Butter Banana Cake

You may be wondering if I have gone bananas yet? Not quite yet. At least not until I found my traditional banana cake :P What is a traditional banana cake if you may ask? To me, it's a banana cake that is quite dense and usually made with butter instead of canola oil.

And I think I may have just found my traditional banana cake. The moment I glanced through this recipe, I was thinking to myself that butter might just give it the more dense texture as well as the fragrant butter taste that will not overpower the banana taste but rather both butter and banana will complement each other rather well. Despite the call for people to go healthy with canola oil that is the usual ingredient in banana cake these days, I've decided to try this 'heritage' recipe from Sylvia Tan's Singapore Heritage Food.

Ingredients:

115 g (1/2 cup) butter
225g sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (approx 3 average size bananas)
250g plain or all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
78g milk or buttermilk

Method:

1. Cream together butter and sugar. 
2. Add mashed bananas, eggs and vanilla essence. Combine well.
3. Sift together dry ingredients. Add flour mixture to the banana mixture, alternately with milk or buttermilk. Blend well.
4. Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan (rectangular pan). 
5. Bake at 160 degrees Celsius (325 F or Gas mark 3) for 75 minutes. Insert toothpick into the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is done.

Do you realise that this butter banana cake actually resembles a dense pound cake in looks? But do not be fooled by its appearance. This cake actually tastes better when 'aged'. You must be thinking, she's crazy, how can a cake age? It's not wine duh! Well, usually when a cake is baked, there is always a tendency to get a taste of it. 

For this cake, I've tried it when it's just hot from the oven and it really doesn't taste better till hours later when the cake is all cooled and the surface of the cake is all shiny. It looks as if the cake had been glazed with syrup but believe me, I've not done that at all. To add on, the cake eludes such fragrance of bananas when you take a sniff. I love this!!! You must definitely try it. Oh yes, don't forget your cuppa hot coffee or tea and bring this for a tea party if you are going for one ;) You will be much loved by peeps.

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest #11 Sept 2014 : Singapore hosted by Life can be Simple.

I'm also submitting this post to Cook-Your-Books#16 organised by Joyce of baking flavours.