banana cake

Speaking of anything 'yellow', the first thing that pops up in my mind, will definitely be BANANA. Curvy, long, sometimes spotty and of course, YELLOW banana is undoubtedly my favourite fruit. I cannot live a day without my banana, not really exaggerating, but a day without banana could be pretty unbearable to me. Okay, leaving my addiction aside, imagine this: waking up in the morning to something that you really like or enjoy, how awesome could that be. That was exactly how I started off my Sunday morning. I woke up dreamily, eyes still half-opened to a plate of beauty: banana cake freshly baked by mum. My mum and I were really impressed with how the cake turned out and decided to have a mini photography session with the cake.

Banana cake is a really simple cake recipe which doesn't require much skills. You just need a bunch of overriped bananas and other typical basic ingredients for a cake. This recipe is also healthy, as sugar is only required in a small amount because bananas provide most of the sweetness to the cake.

Now back to the main ingredient of the cake-banana fruit, here are some interesting facts that might blown you away. Dan Koeppel, author of Banana: The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World, traces the banana back to the Garden of Eden, where he believes it was the banana, instead of apple, that was the 'forbidden fruit' that Eve offered Adam. Today, bananas are grown in at least 107 countries and ranked fourth among the world's food crops in monkery value. Also, banana plant is not a tree, it is the largest herb in the world. It can grow up to 20-25 feet high. Bananas are also available in different colours, ranging from green to yellow to red.

I live in a tropical country,  Malaysia and there are many different types of bananas grown here, which includes:-

1. Pisang Berangan.

This type of banana has thick skin and can be eaten even when it is not very ripe. It has a sweet taste, however rather dry.

2. Pisang Mas (my least favourite banana)

It is also known as the lady finger banana in other countries. This type of banana is usually very much shorter compared to the other bananas and are sweet in taste.

3. Pisang Cavendish

4. Pisang Rastali ( my favourite banana)

This type of banana gives a tangy and sweet taste, and also slightly creamy.

5. Pisang Tanduk

This type of banana is widely used to prepare a famous Malaysian street food, pisang goreng. It is usually coated in a flour batter, and deep fried.

6. Pisang Raja

7. Pisang Nangka

8. Pisang Lawak

9. Pisang Nipah

*pisang= banana

The reason why I love banana is because it can be easily eaten by just peeling off the skin and also a healthy to-go snack which you can just grab and bring it along with you. One tip to share with when packing a banana is to wrap it loosely with a kitchen towel instead of wrapping it in a plastic or packing in a container because that will cause the banana to brown rapidly. Besides being a fast and healthy snack, bananas can be used to make creamy and tasty ice cream too! Due to the creaminess and sweetness of bananas, they are also widely used to create simple and healthy ice cream. I will make a post on the banana ice cream with the recipe for it soon.

All in all, I feel really blessed and thankful for my mum, for baking us banana cakes early in the morning. It is a pleasure to enjoy homemade banana cakes which helps us start off a whole new week with a boost. Just a simple banana cake could bring my mother and I so much closer to each other especially during our mini photography session. I suggest that you should try this once in a while during the weekends as you will not only get to spend your time wisely, bond with family members and also enjoy the delicious banana cake, just like the idiom: To kill two birds with one stone, but in this case, THREE BIRDS, I suppose?