BANANA CRUMBLE CAKE
When I was little, and it seems that all my dessert posts start like this, my grandmother made an absolutely amazing cake. That cake had nothing really special. It wasn’t one of those cakes filled with chocolate and dulce de leche or cream. It was a simple vanilla cake with a cinnamon crumble on top. That cake really was the best. Me being me, obviously put dulce de leche on top, but that’s because I just wanted to, I didn’t need it. In addition to being delicious, it’s a cake that looks beautiful. Put on the table, cut into slices. Amazing.
With all that in mind, I wanted to make my own. I’m going to tell you the truth. I had bananas that were about to get really ugly and didn’t want to throw them away. That is really why the base of this cake is banana. Unlike the other banana recipes that you will find in the blog, this one does not have chocolate. In this case, we are going to give it a touch of cinnamon just like my grandma’s.
Before I keep talking about this cake, I’ll link a few recipes you might find interesting as well.
PARTS OF THIS BANANA CRUMBLE CAKE
Uff the combination of flavors in this cake is incredible. Let’s start, as always, with the base of the recipe. The base of this dessert is our cake. A super moist banana cake with a touch of cinnamon. But seriously, we want most of the cinnamon flavor to come from the crumble. Banana adds extraordinary moisture to the cake.
The second part of this dessert is the crumble. Our crumble base is flour, butter and sugar. From there, you can add anything you want to give it more flavor and textures. You can add chopped nuts, oats, coconut, whatever you like. For example, I use a combination of brown sugar and white sugar. For different recipes like apple pie I add walnuts and chopped almonds too. Going back to our banana crumble cake, that combination of textures is ideal. The moisture and softness of the actual cake with the crunch of the crumble on top.
TIPS FRO A PERFECT CRUMBLE CAKE
The bananas: For the cake to really have the full flavor potential of the banana, the bananas have to be ripe. So when you see the banana peel with a lot of black spots, she’s ready. The banana is at its sweetest point there. If you don’t have ripe bananas ready for a cake, turn on the oven at 360F degrees. Place the bananas with the skin and everything in the oven using a baking sheet. Leave them in until the turn completely black. Sweet, ripe bananas ready for baking.
The crumble: The secret of a good crumble is cold butter. You have to make it with cold butter and once it’s ready, if you’re not going to use it yet, put it in the fridge. If the butter melts or softens while you wait to use the crumble, it’s no longer the same.
When to add the crumble: This is the hard part. You can’t put the crumble on the completely raw batter. You have to give the cake a little time in the oven and then, when it has a little more stability, add the crumble. So, when you see that your cake is growing but still has a long way to go, you put the crumble on top carefully.
EQUIPMENT
Bowls: One for the cake batter, another for the dry ingredients and a third bowl for the crumble.
Silicone spatula: To mix in the ingredients.
Fork: I started mixing the cake with a fork, you can use a whisk as well.
Measures: For all the ingredients in our beautiful cake.
Cake pan: Use a 9 inch springform pan for the cake. It’s so much easier to get the cake out specially when making crumble cakes.
Knives: To cut the butter in with the flour when making the crumble.
BANANA CRUMBLE CAKE
Ingredients
- 450 gr Bananas (around 4).
- 150 gr butter + extra for the cake pan
- 1/2 Cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cup flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
CRUMBLE
- 100 gr cold butter
- 100 gr flour
- 50 gr sugar
- 50 gr brown sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Add bananas to a bowl and puree them.
- Add eggs one at a time and mix in using a whisk.
- Add vanilla extract and both sugars. Mix in.
- Melt the butter completely and ad it slowly to the mixture.
- In another bowl, mix all the dry ingredients. Flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Slowly add dry ingredients to the banana mixture and mix in using a silicone spatula.
- Spread butter on the cake pan and add a but of flour on top coating entirely so that the cake doesn't stick.
- Pour the batter onto the cake pan. Fill to about 3/4 of the pan.
- Place in the oven. Meanwhile make the crumble.
- Add all the ingredients to a bowl and using two knives "cut" the ingredients together until they reach a kid of sandy texture.
- After around 30 minutes in the oven, using a heat protecting glove, pull out the oven rack with the cake on top and add the crumble on the cake. Bake until completely done.
- Let the cake cool completely before removing from the pan.
