Gula Melaka Banana Walnut Cake

Once in a while, I will craze for a slice of wholesome banana cake, but I'm very particular about my banana cake. It has got to be fragrant, rich, moist yet tender without addition of artificial flavours. Have tasted some store-bought ones and they were, ahem, let's just say not to my expectations. The best is naturally home-made and my go-to recipe is Annielicious Food Moist Banana Cake, which uses the "chiffon" or "meringue" method to achieve the super tender and moist texture of cake. Recently I came across Cuisine Paradise rendition of Gula Melaka Banana Cake with Walnuts and the thought of using Gula Melaka instead of caster/brown sugar is so tempting! So I decided to adapt both recipes, by using the "chiffon" method and adding gula melaka as well as walnut to my usual banana cake.

The batch of Gula Melaka I bought from Melaka is quite moist and I spent some time trying to shave the required amounts for the bake. The effort was certainly worthy because the fragrance of the cake was so alluring during baking! I was salivating all the way and it was tough waiting for the bake to be completed (it took almost 70 mins) and for the cake to be cooled completely (another 2hrs wait).

The cake turned out to be darker than usual due to the use of Gula Melaka, but the taste wasn't obvious, except for the small amount that I topped on the surface of the cake. Next time I would add more Gula Melaka toppings for a more pronounced taste.

It's best to serve the cake the next day after baking so as to let the flavours develop and infuse fully. As usual I couldn't resist and ate a small piece immediately after the cake was cooled. The cake turned out really yummy and I had to resist another. The addition of walnut was a nice touch and provided an additional texture to the cake. I took another slice the next morning, tasted even better! Hubby brought the rest to his office. Apparently it was very well-received with his colleagues and many went for seconds or more. Hubby also commented that he liked the addition of walnuts.

Gula Melaka Banana Walnut Cake
(Makes one 8"x8" square cake)

Ingredients

(A) Dry ingredients

• 250g Plain Flour
• 1 tsp Baking Powder (I use double acting)
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Sea Salt

(B) Wet Ingredients

• 250g Bananas (about 6 pieces)
• 180g Unsalted Butter, slightly softened
• 120g Gula Melaka/Palm Sugar, shaved
• 4 Egg Yolks (I use 60g egg with shell)
• 4 Tbsp Fresh Milk
• 1 Tbsp Rum (can be replaced by Vanilla Extract)

(C) Egg White Meringue

• 4 Egg Whites
• 40g Caster/Brown Sugar

(D) Additional Ingredients and Toppings

• 60g Walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 6 pieces Walnuts, break into 12 halves
• 1-2 Bananas, slice into 13 discs
• Shaved Gula Melaka, to preference

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 175 degree celsius. Grease and line a 8"x8" square baking pan.
2. Sift the dry ingredients together. Set aside.
3. Mash the bananas. Set aside.
4. In a mixing bowl, beat the unsalted butter and Gula Melaka (using paddle attachment on medium high speed) till light and fluffy. This will take a few minutes.
5. Turn mixer to medium low speed, add the egg yolks, one at a time, make sure each is incorporated before adding another. Stop to scrap mixing bowl as necessary.
6. Add the fresh milk, rum and mashed banana, mix well.
7. Turn mixer to low speed, add flour mixture in 2 additions, each time mixing till just blended.
8. Fold in the chopped walnuts and mix well. Set the batter aside.
9. In a separate mixing bowl, whip the egg whites on high speed using whisk attachment. Add the sugar gradually and beat till stiff peak.
10. Add 1/3 of the egg white meringue to the batter and fold gently till almost incorporated. Add another 1/3 of the meringue and fold again.
11. Pour the batter into the mixing bowl containing the remaining 1/3 of egg meringue and fold gently. This is to ensure the bottom-most batter gets to be folded thoroughly.
12. Pour the final batter into the prepared baking pan and smoothen surface using spatula.
13. Top with banana slices, walnuts and shaved Gula Melaka.
14. Bake at 175 degree celsius for 60-70 mins, until skewer comes out clean.
15. Let the cake cool down completely before removing and slicing.
16. Best served the next day.

This recipe is certainly a keeper and I think I gonna bake this more often now. Already having a craving as I'm writing this post :p