Banana-Walnut Fluffy Yellow Cake


More than 80% of the people love bananas, and I guess 90% would go nuts over the deadly combination of Bananas and Walnuts, whether it's in a muffin, a pancake, sweet bread or cakes! I strongly believe that some pairs are made in heaven, and these two entirely fit the bill!:) Plus, they both have nutritious value, fiber and flavor; the crunchy nuts with their oil content nicely balance the sweet and mushy texture of the bananas, resulting into a perfect marriage of foods! Ok, enough of love and heavenly pairs, let's get back to food! Unlike traditional white cakes, a yellow cake contains just the egg yolks, while the former contains whole eggs; a lot of people like the way the yellow cake rises and is fluffy to the touch, but the inherent "egginess" might be a no-no for a few of us! This is especially true while using ready-made yellow-cake mixes, so I've included a recipe for making your own cake-mix at home! The Banana-Walnut combination also helps balance out the egginess in yellow cake, and works well to create a delicate and spongy dessert cake.

I've used Betty Crocker's yellow-cake mix before, and it was actually pretty good! But this time, just to control the egginess, I tried Shuna Lydon's recipe for homemade yellow cake. The key in making your own though is to separate egg yolks from egg-whites so that not a speck of white goes into the batter (try using an egg-cracker). Shuna has really explained it well on her post. As for the cake, you can use Pecans or other nuts with Bananas, but experience tells me that Walnuts taste the best!

Ingredients

Homemade Yellow-Cake Mix
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter - softened
1 cup sugar

Place the flour in the bowl of a food processor. Add the sugar, baking powder and salt. Process until blended. Cut the butter into large chunks and add to the flour mixture. Pulse and process until the butter is completely incorporated. You can even combine butter in the flour mixture with your hands till it forms grain-like crumbly mixture. Use immediately or store in the refrigerator in an airtight container. This can be stored for about one month.

Banana-Walnut Cake
2 cups yellow-cake mix (specified above)
2-3 large eggs (egg yolks only)(use less if you don't like it too eggy)
3/4 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 banana - mashed (leave a few round slices for garnish)
1/2 cup walnuts - chopped

Method
Making a good yellow-cake uses a Dry-Wet-Dry-Wet method. You DO NOT dump all ingredients in together!

Take half of the yellow-cake mix, then half of the milk and the vanilla. Mix well to incorporate everything. Add the egg yolks, beating well after each addition.

Add the remaining flour mixture, then the rest of the milk, and mix thoroughly until smooth. You can even use a food-processor for this. Keep scraping the sides as you blend or beat the mixture. This is one cake recipe in which the more you beat, the fluffier it gets and more it rises!

Next add the mashed banana and the chopped walnuts, folding in just to mix it well.

Grease a cake-baking pan, or use muffin molds for individual cakes. I used a 12-muffin pan. Fill them only 2/3rd full as this needs more room to rise. Even if you use a cake pan, do not fill more than half of it.

Preheat oven at 375 degrees and bake for 20 to 25 minutes (muffin size) until cake springs back when lightly touched near center, and the sides pull away from the pan. If you are using a cake pan, it may take a little longer, but keep checking if its done after 20 mins.

Allow the cakes to cool a little on the wire rack. I pinched in a slice of banana on each cupcake and drizzled just a teeny little bit of chocolate syrup on the top for added glamour, as I send them to Zorra who's celebrating International Women's Day with Yellow Foods!

The texture of these cakes is just amazing, and they turned out much better than I had expected! The individual cakes also work great while entertaining, especially topped with some vanilla ice cream!:)


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43 comments :

Anonymous said...

Delicious! Never knew there was a thing called yellow cake...learned something ;)

FH said...

I like Duncan Hines cake mixes, specially white cake and Devil's food mixes. Banana Walnuts are yummy combo, love it. Beautiful color to that cup cake.Got to bake 2 cakes for 2 B'days in about 10 days!:))

Manju said...

defenitely looks fluffy n tasty!! yeah..will send an entry to WBB for sure!!

Peter M said...

As popular as bananas are, I read somewhere that mangos are now the most eaten fruit.

Anonymous said...

I love cakes. This sound delicious that too with walnut...

Anonymous said...

This has to be the best yellow cake ever!! I am so drooling looking at the pic!!:)D

~Sheila

Becky said...

Mansi, thanks so much for stopping by my blog! I am loving yours too. I love the idea of making a homemade cake mix to keep on hand for when the baking urge strikes.

Dhivya said...

yummy cake

gc said...

Anything with banana in it sounds good to me!

Richa said...

banana walnut is definitely THE combo to make ;)
looks great, Mansi!

test it comm said...

I really like baking with bananas! Banana and walnut cake sounds really good.

Kalai said...

That color is amazing! :)

sandhya said...

Delicious cake...i love banana-walnut combo... like the idea of cake mix too... will surely try this..

Anonymous said...

I can eat all 12 of your cakes this very instant!!:) that pic is cool:)

angie

Uma said...

love the cake! Looks so yummy! nice pic.

