Over-Ripe Bananas

[Shortie]

Maybe not preserving but...

I read recently that rather than consigning over ripe bananas to the compost heap you can instead use them in cake recipies in place of butter.

Has anyone actually done this themselves and if so do you use the equivilient weight for weight or not, and does it really change the taste of the recipie (maybe for the better depending on what you're making...)

My little boy goes through spells of eating tonnes of bananas then none so every once in a while I end up throwing some in the compost

[blackkitty]

I don't know about using it to replace butter but you can definitely add it to sponge mixtures. I use a ratio of about one small banana to each egg, you can then bake it as small cakes or I often use loaf tins. You can add carrot, nuts, dried fruit etc as well. I have some boys at school who swear chocolate chips go well, but I'm not commiting myself on that one Once they're baked you can freeze them to use later.
If I have time I might have a go at the butter replacement idea and will let you know.
Banana is also very good on pizza

Basic sponge mixture (in case you haven't got it)
1 egg
60g Self raising flour
60g butter
60g sugar just beat it all together with an electric whisk or in a food processor

(if I use banana I often put in a bit of extra flour as it makes the mixture quite wet)
Bake at 170c/ gas 4/5
You can multiply this endlessly

[Shortie]

Wow, thanks Blackkitty!

I've been thinking that besides using up the bananas, it must help to save some calories. Think I'll have to make sure I have some overripe ones to test out your recipie with. And of course provide cakes to the family...

[blackkitty]

You might definitely be on to something here, Shortie.I've had a go, I used the same weight of banana as butter and creamed it with the sugar first. I baked them in small paper cases. I thought they were quite sweet, not surprising as banana has a lot of natural sugar. I'll try reducing the sugar content next time.
Replacing the butter might reduce the keeping time (ten minutes when other half found them) but they should freeze very well.

[Shortie]

Cheer Blackkitty, going to try it now.

I have some courgettes from my organic box sceme and I don't eat them, so going to try Courgette Cake from the other thread....

..... thing is, I'm substituting butter for bananas and I had a hotch-potch of sugars... Oh well, I've never tried courgette cake before so have no benchmark!

[Shortie]

Yumm... it actually turned out nice. A bit too sweet mayve so I'll try reducing the sugar a bit next time (maybe a side effect of using banana's rather than sugar?). But then maybe courgette cake is very sweet... as I say I've never had it before

[blackkitty]

I think its the bananas that make it so sweet. This is a great bonus as you can have no fat and less refined sugar.

[Earthbabe]

Thanks blackkitty. I picked up some ripe bananas cheap at the local organic farm shop and was planning to make a loaf but the sponge cakes may go down better. I won't worry about it being a bit wet, gluten free flour tends to need more liquid. Probably why it works well with banana.

[valmarg]

I usually use the following recipe when I have any rather overripe bananas:-

JAMAICAN TEABREAD

4 oz butter or margarine
8 oz soft brown sugar
2 tbsp water
12 oz self-raising flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 eggs beaten
2 ripe bananas, sliced
1 oz granulated sugar

Melt fat in a saucepan; add sugar and water, stirring until sugar dissolves. Allow to cool.

Place flour and ginger in a bowl and add melted mixture to the flour. Add beaten eggs and combine ingredients thoroughly. Fold in sliced bananas. Turn mixture into a large (2lb) greased and floured loaf tin. Smooth top and sprinkle with granulated sugar.

Bake at 375oF, 190oC for one hour. Leave to cool. Serve sliced with butter. (Makes 15 – 20 slices)


I've not made it for a few months, if memory serves me correct, the temperature might be a bit on the high side, and you need to keep an eye on it. If it starts to get too dark on top, put some tinfoil over it. Also, I don't think it needs as long as an hour, so test it (in my case) with a knitting needle, but it is delicious.

[Earthbabe]

I'll try that one too. Blackkitty's recipe made some delicious mini muffins. Even Mr E, who doesn't have a liking for cake was impressed.

[Piper]

Blackkitty, thanks for the reciepe for the banana sponge cakes, will be definatly making some of those, they sound yummie.