Skinny Banana Loaf Cake

Food blogs are funny.  I wanted to make myself a birthday cake, and I also wanted to post my birthday cake on this blog, so I made said cake a good two weeks ago so that I could edit the photos and plan a post.  My birthday was yesterday (it was awesome!), which means we had birthday cake two weeks too early.  We also had a birthday cookie cake yesterday, and a birthday chocolate cake Tuesday night.  So much cake.

Knowing that on my actual birthday I would be cake-rich, I wanted to make myself a blog-birthday cake that I could feel good about.  This banana loaf cake has the tender crumb of a cake, without all the fat.  It's the type of birthday cake you can justify eating two weeks early.  You know, that kind of birthday cake.



I had big plans to pour a rich chocolate glaze over the top of this to make it more cake-y instead of bread-y, but my chocolate ganache was a disaster and looked more like chocolate milk, so I left it alone.  While chocolate would have been a welcome addition, this cake is delicious without it.

Let's get started!  Assemble your ingredients.

Ingredients: vanilla, white and brown sugar, flour, very ripe bananas, butter, eggs, cinnamon, baking soda, and baking powder.  Optional: switch some of that white flour out with whole wheat flour, and chocolate would be yummy, but we've already talked about that at length.

Spray a 9x5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper so that about an inch of the parchment paper goes past two sides of the pan.  Set that aside.

In a medium bowl, combine your dry ingredients.  Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon then whisk.

Set that aside and get to work on your wet ingredients.  Separate 3 eggs and add the egg whites to another bowl.  Whisk them together to break them up a bit.  Save the yolks for another use, like maybe some ice-cream?  Or a extra rich frittata?  You choose.

Add sugars, vanilla, melted butter, and mashed ripe bananas.  Whisk that until well combined.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients all at once.  Whisk together until just combined--don't over mix!

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top.

Place the loaf pan in a preheated 350 degree oven for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

If you're worried that there is too much batter in that loaf pan, you're not alone.  I don't know a lot about baking, but I do know that baking soda and baking powder are leavening agents and cause things to rise, so just in case I placed a sheet of foil under the loaf pan.  Turns out, it didn't matter, because there was no overflow!  But better safe than sorry (and there's nothing more sorry than having to scrape burnt cake off the bottom of your oven).

Let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then gently run a knife around the sides of the loaf pan to loosen the cake.  Pull it out of the loaf pan using the parchment paper, and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Slice this into 1-inch slices and enjoy!  This is wholesome enough for a no-guilt afternoon treat, or even breakfast.  It's lighter and fluffier than banana bread, which can sometimes be dense, and it's moist even though it's very low in fat.  That's because of the bananas.

I've never been a big fan of cake with a lot of frosting, and will choose a cookie or a brownie over cake and ice-cream any day, so this cake is right up my alley.  It's perfect if you're wanting to celebrate without ruining your pre-holiday goals.  After a week in California and a week celebrating birthday, this is a tip I should really take to heart.

Birthday cake for you, birthday cake for me!  Everyone wins.

Here's the recipe.

Skinny Banana Loaf Cake (Adapted from David Lebovitz)

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups white flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 large egg whites
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups mashed bananas (should be very ripe--about 5 bananas)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9x5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray and line it with parchment paper so that it goes over 2 sides by about an inch.  Set aside.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and ground cinnamon in a medium bowl.  Set aside.
3. In another medium bowl, whisk the egg whites slightly.  Add white sugar, brown sugar, melted butter, vanilla extract, and mashed bananas.  Whisk well.
4. Add dry ingredients all at once and mix until just combined, being careful not to over mix.  Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
5. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until it is deeply golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.  Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then run a knife gently around the edges to loosen the loaf and lift it out of the pan with the parchment paper.  Let cool on a wire rack.  To store, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator. 

Enjoy!