Gattina Cheung said...

Yes, I'd go nut for your cake :)
Mansi, thanks for inviting me to join your WBB. Although most days I don't eat healthy in the morning, I'd still create something special for your event sometimes later :)

Sia said...

i fall into other 20% catagory when it comes to eating banana ;) but love banana-walnut cake and urs look truely d-lish!

Red Chillies said...

Match made in heaven eh? I am so glad that I am one amongst those 90% people, otherwise it is such a waste not to love banana and walnut and that too in a cake! Awesome.

Finla said...

Delicious combination, who can resist this combo. Yumm.

bee said...

that yellow is a really gorgeous shade. yummy looking cake.

The Short (dis)Order Cook said...

To the day she died, I don't think my grandmother ever learned that yellow cake isn't lemon cake. I remember baking something as a child that needed yellow cake mix. Grandma wanted to do the shopping for me, so I told her to get the cake mix and she came back with lemon cake mix. Didn't she SEE the yellow cake on the shelves?

I love banana walnut stuff, but I have to be careful with it because bananas (can you believe it?) give me heartburn and I have a mild allergy to walnuts (they make my mouth tingle if I eat too many). Still, I can handle small amounts of both and this cake looks sooooo worth the risk. The way you baked these as cupcakes is adorable, especially with the chocolate on top.

Marija said...

Hi Mansy,
I tagged you with a meme here. Hope you don't mind. :))
Cheers, Marija

Johanna GGG said...

My banana cakes are never really yellow but now I think about it that makes sense that they should be to imitate the wonderful yellow of banana.

I came by to say that I have actually posted on your kofta recipe now (and of course I also dropped in to see your lovely photos and recipes)

Laavanya said...

That is a deadly combination and a very delectable looking cake.

Simply...Gluten-free said...

Youv;e inspired me to attempt a gluten free version!

Mansi said...

All you folks are simply great! and I love you for your encouraging comments!

Do try this and let me know how it goes!

Johanna - thanks so much for trying out my recipe; I'm glad it worked out well for you:)

And I'd love to see a gluten-free version for this, as eggs and flour are the basis for this cake:) that would be an inteeresting challenge SGF!:)

Emily said...

I don't need any convincing! These sound delicious!
The banana is my favorite fruit.

Anonymous said...

Yummy...its really mouth-watering and the combination of bananas & walnut is really a classic...lovely!

Swati said...

A lovely combination it is!! Yours look yummy!!
I also loved your pasta too..Will try it one of these days...Your site is great for vegetarians like me!!!

Suganya said...

Hi I love this cake a lot....Delish! Nice picture.....Love it....

Rina said...

Ho! Mansi, love this recipe...But I don't like banana flavour.. in breads and cake and muffins.. Guess have to replace it with some other fruit..may be rassberry .

Rosie said...

This looks so fluffy and tasty a wonderful yellow cake Mansi!! Great photo :)

Rosie x

Mansi said...

Thanks ppl! your kind words and feedback is what keeps this place going!:)

Rina- raspberries sound great, but I think pulpy fibrous fruit like banana, mango or peach would give it a better texture, balancing the egg yolks:) but if you try it, let me know how it goes!

Sugarcraft - you are most welcome!

Emiline, flyingstars, sukanya and rosie - I loved the pic too! captures the yellow quite well na!:)

Vaishali said...

Mansi, what a beautiful-looking cake! Bananas and walnuts are a great combination.

Meera said...

Looks beautiful. Wonderful entry. I also want to contribute for International Womens day. need to cook yellow!!

A Cook @ Heart said...

This combo ROCKS!!! Ooooh!! I could have some of that for dessert.... and some more please!!

AnuSriram said...

Gr8 entry to go yellow! Looks awesome...

Deborah said...

Wow - amazing!!

Anonymous said...

Love Banana Walnut cakes! I'm one among those who go nuts over them ;-) Looks so yummy!!

www.zaiqa.net

zorra said...

I defentively go nuts. ;-)

Happy Women's Day!

Anonymous said...

Mansi,

delicious and mouthwatering picture. Got attracted to your picture and wanted to give a try. I did follow all your instructions but it was not fluffy for me(but baked in the middle row of oven). I'm not a expert in baking but more interested in baking new ideas. Even with betty crocker cake mix, cakes I tried out were not fluffy..any tips?

Mansi said...

Ajitha - unfortunately, cooking has a lot of "special areas" and its really hard for me to say what went wrong with your cake without having seen you make it!:) it could be the amount of baking powder, how old the eggs were, how long did you beat it or what type of butter you used - there'r just tonnes of things that could make a difference; but for starters, I'd say try this plain vanilla cake recipe and see if that turns out soft and fluffy for you:

http://funnfud.blogspot.com/2007/09/traditional-vanilla-cake.html

it's one recip I always use as a basis for baking my cakes; these proportions should definitely work!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Mansi. I know I would have gone wrong in the prepartion way. But I was just wonderfing if baking in the middle or top oven rack adds difference in fluffyness