Saturday, April 21, 2018

Banana, Coffee and Cardamom Bundt Cake


I am watching Season 2 of Victoria with Jenna Coleman at the moment.  I am loving every second of it, especially the gorgeous costumes and the utterly devine Tom Hughes as Prince Albert.  I last caught up with Jenna as Clara Oswald in Doctor Who, and with Tom as Martha Costello's pupil in the first season of Silk, so this series is quite a different pace for these two actors. 

In parallel, I have restarted reading Julia Baird's excellent biography of Victoria: The Queen, which I had put down over 12 months ago due to life's distractions and the lack of portability of this weighty tome.   The most intriguing element for me about Victoria's life was the constant tensions between her desire to retain power as Queen versus the expectations of society (not to mention her husband) placed on her as wife and mother.  She was certainly a strong woman who overcame many obstacles while dealing with these tensions to maintain her hold on power.



Victoria has absolutely nothing to do with this delightful Banana, Cardamom and Coffee Cake by Helen Goh, other than that I am sure that Victoria would have enjoyed it, given her lust for food (and life in general).  The recipe came from last weekend's The Age Good Weekend magazine (p35). 

This cake is described by Helen as a banoffee pie in cake form.  I am not sure that this cake reminded me of the gorgeous, soft, toothsome caramel mouthfuls that you have with banoffee pie; however, this cake is absolutely delicious in its own right.  It disappeared at work in record time; and there I was wondering if people would like it because of the sticky coffee flavoured caramel pooled on the plate.    


You will be pleased to know that the recipe for this cake is widely publicly available on the Web here.  There is nothing hard about making this cake.  Just be careful, as always, when making the caramel, as it has a hissy fit when you add the cream and coffee.  Burning yourself with hot caramel would take the gloss off the experience.

If you like banana cake and caramel, you will love this moist, tender cake with its lashings of coffee caramel. 

9 comments:

The Happy Whisk said...

Being burned with melted sugar is by far, one of the most painful burns I've felt. Very, very ouch. But, a right of passage in a way, too. Your bake looks good. Wishing you a yummy weekend with lots of cake.

Cakelaw said...

Wishing you a delicious weekend too!

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

Queen Victoria did love her afternoon tea so I'm sure she would have loved it! LOL at the hissy fit, that is exactly what it is like.

2paw said...

I have just watched Jenna in Doctor Who repeats and I loved Victoria. I have to wait for it to appear on The nextflix/Stan. I too, put Julia Baird’s book aside a while ago, but because I was poorly and I have it here beside the bed!! Your bundt cake looks fabulous. I have a couple of tins but I am a bit afraid to use them.

Kari said...

I loved Victoria too and also went and read that book after viewing the TV series! I'm sure she would have approved of this cake :-)

Johanna GGG said...

I can imagine this flavour combo being very popular though I would prefer it without the coffee. And I am looking forward to series 2 of Victoria. Glad to hear it is as enjoyable as the first season.

steph- whisk/spoon said...

this was one of the first recipes i made from the Sweet cookbook-- so, so good! and i'm also hooked on "Victoria"....sad that the season is over!

SOS said...

Hi. Discovered this recipe and desperate to test it out but can't find anything about what size bundt pan to use. I'd hate for it to be flat and yours looks perfect. Would you mind sharing your tin size?

Cakelaw said...

This 24cm pan from Bakers Secret: https://www.house.com.au/product//bakers-secret-non-stick-fluted-tube-pan-24cm-?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIp-KbpaOr4wIVVA4rCh3CHgEIEAQYASABEgJIwfD_BwE