Sweet treat: banana and walnut cake with borage

The taste of autumn on a plate

It’s unlikely that you’ll be digging out your bikini again this year so you brush off your oven gloves instead and get baking with a clear conscience. We’ve got a delicious recipe for a banana and walnut cake with borage – this is real comfort food with a hint of autumn.  

Banana and walnut cake with borage - Thejoyofplants.co.uk

For the cake you will need:

  • 250g flour

  • 2 tsp baking powder

  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon

  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves

  • 1 pinch vanilla pod seeds

  • 1 pinch salt

  • 2 large bananas

  • 100g butter

  • 175g dark brown sugar

  • 2 eggs

  • 125ml crème fraîche

  • 70g coarsely chopped walnuts

And for the decoration:

  • Icing sugar

  • Water

  • Cloves (5 to 10)

  • Dried banana chips

  • Walnuts

  • Figs

  • Borage and/or nasturtium

Preparation

Step 1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease the cake tin and line with baking parchment.

Step 2. Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves and salt into a large bowl. Peel and mash the banana. Mix the butter, sugar and vanilla in a food processor for 20 seconds to produce an almost smooth mixture. Keep the food processor running and add the eggs and the crème fraîche one by one. Mix in the flour mixture.

Step 3. Mix the banana puree through the dough and add the coarsely chopped walnuts whilst stirring. Pour into the cake tin and bake for about 1 hour until golden brown and cooked through. Use a skewer to check whether it’s fully cooked after 50 minutes. If it comes out clean, the cake is cooked. Leave to cool for 30 minutes, remove from the tin and leave to cool further on a rack for another hour.

How to make the decoration

Step 1. Boil the water, pour it into a cup and add cloves. Leave to infuse thoroughly. Remove the cloves.

Step 2. Place the sifted icing sugar in a bowl and add the clove water bit by bit whilst stirring until you achieve the desired thickness. It should be runny but not too drippy.

Step 3. Poor spoonfuls of the mixture onto the cake. If necessary, help guide it in various directions so that it drips over the edges.

Step 4. Garnish as required with pieces of fig, banana chips, walnuts and edible flowers. Borage taste delicious with the cloves, and nasturtium’s spicy freshness brings a touch of excitement to the dish. It will be around for a while longer this year due to the unusual weather conditions but if you’re unable to source any borage, scatter lots of tasty nasturtiums across the cake instead. 

Enjoy!


 

Back to top