This is the first cake I ever learned to bake. It has a rich banana flavour, and is a firm favourite in our household. The recipe came from my Nana’s neighbour, Mrs Mac, who showed me how to make this in her kitchen and then let me proudly take the results home with me. I honestly don’t know what the ‘Mac’ was short for, but her first name was Norma. She had wanted children but they hadn’t been able to have any of their own, and she doted on us when we came to visit my Nana and Pa.
Mrs Mac had been a cook in the army, which was how she’d met her husband, known by all and sundry as ‘Mac’. Mr Mac, (we could never quite bring ourselves to call a grown-up by their first name), an English Merchant Marine working with the Australian Navy, was taken prisoner by the Japanese when his ship was sunk in Singapore in World War Two. He ended up as a prisoner-of-war in Changi Prison.
When he finally came home to Australia he weighed so little that Mrs Mac could pick him up under one arm, so she told us. He’d lost most of his teeth and was very ill for many years, so she used to make this banana cake a lot because it was moist and easy to eat, and one of the few things he would actually ask for.
Mr Mac remained whippet thin; a stooped grey-haired old man by the time I knew him, who chain smoked endlessly, raced pigeons and would let me see his many tattoos, done during his time in Changi. My favourite was a hula lady on his arm – he could make her hips wiggle by squeezing his bicep.
I still call this cake Mrs Mac’s Banana Cake. The secret ingredient in this cake is love, so don’t forget to add some of your own!
Ingredients (American equivalents in brackets):
4 ounces of butter (1 stick or 115 grams), 3/4 cup of caster sugar (superfine sugar), 2 eggs, 3 very ripe bananas, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 3/4 cup self raising flour ( or 3/4 cup all purpose flour with 1 heaped teaspoon baking powder), 3/4 cup plain flour (all purpose flour), 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda).
Method:
Preheat your oven to 180C (moderate or 355F), and line a loaf tin with non-stick paper, or grease and flour it well.
Cream the butter and sugar together. (Mrs Mac used arm power, I use an electric beater!) The butter and sugar mixture should be pale and light. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Mash the peeled bananas in a bowl with the vanilla. Dump this into the butter mixture and use the beaters to combine well. The mixture may look as if it is curdling or separating – don’t panic! It will still be fine.
Sift the flours and bicarbonate of soda into the bowl with the banana and butter mixture and use a spoon to gently combine. Do not beat, just fold through.
Spoon the batter into your cake tin. (Note – this also makes outstanding muffins, especially if you add choc chips!)
Bake for 45 minutes, or until the top springs back lightly when pressed.
Cool in the tin.
This cake is delicious on its own, or you can brush the top of the hot cake with a little butter and sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar over it.
If you want to be fancy the banana cake can also be iced.
Butter Icing:
Beat 4 ounces of butter (1 stick or 115 grams) until soft and creamy. Gradually add 1 and a half cups of icing sugar (confectioners or powdered sugar), adding a tablespoon or so of milk to get a smooth consistency. Spread over cake.
Icing flavours that go well with banana cake:
Add a teaspoon of coffee, or a dash of maple syrup (both together are sensational). Lemon juice instead of milk gives a zesty tang. A teaspoon or so of cocoa powder is also heavenly.
I am making this tomorrow for hubby’s dessert. Have everything on hand.
I love your dessert banner picture at the top. It was on a cover of a cookbook from a grocery store (Shop Rite) that I would get each week when my mom did her shopping. I had them until they all fell apart on me. But they helped me become the baker and cook that I am today. Thanks for the memory..
I hope hubby enjoys the dessert! Thanks for joining our community, Arlene. Much love xx
i can only remember the story of him eating rice with his back to the wall.
I know. Breaks your heart, doesn’t it?
I enjoyed this cake. I added an extra tsp of vanilla, half tsp of pear essence, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 2tbs raisins and 2 tbs dried cranberries.
OMG!! that is a different cake! 🙂
I had been looking for a recipe for my son’s first birthday, and I think I just found it! I can’t wait to try it out!
This is great baby cake! nom nom nom…. Hope you like it as much as we do ♥ xxx
Made this for my baby’s birthday today, with cocoa icing, and it was terrific! Made it as cupcakes, and the babies loved them! Thanks for including American measurements — it made my life a lot easier, not having to look up equivalents. We Americans really are pretty hopelessly backward in some ways. Anyway, great recipe! Thanks!
