2:56 am

    Anne…I don't believe I have ever made a chocolate banana anything. But this really looks good. I need to give it a go.

    Also I just linked up. And I am so tired. We got here last night and it took 12 hours as I had to stop every hour because of problem/illness. And I have run all day today. I so wanted to get another blog post up of my chicken Friandtoday but maybe I can get to it tomorrow.I know you will absolutely love it because it is with puff pastry. Talk at you later.

    Hugs my dear friend,

    Nann

  5. Spencer
    Spencer on April 27, 2012 at 4:34 am

    Looks absolutely delicious! I love most things chocolate and that looks great!

  6. The Imperfect Housewife
    The Imperfect Housewife on April 27, 2012 at 7:25 am

    OMG…. Now I just need to wait til my bananas over-ripen so i can make this!!!

  7. Lee
    Lee on April 28, 2012 at 11:50 am

    That is a great tip. I actually made a packet mix (the shame!!) gluten free date loaf yesterday and added a banana and baked it in a small square tin. It cooked much more evenly.
    I reckon this recipe will transfer well to gluten free…and it has no chocolate in it so that means I will be able to have it next month!! Stay tuned for an update. I pinned this recipe to my pinterest board "Yum". x

  10. Mums make lists
    Mums make lists on March 27, 2013 at 12:13 am

    This looks yummy!

    Would love for you to link it up at my new Empty Your Archive link party which is a chance to dust off great  posts from your archive – there is a special feature this week on big cakes! – would really love to see you there, Alice @ Mums Make Lists x

  11. Mums make lists
    Mums make lists on April 2, 2013 at 3:00 pm

    Thanks so much for linking up at Empty Your Archive, Alice

  12. Julie Cavaney
    Julie Cavaney on June 23, 2016 at 3:03 pm

    Another awesome and easy recipe. Have these baking in the oven at the moment but turned them into cupcakes, Thanks

    • Anne Murphy
      Anne Murphy on June 24, 2016 at 7:52 pm

      Hey Julie, how are you? Thanks heaps. Hope you’ve been well.

      Anne xx

      • Julie Cavaney
        Julie Cavaney on June 25, 2016 at 2:12 pm

        Hi Anne, Going great. I love your new website. I came to get your gorgeous Coconut Oil cupcake recipe but I couldn’t find it so tried another. They turned about great. I have now added your recipe page to my favourites.
        Hope you are going great too.
        Jules x

        • Anne Murphy
          Anne Murphy on June 27, 2016 at 6:53 pm

          Oh, I’m glad you found something Julie. I’m in the process of ‘tidying up’ my recipes since I made the move to WordPress. Hope to keep in touch. Take care, Anne xx