Rum & Raisin Banana Cake

Yay! My first recipe post!! This was inspired by a box of raisins that, although great for baking, were yuck to have as a snack. That and a banana that was getting very ripe. So it's basically a simple twist on ye olde banana cake, and I think it works quite well. Give it a try and let me know if you agree!

Ingredients:

• 125g butter, softened
• 3/4 cup castor sugar (but regularly sugar would do as well)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3 medium-sized bananas (preferably overripe - see more on this later)
• ~1 cup raisins
•  3-4 tbsp rum (I used Appleton's Estate, but any dark rum will do)
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp baking soda

Icing:

• about 1 cup icing sugar
• half a lemon of lemon juice (~2 tbsp)
• 2 tbsp shredded coconut

Start off by putting the raisins in a small bowl and covering them with the rum. I put a few tablespoons in the ingredients list, but really it's just pour until they're just covered. Leave to soak for about 30mins, or basically while you prepare everything else.

Turn your oven onto 180 degrees Celcius and get a cake tin ready by greasing the sides with butter. Also cut a round piece of baking paper to line the base, like so:

Now the fun bit! Take the butter and put it in a large mixing bowl. Before adding the sugar, I use an electric handbeater to whip the butter a bit first. I find it helps to cream the sugar in. So give it a whip, and then add the sugar. "Beat until light and fluffy" - I always found this the most vague instruction in any recipe I tried. But apparently it's really important for getting enough air in to your bake so it ends up light and... fluffy. Paula Deen recommends you do this for 10 minutes. I tend to not remember how long I've been doing it for, but wait for it to get pale and then go for another minute or two - refer to the photo if you're not sure.

Lookin' light and fluffy? Awesome! Now crack in your eggs, beating in one at a time. Then add the vanilla essence and similarly beat it in. Leave this bowl to one side while you prep the bananas and dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl, sieve the flour, salt, and baking powder together. In another separate bowl, take your bananas and mash em up. I prefer to use a potato masher over a fork if you're using non-frozen bananas (see below) because it makes the bananas really into a paste that will give the whole cake a better banana flavour throughout, as opposed to just chunks of banana here and there. I mentioned before that overripe bananas are best for baking so here's what I tend to do with bananas that are going brown. I put them in the freezer until I'm ready to bake with them, then take them out an hour or so before I need them. Freezing causes the banana to become mushier when it defrosts (don't worry, it's all kept inside the skin) so when you open the banana (I usually just make a cut at the top) you can squeeze it all out like toothpaste and it's pretty much already banana mash. Just give it a quick mix with a fork and go-go. It is a bit gross-looking, but trust me it's worth it. It also means no bananas go to waste, because you can store them in the freezer for several months (win!). Today I actually used one frozen banana and two fresh, so I used a potato masher.

Anyways, enough about bananas 'cause it's time to bring everything together! You're gonna add the flour and banana to the egg/butter mix, but WAIT! Don't do it all at once! I've found that adding the flour and 'liquid' in two to three additions makes for a much lighter textured cake. So add 1/3 of the flour and beat in, then add half the banana and beat in. Beat in the next third of flour. For the last two additions - that is, the remaining banana followed by the remaining flour - fold in lightly by hand rather than beating with the handmixer. Only mix until everything is just incorporated, or else your cake could become rock-like.

Now add in those lovely rum-soaked raisins. Fold gently with a wooden spoon to distribute them throughout the cake. Finally, heat up the milk quickly in the microwave (should take no more than 20 seconds) and add the baking soda to it. It should begin to foam almost instantly. Quickly add to the cake mix and fold in to incorporate. Pour the mix into your prepared tin and bake for 35-40 minutes. It should be golden brown, like the picture below, and when a skewer/sharp knife is inserted in the middle it should come out clean.

Allow the cake to cool in the tin completely before removing and icing. For the icing, sieve the icing sugar and add the lemon juice. Stir until smooth and at the right consistency - I made mine a bit runny so it would go down the sides like so. If it needs a bit more liquid, just add a small amount (like less than a tsp) of lukewarm water. If you want it thicker, you may need more icing sugar to cover the whole cake. Just have a play really with volumes of icing sugar:water really. When at the right consistency, throw in the shredded coconut and stir in. Spread on top and ta-da!!

Go bananas!!! I would love any form of feedback so questions, comments, or just general banter please send it in!

P.S. this cake is dedicated to my bestie Clare, who inspired me by her own blogs and vlogs to do something too ^_^