Sunday 13 September 2015

Banana and honey loaf cake - gluten free and no artificial sugars


Here at Lancashire Food we don't like to waste food and also where possible create recipes which not only taste good but do you good. This recipe ticks all the boxes for us, using ripe bananas for the majority of the sweetness for this cake and just a touch of honey its free from artificial sugars and being full of all things that are good for you it a "super" bake.  A great debate currently ranges in the food community about the amount of sugar in our diets and home cooking and baking gives you the control to adjust the amount of sugar added to your recipes. We like that, we use buckwheat flour here for its nutritional value but a basic plain gluten free flour would also work.

Please don't expect this to taste exactly like a normal banana loaf as it doesn't, but it still has some sweetness and as we are using honey you can adjust the sweetness level to your taste, I would suggest starting at 1/2 cup and reducing down from there as your taste buds acclimatise to less sweetness.

A couple of months ago we started hosting a local beekeepers hive in our garden and hopefully very shortly we might just (fingers crossed) get to taste some honey from our bees, its a fascinating process and has been very interesting watching the development of a new hive with all its trails and tribulations. In just a short couple of months we have had issues with wasps ( nasty things that attack hives ), the birth of a new queen and the balancing act of when to collect the honey. I have been stung twice once by a bee (yes a honey bee) and also by a wasp ( very painful and much worse than a bee sting).

So hopefully next time I bake this loaf we might be using our own honey .........


What you need
  • 1/2 cup buckwheat flour (check gluten free if necessary as not all are)
  • 1/2 cup ground almonds
  • 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp ground cardamon
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ginger
  • 1/2 tsp ground allspice
  • 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1 tsp vanilla paste
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 2 eggs - free range
  • 1/4 cup - coconut oil
  • 1/4 cup of milk (any type nut, cows, goat)
  • 1 tsp cider or wine vinegar
  • 1/2 cup of local honey
  • 3 ripe bananas
2lb loaf tin, oiled and base lined.
If you don't have all the spices to hand sweet mixed spice or lebuken spice can be substituted

What you do
  • Pre heat the oven to 180c
  • Mash the banana roughly in the bowl of your mixer
  • Add all other ingredients
  • Mix thoroughly and pour into prepared tin
  • Place in the oven and bake for approx 45 minutes
  • Cool in tin
  • Delicious served slavered with butter



We are linking up to Bake of the Week over on Casa Costello

                                                             


Also to Recipe of the Week with Emily over on A Mummy Too

                                                            Link up your recipe of the week



Love Cake - Back to Basics over on Jibberjabber, as this is good basic banana loaf recipe at heart.

                                   

Simply Eggcellent - Theme being Cakes this month over with Dom at Belleau Kitchen (Happy Birthday !) which celebrates all thing egg.

                                                               simply eggcellent - September 2015

Credit Crunch Munch over at Fuss Free Flavours as once again we are using up manky bananas. A blog challenged created by Fuss Free Flavours and Fab Food for all.

                                                 Credit Crunch Munch

And finally No Waste Food Challenge blog hop over at Foodie Quine this month. This challenge was created by Elizabeths Kitchen Diary.

                                                             Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary


7 comments:

Jibberjabberuk said...

A banana loaf is such a good baking basic! I see people asking for recipes all the time. I was looking at some buckwheat flour last week and wondering if I could bake cakes with it. Now I know the answer!

Foodie Quine said...

Thanks for linking up to this month's #NoWasteFoodChallenge Banana Loaf really is the quintessential #lovefoodhatewaste bake. I have a number of black bananas launguising in my freezer just waiting for the banana loaf treatment!

Fab Food 4 All said...

I love all things banana and your banana loaf looks fab with that generous spread of butter! Thank you for a delicious entry to #CreditCrunchMunch:-)

Unknown said...

I love your banana loaf recipe... I've made banana loaf so many times and have always used my mums recipe which is very similar to yours. I would kill for a slice right now. Beautifully simple. Thanks for linking to Simply Eggcellent x

Helen said...

I really like a banana loaf but so rarely make them as my usual approach is to peel, chop them up then use in smoothies. Must get out of my banana rut. Thanks for sharing with #creditcrunchmunch

Foodie Quine said...

How amazing that you'll soon have your own honey! I love Banana Loaves. Perfect for those black squishy ones. Thanks for linking up to the #NoWasteFoodChallenge

Elizabeth said...

What an absolutely stunning bake! Beautiful and full of flavour! Thank you for sharing with the No Waste Food Challenge :)

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