Chocolicious banana cake

Tam West

There are two really good things about this recipe — you use up the bananas from the fruit bowl that you no longer want to eat because they are too ripe and you get to eat chocolate cake with a buttercream icing that is to die for.

Ingredients

2 cups	All-purpose flour
1 cup	Unsweetened cocoa powder (Main)
1 ½ tsp	Baking powder
½ tsp	Sea salt
¼ tsp	Baking soda
2 tsp	Lemon juice
¾ cup	Milk
100 g	Butter, at room temperature
1 ¼ cups	Brown sugar
2 large	Eggs
2	Bananas, ripe, mashed (Main)
½ cup	Chocolate buttons (Main)

For the chocolate buttercream

2 cups	Icing sugar
⅓ cup	Cocoa powder
½ cup	Butter, softened
1 tsp	Vanilla extract
1 Tbsp	Milk, or add more to achieve desired consistency

Directions

1. Heat oven to 170C. Lightly grease a 23cm cake tin and line the base and sides with baking paper.
2. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Stir lemon juice into milk.
3. Cream butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time. Add mashed bananas then stir in milk and fold in dry ingredients and chocolate buttons.
4. Spoon into the cake tin and bake for 1 ¼ hours or until a thin knife inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool for before unmoulding. Yes — you do have to wait or it might break apart!
5. For the chocolate buttercream, blend icing sugar and cocoa in a food processor until completely combined. Add butter and vanilla, blend then add milk to form a smooth creamy icing.
6. Ice with the chocolate buttercream and decorate with candied popcorn, grated chocolate or anything you think might be cool and artistic.

More of Geoff's school holiday dishes

• Crazy carrot, cashew and and coconut balls
• Candy glazed popcorn