Chocolate, date and banana cake

Babiche Martens

Two of my go-to pleasurable snacks: dates and bananas, make this cake irresistible. Dripping in chocolate ganache, it’s simple and delicious. Enjoy it as dessert, or a good excuse to have a second morning coffee. Once you’ve mastered chocolate ganache there is no looking back. Serve with whipped cream or yoghurt.

For the cake

1 cup	Dates, dried, halved (Main)
¼ cup	Boiling water
2 Tbsp	Brandy
2 tsp	Orange zest
150 g	Butter
½ cup	Sugar
3	Eggs
1 medium	Banana, mashed roughly (Main)
1 cup	Self raising flour
½ cup	Dark chocolate bits

For the ganache

150 ml	Cream (Main)
150 g	Dark chocolate, chopped small (Main)

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 180C. Line a 20cm cake tin.
2. Place the dates, water, brandy and zest into a small pot. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. The liquid will have almost evaporated. Remove from the heat and cool.
3. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, combining well, then add the banana.
4. Fold in the flour, chocolate chips and dates. Pour into the cake tin and bake for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool in the tin.
5. To make the ganache, bring the cream to a boil then pour over the chocolate and stir until smooth. Cool to room temperature then spread over the cake.
6. Serve with a dollop of cream or yoghurt.

More tried and true recipes from Angela

• Tomato pasta sauce
• Ultimate fish pie