Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Aspiring Bakers #7: Chocolate-Bottom Banana Squares

If you have been seeing this cake posted by bloggers almost every other days, it means MUST BAKE! There are 2 popular versions of this cake. One is from Hearty Bakes, conveniently converted from cups to grams by Min. The other is a healthier version using oil instead of butter by Cook.Bake.Love.


I choose the butter cake version by Hearty Bakes. Texture of the cake is very good, very soft and light butter cake. Unfortunately, the banana taste is not very obvious. Perhaps the bananas are not overriped enough. I wonder which type of bananas are most suitable for baking. I always use the small types which I prefer to eat. The other thing is my butter cakes are always not fragrant enough. Which brand of butter do you use for butter cakes? Do you use margarine? Maybe you can give me some advice.


This is my version topped with both white and milk chocolate chips. :)


Chocolate-Bottom Banana Squares

Ingredients (makes 1 8x8 inch square tin)

113g butter
60g sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 medium-sized bananas, slightly mashed (about 200g)
180g cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Cocoa mixture:
25g cocoa powder + 2 tbsp milk
(Original is 30g cocoa powder. I added milk because it is too dry to mix.)

Toppings:
White and milk chocolate chips

Method

1. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Slowly drizzle in the egg, then add in vanilla extract and mashed bananas. Beat till creamy.
3. Sift the cake flour, baking powder and baking soda together and fold in 3 separate batches. Mix well with a spatula.
4. Divide the batter into 2 equal portions. Mix 1 portion with cocoa powder and milk.
5. Pour the chocolate batter first, spread evenly (this mixture is quite thick).
6. Pour the plain batter on top of the chocolate batter, spread evenly.
7. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top.
8. Bake in pre-heated oven at 180 deg C for 25-30mins.

Recipe adapted from: Hearty Bakes and Min's Blog

I am submitting this Chocolate-Bottom Banana Squares to Aspiring Bakers #7: Chocolate Delight (May 2011), hosted by Doris of Tested & Tasted.