BANANA TUTTI-FRUTTI CAKE

BANANA TUTTI-FRUTTI CAKE 

A super moist and delicious cake made with the ultimate taste of ripe banana and thinly sliced tutti-frutti. Here, I have used the real ripe plantain (നേന്ത്രപ്പഴം) instead of the normal banana.

Cake Size = 10” and Net Weight = 1½ kg approximately

INGREDIENTS:

• All Purpose Flour (Maida) - 400 gm
• Unsalted Butter - 400 gm, kept in room temperature
• Powdered Sugar - 400 gm
• Plantain (നേന്ത്രപ്പഴം), well ripe - 400 gm
• Egg - 7 nos, approximately 400 gm
• Tutti-Frutti - 200 gm
• Baking Powder - 3 tsp
• Baking Soda - 1 tsp
• Salt - 1 pinch
• Milk - ¾ cup, kept in room temperature
• Ghee - 1 tbsp
• Granulated Sugar - 50 gm

METHOD OF COOKING:

STEP-1 : Peel the plantains and mash them using a fork or using an electric blender. Since I have used the well ripe plantain (നേന്ത്രപ്പഴം), I thought of sautéing the mashed plantain pulp in little ghee to get the authentic traditional taste. So, heat 1 tbsp ghee in a non-stick pan and saute the mashed plantain pulp for 10 minutes on low flame adding 50 gm granulated sugar as well. Remove from fire and keep aside to cool down. The cooked plantain pulp will become slightly firm when it cools down. This can be adjusted by adding the milk during the mixing process. If we are using the normal banana, we can avoid the above cooking process completely and we may not need any milk to adjust the consistency as well.

STEP-2 : Keep ready the Baking Pan greased with butter or lined with parchment paper in it.

STEP-3 : Sift together the All Purpose Flour (Maida), Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Salt and keep aside. This will help the Baking Powder and the Baking Soda get mix well with the flour.

STEP-4 : Mixing Process :

• In a large mixing bowl, mix together the unsalted Butter and powdered Sugar. Separate the Egg Whites to another bowl and add Egg Yolks to the butter sugar mixture one at a time and combine well.
• Add the milk into the cooked plantain pulp and mix well. If needed, blend it well using an electric blender.
• Add the blended plantain pulp into the batter and combine well.
• Add sifted Flour little by little and mix well.
• Roll the tutti-frutti pieces in 1 or 2 tbsp flour, add into the batter mix and fold it gently.

STEP-6 : Switch on the oven to preheat at 180 degree Celsius for 10 minutes.

STEP-7 : Beat all the Egg Whites very well using a hand whisk or preferably using an electric whisk until it becomes fluffy and add to the above mix and very gently combine it by folding method.

STEP-8 : Baking:

• Pour the batter into the Baking Pan. Make sure to fill the batter only upto half the depth of the baking pan or maximum upto two-third of the baking pan. Otherwise the batter will overflow when baking. Sprinkle few more tutti-frutti pieces on top of the batter if you like.
• Bake at 180 degree Celsius for 45 minutes. Baking time may vary a little depending on the type of oven and size of oven cavity.
• Insert a tooth pick exactly in the middle of the cake and the tooth pick comes out clean, we can assure that the cake is perfectly done.
• Take the baking pan out from the oven, remove the cake from the baking pan and allow it to cool before serving.

NOTE : For getting the better result, all the ingredients shall be maintained and kept at room temperature. After pre-heating the oven or while in the baking process, do not keep open the oven door for long time. If we keep the pre-heated oven door open for long time before baking starts or open the oven door in between the baking process is going on, the achieved temperature inside the oven cavity will come down and as a result of it, the cake may not rise well and cook properly.