Bananas

I usually make a banana bread out of leftover ripe bananas, but I wanted to try something different this time. I found an interesting recipe on epicurious.com originally called Banana Coffee Cake Diamond, which combined bananas with chocolate and coffee. The cake was very moist, and the flavor combination was intriguing. The teenagers loved it. Serve with some whipped cream or your favorite frosting.

Chocolate Banana Coffee Cake

1 1/4 cups cake flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

4 ver ripe bananas, mashed well

3/4 cup sour cream

125g butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon espresso or strong coffee

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 175 deg C.

I used a silicone baking mold, but if you are using a regular bundt pan, grease and flour it beforehand.

Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix bananas and sour cream.

In another bowl, beat butter, white and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, then coffee and vanilla.

Alternately beat in flour and banana mixture in batches, until well combined.

Pour batter into pan and bake in middle of oven for about 45-50 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool cake in pan for about 10 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack.

Dust with confectioner's sugar, and serve with whipped cream or frosting.