I’m happy to hear it all went well – and the baby-friendly cupcakes with cocoa icing sound delish! I’m also happy to do my part with Australian-American baking relations by providing equivalent measurements 😀 xx
hmmm….I arrived at your blog through “I stop through suffering’s” link to the chakra post and photos, (wow…some of those really resonated!) wandered on to the mindfulness ideas….really helpful, thank you….and then noticed the banana bread story, photos and recipe… kind of interesting to see those 3 particular posts…..and how they tied together in this banana bread post in one of my posts…. : ) …. http://reflectionsfromafriend.wordpress.com/2011/10/28/1028-what-we-do-in-this-present-moment-has-the-ability-to-influence-the-future/ (that friend who wrote that about cause/effect and impermanence had previously made and shared his banana bread/cake with me …yummy….) That frosting on the banana bread sounds delicious!
I think that eating banana bread must expand your awareness in some fabulous way! I shall keep eating it, because your link certainly seems to support this. 😀 Thanks for sharing. Bless xx
Well, I actually find my own mind tumbling around in time….that was why that banana bread idea was written….clarity can be elusive, it seems. Here’s how tumble-dy I tend to be… maybe that banana bread has done too much expanding in me??? : ) http://pocketperspectives.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/a-banana-bread-perspective-past-present-future/
I love it!!!
Yay! We love it too – it’s like eating a big warm slice of love and hugs. 😀
This is a great post, a recipe with a tale. Your cake looks delicious, I can just imagine plunging in when it’s straight out of the oven and enjoying it with a lovely cup of tea.
Sadly, that’s exactly what happened. Yes, if you look closely at the bottom picture you may realise that I iced the cake AFTER we’d eaten one corner completely…
One of my favorites ~~ wish I could reach through to the image and grab a slice! YUMMM!!
I’ll email one to you xoxo
This looks so delish!!!
‘Tis! 😀
Reminds me of my nan and poppy…the plates in the photo look like hers…she makes the best banana bread too! Thanks for the happy memory 🙂
😀 Glad to have helped in the memory department. I have a collection of sweet old plates, some from family and many from thrift shops and garage sales. To me it’s the best form of recycling, giving old treasures a new lease on life. ♥ xx
That looks so good! Bananas in baked goods are some of my favorite things. That reminds me that I have a banana, chocolate chip, walnut cookie recipe floating around . . .
In any case, thanks for the US equivalents! You know us: can’t weigh, must scoop and guesstimate!
LOL – It was easy to put the US directions, and it makes me happy to think people might now make my recipes instead of looking at the pictures and wondering 😀
Am going to make this Nic, my kids love banana cake and I’ve only used packet mix in the past.
Yay Bekstar!!!!!!!!!!!!! nom nom nom… 😀
fascinating story! The info on the prison camp was very interesting. How those men survived I’ll never understand.
I don’t really understand either, and for so many their suffering didn’t end with freedom. Mr Mac never was well enough to work again, and reflecting now, as an adult, I realise how deeply he suffered from PTSD, depression and survivor guilt. And his good wife stuck by him through it all, loving him, caring for him, worrying about him until the end.
As a child I used to think he was just a gruff old man, and I couldn’t understand how someone as sweet as Norma would be married to him, but she would sometimes show me the pictures of him before they married, and before his capture, and he was a handsome, cheeky young man with a broad smile, sparks in his eyes and a deep love of life. She still saw that in him, and her love was big enough for them both. I’m still awed by her life of sacrifice, but that’s what love is, and I know he loved her too.
i love your recipes, nic! they are the only ones i can follow. i’m still making your lemonade scones regularly.
I love that you are baking, Kim! Now you’ll be able to add kitchen star to all the other stars on your wall 😀 xx
Banana cake – oh my – it’s the best! Thank you for jogging my memory to this treat! I have several bananas languishing in the ‘fridge! And maple?? Yes.
See, you’re good to go! 🙂 xx
Haha, you take good care of me :-)!
😉 Yep!
thanks Nicole – I love your recipes but usually can’t make them because I don’t know how to convert to American equivalents – glad this one has it – can’t wait to make it
Hi Judy,
I’ll have to go back and update my other recipes so you can try those too!
Much love to you xx