Last week my youngest son Louis turned 2. Where the last two years have gone I couldn’t tell you, but he is growing up to be a strong willed, super sweet car loving little boy.
On the day of his actual birthday I wanted to make him a cake, my parents and brother were coming over to see Louis, and it was the perfect excuse for The Mother Daughter Baking Team to get in the kitchen. Although, truth be known, this one was basically a Daughter Baking Team creation. I was busy cooking dinner and Demi was more than happy to take the reins to do a cake for her “little little brother”, as she calls him.
Louis has been quite the fuss pot when it comes to fruit lately, something which is just beyond me because his brother and sister would live off berries and apples if I let them. So I knew there would be fruit of some kind going into his cake. Birthday or not, the kid still needs some kind of nutrition. One look at the fruit bowl told us it would be a banana cake. Louis had asked for a chocolate one, so Demi’s brilliant solution of a marble cake was exactly what she made.
We kept it healthy, but since my family were coming over to partake as well we added a tad more honey to the cake batters. Not much, but enough to keep non low carbers satisfied. And watching my brother go back for seconds proved to me that you can make healthy tasty, even those who aren’t used to our usual sugar swaps.
The main thing was, Louis loved his cake, Demi loved making it and I’m just super proud I have a kid willing to do something like bake a cake for her little brother.
Banana Chocolate Marble Cake
Ingredients
For the banana cake
1 cup of plain white flour
2 tsps of baking powder
2 medium sized mashed bananas
2 tbls of honey
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1 egg
1/2 a cup of full cream milk
1/2 a cup of melted unsalted butter
For the chocolate cake
1 cup of plain white flour
2 tsps of baking powder
2 tbls of cacao powder
A pinch of coffee
2 tbls of honey
1 egg
1/2 a cup of full cream milk
1/2 a cup of melted unsalted butter
Serves 12
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°c.
2. In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour and add all the banana cake ingredients into a bowl and mix well until a smooth cake batter forms. By hand or electric mixer will work fine.
3. Repeat the same process with the chocolate cake ingredients.
4. Grease and line a 30cm springform cake pan and add the banana cake batter to it, then gradually add the chocolate batter, swirling as you go. Use your spatula, a fork or a knife and keep going until you’re happy with the pattern. Very important here, taste your batter!
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
6. Cool the cake slightly in the tin, then let it finish the process on a wire rack. Decorate it however you like, Demi went for “butterfly strawberries”.
And that’s it! Healthy, tasty, and a definitely kid friendly birthday cake. No need for icing when you have that beautiful swirl on top and as you cut through the piece you’re eating the different patterns and designs are enough to keep the kids, and us really, happy!
Nutrition facts based on one piece of cake.
