Banana Cake With Crunchy N'dizi and Banana Whipped Cream

Submitted by Dreamer in Ontario

"Kenyans enjoy snacking on bananas covered with roasted peanuts, a treat they call crunchy n'dizi. They are best when eaten hot, right from the oven. In the recipe below I've called the n'dizi crunchy banana as it's the only way I could get the data base to recognize it as the heading for that portion of this recipe. This recipe was found on CookEatShare and has been posted for ZWT 7"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 33mins
• Ingredients: 19
• Serves: 12

ingredients

• BANANA CAKE

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 cup unsalted butter, softened (1 stick)
• 1 1⁄2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 1⁄4 cups mashed bananas
• 3⁄4 cup yogurt

• CRUNCHY BANANA

• 6 bananas, peeled and sliced in rounds
• 1 tablespoon water
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 3⁄4 cup chopped unsalted peanuts

• BANANA WHIPPED CREAM

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
• 1 banana, mashed

directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Butter and flour a 9-inch square baking pan.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla with a mixer until fluffy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
5. Stir in the banana, and then the flour mixture into the batter, alternating with the yogurt, until blended.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until golden and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Let the cake cool in its pan for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and set on a wire rack to finish cooling.
8. N'Dizi.
9. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
10. Warm a skillet over medium-high heat and add the banana rounds and water to the skillet, cover and let steam for 1 minute.
11. Drain the liquid.
12. Dip the banana rounds in melted butter, coat with chopped nuts and set on a baking tray.
13. Bake for 4 minutes, then flip the rounds and bake for 4- 6 minutes until the peanuts are roasted.
14. Banana Whipped Cream.
15. Beat the cream, vanilla and confectioners' sugar until stiff peaks formand then fold in the mashed banana.
16. To serve, cut the cake into squares and top with the Banana Whipped Cream and Crunchy N'Dizi.

Reviews

[Annacia]

MMMMMMMMMM, if you like banana you really must try this! After a brief chat with Dreamer about the N'dizi prep before starting it went perfectly and I ended up with a delicious cake. I have to say that I did skip the whipped cream (this time) to save on some fat and calories, of which, I have been having way too much recently! I replaced the sugar with Splenda, used a heart healthy margarine and low fat yogurt. The little N'dizi were actually quite fun to make and are totally worthy of making alone as snacks or party nibbles. The small bit of lemon zest gave a nice perk to the cake and I think I'll try adding it to my next banana bread. This recipe is a total keeper and I'm thinking very hard on setting it aside in a safe place because I want to make it the way my mind pictured it the first time I read the ingredients: as a double layer using a stabilized version of the banana whipped cream as frosting. Alright now, on the count of 3 everyone drool. 1..2...................