Banana walnut cake

I was looking out for some eggless cake recipes on the internet and found many options. Made a few tweaks, experimented a bit and came up with this one.

You need:
Dry ingredients

1. All-purpose flour (maida) - 1 cup
2. Icing Sugar - 3/4 cup
3. Baking powder - 3/4 tsp
4. Baking soda - 1/3 tsp
5. Salt - 1/4 tsp
6. Cocoa powder – 1 tbsp
7. Cinnamon powder - 1 pinch
8. Walnut pieces - 1/2 cup

Wet ingredients

1. Ripe Bananas - 1 medium
2. Buttermilk (unsalted) – 1/2 cup
3. Melted Butter or vegetable oil - 1/2 cup
4. Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

How to:

1. Sift maida, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder and cinnamon powder and keep aside.
2. In a bowl add oil (I used vegetable oil, you can use melted butter also) and butter milk and mix well. (I gave it a quick whisk in the blender for a smooth finish)
3. Either mash or cut the banana into really small pieces and add to the liquid. Also add the vanilla essence.
4. Fold the flour mix into the liquid now. Don’t beat.
5. Dust the walnuts in some flour and add to this mix. Fold in. The mixture will be of a thick consistency.
6. Preheat the oven to 180⁰ C for 10 minutes. (You can turn it on while starting the preparation for the cake)
7. Pour the mix in a rectangular tin. You can add walnuts on top as garnish. Bake at 180⁰ C for 35-40 minutes. Do a check at 30 minutes as the cake may bake earlier if your layer is thinner.
8. Remove from oven and let it cool. Remove from the tin and cut into thick slices. Dust with some icing sugar.

Dessert topping

Quick and easy to do :) and you can store it for later use. Can also be used as a filling in chocolates for that extra crunch.

You need:

A handful of cashew nuts ( or groundnuts)

A cup of sugar

How to:

Grind the nuts to a grainy powder. Heat a  nonstick pan and caramelise sugar. When it's turning a nice golden brown, remove from the flame and quickly add the powdered nuts and stir well. In a greased plate pour this mix out as small dollops and wait for it to set.

Once it's cool and hard. Give it a turn in the blender to a coarse consistency. Ready to be sprinkled!

To store keep in a sealed container and refrigerate