Banana and Coconut Cake with Whipped Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing
Photography Josh Griggs.
Delicious with or without the icing – an old favourite tweaked using desiccated coconut and coconut oil.
Makes: 1 cake
INGREDIENTS
4 very ripe medium bananas, well mashed
½ cup desiccated coconut
½ cup melted coconut oil or other neutral oil
½ cup each caster and brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon sea salt
1½ cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon each ground cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg
To finish
Whipped Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing (see recipe below)
Equipment: Grease and fully line a 20cm loose-based cake tin.
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 160°C fan bake.
Stir together the bananas, coconut, oil, both sugars, eggs, vanilla and salt until well combined. Set aside for 10 minutes to soften the coconut.
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg and add to the banana mixture.
Stir everything together, making sure there are no pockets of flour in the batter. Pour into the tin and bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool for 20 minutes, then remove from the tin to a cooling rack and cool completely.
Dollop the icing over the cake and swirl with the back of a spoon.
Whipped Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing
INGREDIENTS
100 grams cream cheese, at room temperature
100 grams butter, at room temperature
2 cups icing sugar, sifted
¼ cup good-quality dark cocoa (I used Valrhona)
METHOD
Beat the cream cheese until smooth with no lumps. Add the butter and beat again until light and fluffy. Add the icing sugar and cocoa and beat until well combined. Use immediately or chill for a little while if you want a firmer texture.
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126
We start by sharing what’s on the dish team’s radar, what we’re watching, listening to and reading. Harry Butterfield puts a twist on his Nonna’s agnolotti, Malissa Fedele reminds us of the importance of fibre, and Phoebe Holden fulfils a long-held dream, sitting down with Yotam Ottolenghi. Autumn is an abundant time, we make the most with pumpkin, kūmara, cabbage, cauliflower, feijoas, apples and pears. We’re dishing up dinners for two, including a Chicken Dumpling Lasagne, alongside easy weeknight meals. We honour our mums, revisit timeless classics, and add a little baking challenge. This issue, we encourage you to slow down, to enjoy writing your shopping list, and spending time in the kitchen. Because even when life feels relentless, there’s always space to share something delicious.