Banana Fruit Cake

I always keep searching for recipes with 'bananas' as I don't like eating them and the nutrients in them don't allow me to do the same. In this run for banana desserts, I eventually came out with a nutritious, kids' favorite, tantalizing Banana Fruit Cake. The recipe is super-simple and the taste super-yummy! :)

BANANA FRUIT CAKE:

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4

Health Meter: Banana is very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Potassium and Manganese, and a very good source of Vitamin B6.

Fun Fact:  

A cluster of bananas is called a hand and consists of 10 to 20 bananas, which are known as fingers.

Ingredients:

1. Maida/ All Purpose Flour: 1 cup

2. Butter: 1/2 cup

3. Ripe Robust Banana: 1

4. Powdered Sugar: 1 cup

5. Egg: 1

6. Eno Fruit Salt (non flavored): 1 tsp

Method:

1. Sift the maida/all purpose flour with the Eno fruit salt thrice.
2. Grease and dust the baking tin and keep it aside.
3. Pre-heat the oven on 200 degrees Celsius for 5 minutes.
4. Take the butter and beat sugar with it till it goes light and fluffy. Do not melt the butter, rather keep it at room temperature.
5.  Peel off the banana and puree it in a blender.
6. Add the all purpose flour mix to the butter slowly with the cut and fold method. 
7. Beat the egg separately in a bowl.
8. Now add the beaten egg and the banana puree alternately while mixing well. 
9. Make sure you get a ribbon consistency while folding it.
10. Now transfer this mixture into the greased pan and bake it on 200 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
11. Check the cake after 20 minutes by seeing if the cake edges have left the corners; if so, then insert a tooth-pick and see if it comes out clean. When this happens, your cake is ready. 
12. Take the tin out and let it cool for 10-15 minutes. Once it has cooled down, invert the cake on a plate, making sure it doesn't break.
13. Now turn the side and decorate it the way you like, like I did it with almonds and pistachios.

Suggestions:

1. Always cut and fold the mixture in a single direction. Cutting and Folding is nothing but mixing the cake in a circular fashion (like how you make a circle) and then cutting this circle into half and again circling.
2. In some cases, the cake shrinks in the middle and doesn't come out puffy; this happens either when the mixture is too loose or when you keep pricking the cake too often to check if it's done, out of anxiety. So, please be careful with this.
3. Do not invert the cake before it cools down else it would break (I know you just can't wait to taste it, but take a deep breath and hold on for some time. ;)) 
4. If you don't have Eno Fruit Salt with you, then you can use 1 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp baking soda in its place, though I prefer to make it with Eno which makes it divinely soft and spongy. 

 Did you know: As bananas ripen, the starch in the fruit turns to sugar. Therefore, the riper the banana the sweeter it will taste.