For no particular reason, these days I am finding myself omitting eggs from my baking. We all face this scenario some day or the other day i.e. excess of bananas sitting on our kitchen counter or in the fruit basket. In my house, bananas are not a much loved entity although I can have them at any time of the day. The bananas are kind of temperamental – it does not take much for them to turn from glorious yellow to hideous pockmarked yellow or brown. And once they go all mushed up, who wants them! In that state they don’t even do much justice to a banana shake. But they are great for baking – the ripe ones are actually the best ones I believe, since you need to add less sugar to your cake and also the frozen ones are perfect for making ice cream.
On my annual vacation to Delhi during the month of May to my in-laws, we were facing the problem of plenty. It was so hot that the bananas were finding it hard to last even a day. I suggested to my mother-in-law that perhaps I could bake a large banana cake to put them to good use. She spontaneously asked me “You will bake eggless one, right?” I have whipped up banana cake using my tried tested recipe since donkey’s years but never an eggless one. She happens to be a ‘pure’ vegetarian who does not even eat an egg. I told her I could try baking an eggless one. And bake I did…and oh boy! What a disaster it was! It was sort of gooey since in my overzealous attempt to get rid of the ripe bananas, I went pretty over board with it and all one could taste was BANANAS and not in a good way!
I decided to attempt it again and this time I let sanity prevail while I was adding bananas. Voila! The cake actually turned out better than the one I had been baking all these years!! It was soft, moist and so good that it was lapped up within hours! I was super happy with myself and so glad my MIL asked me for an eggless cake. So here is the recipe for the eggless banana cake…enjoy. This time around though, I have added coffee to it since it is winters and I although I can’t have hot coffee, I add it to my cookies and cakes to enjoy its amazing aromas 🙂
2 tbsp Instant Coffee
4 tbsp Water
4 tbsp Caster Sugar
1 C Whole Wheat Flour (Atta)
1 C All Purpose Flour (Maida)
½ tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Bicarbonate of soda (Baking Soda)
1 C Ripe Bananas, mashed
½ C natural Yogurt
½ C scant, Oil (any neutral oil is fine)
1 C scant, Caster Sugar
For Frosting
1 tbsp Coffee
100 grams Dark Choco Chips or Dark Chocolate Bar (scrapped)
1 tbsp Butter/ Coconut Oil (if vegan)
2 tbsp Milk/ Coconut Milk (if vegan)
In a small pan, bring to a boil 4 tbsp water, 2 tbsp coffee and 4 tbsp sugar. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 – 3 minutes or till the coffee mix turns syrupy. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Prepare a bundt pan by oiling it well, ensuring that all nooks and corners are well oiled. Dust it with flour and remove excess flour by tapping it upside down. Keep aside
Set the oven to preheat at 180 degrees C.
Sift together the wholemeal flour, maida, baking powder and soda bicarb. Keep aside.
In a mixing bowl, mix together the yogurt and sugar and whisk for a minute. Mix in the oil and whisk again for a few seconds. Stir in the mashed bananas along with the coffee syrup.
Now, add in the dry ingredients in two batches to the banana mix and whisk to just attain a smooth batter. Do not over mix the batter. (Feel free to add half a cup of walnuts if you desire)
Transfer the batter to the prepared bundt pan and bake it in pre-heated oven till a skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean. It would take approximately 35 – 40 minutes (plus/minus). Allow the cake to cool before you proceed to frosting.
Note: The amount of sugar will also depend on the ripeness and sweetness of bananas.
Note: A couple of years, since I first posted this recipe, I have started using dark brown sugar and sometimes coconut sugar instead of caster sugar. The result is a beautiful richer flavoured cake.
Note: I strongly advise using ripe banana for this recipe. If, however, you wish to use bananas that are not yet ripe, you may have to add a few tablespoons of milk or coconut milk (if vegan) to bring the batter to the right consistency.
For Frosting
Take a pan and add some water. Place it on the stove top and heat the water. Place a bowl over the pan (not directly into the water). The bowl should not be touching the water. (this method of cooking is called the bain marie method) Reduce the heat and add coffee, milk, butter and chocolate to the bowl. Allow the chocolate to melt but do not stir it. Once almost all the chocolate is melted, whisk the contents to make a smooth frosting. Carefully remove the bowl from over the pan and pour the frosting all over the cooled cake.
Serves: 8 – 10
Thanks for visiting
The frosting makes the cake! It looks stunning!
I find it always rather challenging to bake without eggs. We are so used to add eggs in Europe, it’s part of our baking culture. However, I find your cake looks great. And yes I do know the feeling of going over board with the bananas in a cake. =D
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Helene! so good to hear from you after a long time 🙂 Hoping you are doing great.
Initially I too found it hard to imagine cakes without eggs (I had doubt on their texture). But after my Aunt taught me one with yogurt, I have been experimenting cakes with yogurt and condensed milk and I am pretty happy with their texture. I hope you get to try it 🙂
It looks gorgeous. I have never had good results withe eggless cake.
Thanks dear. I hope you try this recipe by tweaking it for gluten free recipe 🙂
We always have loads of bananas at our house, which of course means we sometimes have some that are just too ripe. This is the perfect solution to that problem! Thanks! 🙂
Looks like a very tasty cake that I could eat for breakfast or dessert. Afterall, what’s wrong with a little chocolate first thing in the morning. 🙂
haha… that is what I have been doing MJ! Been having it for breakfast and dessert 😛