Chocolate, chia and banana cake

 

It’s high time I posted a cake recipe. The last cake recipe I shared was an old favourite I’ve been baking for years, one my sister has taken to and now bakes for any and every occasion a cake is required. But this little beauty is a new recipe. It’s based on a simple banana cake but tweaked with the addition of chia seeds and dark chocolate. The dark chocolate is of the high cocoa bean variety. I tend to use 70% cocoa bean chocolate in ALL my baking now and often buy the organic and fair trade blocks.  It’s bitter slightly tangy flavour is preferred to the sugary milky chocolate that’s so often sold to home cooks. Plus, dark chocolate contains higher amounts of antioxidants and flavonoids, that’s gotta be a good thing right?

 

The delight in learning how to use chia seeds has come through my baking. When you soak chia seeds in water, they turn to a thick gel and can actually replace the use of eggs. Soaked chia seeds act in much the same way as eggs do in baking by holding the cake together. I have a cherry and chia seed cake I like to bake. The chia seeds give it a chewy outer crust whilst keeping it moist, much the same as a cake rich with eggs would. I’m into this chia seed thing.

It’s inevitable, especially when you have kids in the house, to always have a few over ripe bananas gathering spots in the fruit bowl. The positive aspect of this is, overripe bananas are the ones to use in your baking. Brown spotted bananas have the best flavour and sweetness for banana cakes, muffins or loaves.  And over ripe bananas can be frozen too, so there’s no need to toss them out. Rejoice in the brown spotted banana! Freeze them with their skins removed and you’ll have them on hand at any time a banana cake is required.

 

 

Chocolate, chia and banana cake

Ingredients 

125g softened butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 large ripe bananas, mashed

200g plain flour

50g wholemeal self raising flour

1 tsp bi carb soda

1 egg

2 tbsp chia seeds

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp mixed spice

Pinch salt

1/2 cup pecans, chopped

 

Pre heat oven to 180C. Line a 23cm spring form cake tin with baking paper. Place chia seeds in a small bowl, add 1/4 cup cold water and whisk to combine, set aside for 10 minutes. In  a separate bowl, sift together the plain flour and bi carb soda, add the wholemeal flour, spices and a pinch of salt.

Place softened butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream till well combined. Add egg and beat till combined. Add mashed banana and soaked chia seeds, beat to combine.  Add prepared flour with spices and milk, beat slowly till combined. Add chopped dark chocolate and fold till just combined.

Place mixture in prepared tin and bake for 50 minutes. Stand for 10 minutes. Remove spring form cake tin and allow cake to cool on a  baking rack. Once cake is cool, cut into wedges and serve as is or with double cream.