Tuesday, July 20, 2010

TWD - Lots of Ways Banana Cake


It's the middle of winter here, and when I look at the often cold grey sky, peppered with wind and rain, I dream of summer - tall, cool drinks, sunshine and warmth. Alas, it has been forecast to be grey and rainy here for the rest of this week, so all I can do for now is continue to dream and look forward to the summer.

This week's Tuesday with Dorie challenge to some extent reminded me of the summer. Our host, Kimberley of Only Creative Opportunities, chose Dorie's Lots of Ways Banana Cake. Why "Lots of Ways"? Well, because Dorie gives you an open licence to substitute ingredients or leave things out. I played it straight down the line and made the recipe exactly as stated, because all of its summery ingredients sounded irresistible - coconut, coconut milk, bananas and rum. Doesn't that sound like some exotic cocktail that should be served in a martini glass with a paper umbrella and a slice of pineapple adorning the side? I even brushed the finished cake with rum syrup for some extra rum-flavoured goodness.




I ignored all of Dorie's frosting suggestions and instead, frosted the top of the cake with my trusty Stephanie Alexander recipe cream cheese frosting. To really send this cake into the realms of the tropical, I sprinkled chopped macadamia nuts on top.

So far, so good. Unfortunately, I have a confession to make - I don't like strongly banana-flavoured cakes. This cake contained four bananas (and was a blessing for using up the rather past-their-best bananas languishing in my fridge), so it was indeed very strongly banana flavoured. All that coconut and rum could not disguise this fact. However, that's just me - this cake looked beautiful, and I am taking it to work today to see how my colleagues take to it.

Thanks to Kimberley for hosting us this week. To check out all the variations on this cake, check out the TWD blogroll.

20 comments:

Sarah @ For the Love of Food said...

I love banana cake and the more bananas in it the better so this would work well for me. Very decadent version - love the macadamias on top.

Pamela said...

Wow! Summer on a plate! Great job!

Johanna GGG said...

mmm I love that top photo - looks so full of (cocktail) goodness :-) and I love the sound of your frosting and macadamias - just my sort of banana cake!

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

I really like the sound of versatile this banana cake is. I confess I love really bananaey ones so this might be right up my alley! :D

Jennifer said...

It's amazing how our weather is just so different-we're in the middle of a heat wave. My hair and humidity do NOT like each other.

Your cake looks absolutely amazing!!!

Here's hoping the sun shines soon for you.:)

Kimberly Johnson said...

Your cake looks fantastic! Adding macadamia nuts sounds like a wonderful variation. Thanks for baking with me this week!

Kayte said...

Macadamia nuts...what an inspiration, everything is better with macadamia nuts! Looks great.

The Caked Crusader said...

I love strong flavoured banana cakes so this would please me! Unfortunately, most of my family don't so I don't make them very often

Unknown said...

I love banana cake and your addition of the macadamia nuts is inspired. To me, macadamia nuts are like delicious little butter balls. So bad for you... and so good ;)
*kisses* HH

Peggy said...

I never even thought of cream cheese frosting for this. I just did whipped cream and it was delicious. Yours looks really great.

AmyRuth said...

Hmm I thought those were macadamia nuts on top. So pretty and i agree it does sound like such a summery tropical flavor combination. Nicely done and I'm sure your coworkers thought so too.
AmyRuth

Anonymous said...

It's summer here and this is a summery cake for sure. It was very banana-y and I was trying to remember the banana bundt cake we made a while back. I liked that one a lot...may need to try that again to compare!

margot said...

Your cake looks beautiful! What lucky colleagues you have.

Pam said...

This looks delicious! Love the combo of ingredients, coconut is a wonderful thing!

SweetsSuccessBaking said...

I do like strongly flavored cakes, so this one's for me. LOL

Mary

Jeannette said...

ooooh i love your additions to the cake! it looks great!

Brenda said...

It looks so moist. Smashing job! I love bananas so I think I'd adore eating this cake : )

The Blonde Duck said...

I don't know if I've ever had banana cake, but I love banana nut bread and banana pudding!

Barbara Bakes said...

I love that you used cream cheese frosting and macadamia nuts on top. Looks delicious.

TLC said...

yummmmm love banana cake - but I agree they really aren't everyone's cup of tea