Baby Banana Cakes

Good Morning! I am very excited and happy to share this recipe with you today! I'm on a tight budget now, so I need to plan more carefully in regards to what I can bake. I used all our grocery money for this week so I can only use what I have left in our kitchen. It was a no brainer to decide on making one of my most favorite cakes, Banana Cake. 

Reasons why I LOVE Bananas:

Baking Purposes:
- Brings great flavor to the product
- High in sugar, so use of granulated sugar can be reduced greatly
- Provides great moisture to the baked product

Health Reasons:
- Protection for heart problems because it is high in potassium  and fiber.
- Protection from ulcers because of their antacid effects.
- Protection for your eyesight from age-related macular degeneration. Most of the patients I see have AMD. It is the primary cause of blindness in the US.

There are many more health benefits from eating bananas. You can learn more here.

I want to share this adapted recipe from from Wen’s Delight with you because it is completely different from other banana cakes in texture and taste. I made modifications to the original recipe to make it healthier and for better texture.

Taste: The banana flavor is prominent because real bananas are used instead of artificial flavorers. Sweetness in the cake is not overpowering because it has flavor from using very ripe bananas. The sugar content is mainly from using very ripe bananas so it does not give me the sugar rush I experience from eating store bought cakes.

Texture: This cake is very moist unlike typical sponge cake that requires a lot of frosting to make up for dryness. Unlike banana bread or other versions of banana cake, this cake is very light and soft. The airy nature that creates the sponge-like character of the cake is from how the flour mixture is folded into the egg mixture.

Modifications to the original recipes:
Sugar: I reduced the amount by 30 grams for total of 100 grams. I’ve used 90 grams before with success. I make the reduction based on how sweet I think my bananas are.
Eggs: 3 organic large eggs. You can use jumbo if you like.
Flour:  Organic whole wheat pastry flour instead of the highly processed white flour that has no nutritional value.
Oil: I reduced amount by 20 ml. It is best to use a pressed oil or melted butter. Manufacturers, even some organic companies use chemical methods to obtain the oil from soybeans/sunflowers/etc. Those methods are not beneficial to you.
Milk: I included organic 1% milk because it tends to be dry without it. Egg whites gives cake structure but makes it dry. You can try it with soy, almond, buttermilk, or whatever you have on hand. Buttermilk will help it rise a little more too.
Organic Ingredients: Since I moved into my husband’s house, many items are not organic. To prevent waste, I used what we had. The only organic ingredients I was able to use includes eggs, flour, and milk. If I can only choose three organic ingredients out of the ones listed, I would choose those three. Bananas have a thick skin so the meat is protected if the farms spray the trees with pesticides. It is not one of the dirty dozen fruits you should buy organic.

Ingredients	Metric Unit	Cups
Super Ripe Bananas	250-300 grams	1 ½ cups ( 3-4 medium bananas)
Sugar	100 grams	⅓ cup + 2 tablespoons
Eggs (room temperature)	3 whole eggs	3 whole eggs
Whole Wheat Pastry Flour	135 grams	1 cup + 1 tablespoon
Baking Powder	½ teaspoon	½ teaspoon
Baking Soda	¼ teaspoon	¼ teaspoon
Oil (any type)	80ml	5 tablespoons
milk	50ml	3 tablespoons
vanilla extract (optional)	1 teaspoon	1 teaspoon

Makes 24 baby cakes or two 8" round cakes. If making cakes, bake for 20 - 30minutes. 

For best results, weigh the ingredients. Feel free to ask my why if you are curious.

Method
This is a very simple recipe so please don’t be intimdated by the length of the instructions. It is long because I included personal tips from experience to be apart of the method.

1. Preheat oven to 320F or pre-heat oven at step 8 to conserve energy.
2. Line 24 muffin tins with cupcake liners or use silicone cupcake holders.
3. Sieve together twice: flour, baking powder, baking soda.
4. Set aside together in a bowl: oil, milk, vanilla extract
5. In a large bowl with a balloon whisk or fork (I don’t want to wash another item so I use the whisk), break up the banana into smaller chunks.
6. Add sugar into banana and whisk on low for a about 5 seconds to mix together.
7. Add three whole eggs and whisk on high until it triples in volume, is thick and pale.
1. It should take about 7-8 minutes with a hand-held mixture. With a stand mixture, I whisk it on medium-high. It takes about 7-8 minutes at speed 5-6 on the kitchen aid. When I get impatient, I might whisk at a faster setting for about 30 seconds before the final stage.
8. Test the consistency of the batter by lifting the whisk and drawing a pattern with the batter. The pattern should be able to be read but disappear after 2-3 seconds. It is not good if the pattern does not disappear but the product will still taste great and is enjoyable.
9. Turn hand-held whisk or stand mixer to lowest speed and whisk for 2 minutes. My hand mixter whisks really fast on the lowest setting so I did it by hand. I just mimic how the hand held mixture moves.
10. Sieve flour mixture for the third time but over the egg mixture. Only sieve in ⅓ of the flour mixture.
11. Fold flour with a spatula by lifting bottom batter up through the middle of the batter and folding it over. Do this while rotating bowl in a circular rotation. Don’t worry about doing it quickly. Slow is better.
1. Be sure that there isn’t any trapped flour especially in the bottom of the bowl.
2. Never stir batter or else it will deflate.
12. Repeat  step 10  again but use half of the remaining flour. The follow step 11.
13. Repeat step 10 again but with the remaining flour. Then follow step 11.
14. Add about 1-2 cups of batter into the bowl with milk and oil. The amount does not need to be exact. You can use a whisk to gently mix the mixture together until it is well combined. I use a whisk for about 10 seconds then switch to the spatula to try to minimize further deflation.
15. Pour batter into prepared muffin tins. I used an ice cream scoop to makes things easier. I filled each liner 75% but could have filled up higher. Because it is not a muffin, you won’t get a muffin top if you fill it up to 80-85%. You’ll get a flat top that would be easy to frost if you desire to.
16. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
17. Place on a rack or for it to be even more moist, place the cupcakes after removing it from the pan into the freezer for 5 minutes.
1. The cake is going to deflate slightly after being removed from the oven. You can minimize the deflation by turning off the oven and leaving the muffins in the over with the door open to slowly introduce the cake to the new temperature change.
18. Enjoy! I don’t use frosting because I like the flavor as is. There is enough moisture in this cake and I don’t like enjoy consuming too much sugar since it easily affects me. Also, frosting with artificial colors are not good for you and store-bought frosting has many chemicals for flavor and preservatives which is not good for you either.