Moist Banana and Orange Cake

V

This delicious cake is an excellent way to use up an over-ripe banana and is perfect with a cup of coffee or tea mid-morning or late afternoon. Amazingly, the mixture darkens to an attractive rich dark brown colour as it cooks. It's finished with a crunchy sugar topping, or you could add a coconut frosting as suggested below.

Serves 4

100 g/4 oz/1 cup plain (all-purpose) flour
2.5 ml/½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1.5 ml/¼ tsp cream of tartar
50 g/2 oz/¼ cup butter
75 g/3 oz/1/3 cup caster (superfine) sugar
30 ml/2 tbsp orange juice
1 banana, mashed, around 150 g/5 oz
1 egg, lightly beaten
15 ml/1 tbsp demerara or granulated sugar


  1. Place an upturned saucer or a metal pastry (paste) cutter in the base of the ceramic cooking pot. Pour in about 5 cm/2 in of hot (not boiling) water, then turn on the slow cooker to High. Grease a 13-15 cm/5-6 in round fixed-base cake tin or soufflé dish and line the base with greaseproof (waxed) paper or baking parchment.
  2. Put the flour, bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar in a bowl. Cut the butter into cubes and rub it in until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the caster sugar. Alternatively, put all the dry ingredients (including the caster sugar) in a food processor, add the cubed butter and whiz together.
  3. Mix together the orange juice and banana, then stir in the egg. Stir into the dry ingredients (or add to the food processor) and mix together to combine.
  4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin or dish and level the top. Sprinkle with the demerara or granulated sugar. Cover the dish with clingfilm (plastic wrap) or lightly greased foil and place on top of the saucer or pastry cutter in the pot. Pour in enough boiling water to come half-way up the side of the dish or tin.
  5. Cover with the lid and cook for 2 hours or until the cake is well risen and firm and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Carefully remove from the slow cooker and stand on a cooling rack for 5 minutes before turning out.


Cook's tip
For a simple coconut frosting, don't sprinkle the top of the cake with demerara sugar before cooking. Beat together 25 g/1 oz/2 tbsp of unsalted (sweet) butter with 50 g/2 oz/1/3 cup of sifted icing (confectioners') sugar and 10 ml/2 tsp of coconut liqueur. Spread over the top of the cooled cake and scatter with dried banana chips and coconut flakes