Cherry Banana Dates Cake

Last time I made cake, perhaps it was in UK. I have mentioned in my last blog-post, we have moved into a new country- Malaysia, it is rather enigmatic, but full of all the beautiful possibilities for me. Things which were once familiar to us in UK, have become almost on a verge of extinction for me. When I first thought of about this cake, fresh cherries were on my mind. And ripened juicy cherries are so abundant in UK, that god knows how many times I have bought them and made cherry cake umpteen times also. 

Now comes the challenge, new kitchen, unfamiliar oven, and here I am again struggling with basic cooking instructions. Add to top of that, I didn’t get fresh cherries here as well. I happened to pick glazed cherries packets on my last grocery shopping rounds here. I kept pressing all the oven buttons desperately, perhaps wrongly, even oven timer wasn’t following my advice. And as I huffed and puffed, stream of sweat started flowing down my cheeks, and I started feeling anxious. And as I was about to make a frantic call to our landlady, the oven on its own decided well, yes it’s time to rise and shine. Phew! The day was saved and the cake was made, as if I conquered that lost Treasure Island. My gold and my platinum was, seeing this cake beaming out of hot oven- fresh and moist, ‘ Cherry Banana Dates cake ‘, as if an oasis has opened up right in front of me and that enigmatic mirage just vanished out of my sight. One worry off my shoulder now!

Here how I made this cake.

Cherry Banana Dates Cake

Recipe requirements

 1 and ¾ cup of self-rising flour

¼ tsp of baking soda

¼ tsp of baking powder

 2tsp of vanilla essence

2 eggs

½ cup of fine granulated sugar

 2 fully ripened bananas

 ¼ cup of plain yogurt

 ¼ cup of melted butter

½ cup of chopped fresh cherries or glazed cherries (whichever is available)

½ cup of chopped dates

Method

In a big mixing bowl. Sift self-rising flour, add in baking soda and baking powder. Mix well.

Now in a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar well. Add in eggs, one at a time and whisk in gently. Now add in vanilla essence.

Add in ripened banana and mash them properly, keep on mixing all .Add in plain yogurt and gently fold in. Add in chopped glazed cherries and chopped dates. If you can get fresh cherries, you can use them.

Now add the flour mixture from time to time to make the cake batter. Use up all flour mixture to mix in with the above mixture.

Preheat oven at 175 deg C.

Prepare the cake tin. Brush butter evenly and then sprinkle flour to coat it well. Tap the cake tin so that the flour gets distributed evenly.

Pour the cake batter in to the prepared cake tin. Bake the cake in the middle rack for about 30-35 mints or till the centre of the cake is cooked through well. Check by inserting a toothpick, if it comes out clean, cake is baked well.

Take out the cake and let it cool. You can make frosting if you wish to, otherwise the cake is moist on its own.

Happy Cooking