raisin and banana butter cake

I love my non-stick bundt pan.  It makes such lovely cake.  Best of all, I only need to grease the pan. I do not need to flour it nor line it with baking paper.

Ever eager to bake different types of cakes using my bundt pan, I decided to bake a banana butter cake this time round.

The end result?  The photograph above speaks for itself.  Such a lovely shape!  And the cake is easy to slice too.  Due to the grooves in the pan, the slices of cake are pretty even when you slice them carefully.

This cake keeps its moistness well, even when eaten a few days later (if the cake can last that many days anyway!).

I added the raisins on a whim but if you do not fancy raisins, do feel free to omit it.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups self raising flour

1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

250g butter (softened)

3/4 cup castor sugar

1 tsp banana essence

4 eggs (at room temperature)

4 medium overripe bananas

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

1 tbsp milk

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Grease and flour/line the baking pan (note: if you are using a non-stick pan, you can omit the flouring/lining of the baking pan).  Set aside.

3. Sift the self-raising flour and ground cinnamon in a bowl.  Set aside.

4. Cream the butter, sugar and banana essence using a hand whisk until light and fluffy.

5. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well with each addition.

6. Add the mashed bananas and raisins (if desired).  Mix well.

7. Fold in the flour mixture using a wooden spatula and mix until the flour disappears.

8. Stir in the milk until a soft dropping consistency is achieved.

9. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

10. Bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

TIPS

1. When baking butter cake, it is important to use good quality butter.  If you were to substitute butter with margarine or spread, the taste is compromised.  I like to use SCS unsalted butter.

2. The eggs should be added 1 at a time (and mixed well with each addition) to prevent curdling.

3. I  prefer to use overripe bananas because they tend to be sweeter. Also, try to choose bananas that are known to be of the sweeter variety, eg. "pang jio".

4. Fresh milk brings out the best taste but if you can substitute it with low fat milk if you prefer.