Wanna banana?

CEBU, Philippines — In the Philippine countryside, banana is not very highly valued. Though, it’s not looked down upon, either. This delectable fruit just comes in great abundance.

Bananas are not hard to grow. In fertile idle areas, bananas just tend to grow by themselves. The young banana shoot does not require much care. Once it emerges from the soil, the next sight to be seen is a banana tree bent from the weight of its fruit.

By the sheer size of the yield, one banana tree would cover for the meals of a small family for several days. And then the family’s palates grow tired of the taste of bananas. The leftover bananas, now fully ripe, are often fed to hogs or left to rot away.

It’s such a waste, indeed. Ripe bananas can be made into a lot of other good things. It makes good baby food or can be made into smoothie to beat the summer heat.

The most common use for bananas – aside, of course, from the fruit being enjoyed raw – is making it into banana cake. Here’s a good banana cake recipe to try, from the website https://pinchofyum.com. The good thing about this particular recipe is that it happens to be vegan!

Banana Cake with

Peanut Butter Frosting

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

¼ cup sugar

½ cup maple syrup

½ cup banana puree

½ cup oil

¼ cup water

1 beaten egg (substitute with 4 teaspoons flax for vegan)

¼ cup natural peanut butter

¼ cup water

2 tablespoons sugar

Procedure:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

• In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt (and flax, if using).

• In a smaller bowl, combine sugar, maple syrup, banana puree, oil, water, and egg.

• Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Pour into a greased 9×9 baking dish. Bake for 20 to 24 minutes or until knife inserted comes out mostly clean.

• For the frosting, whisk peanut butter with sugar and water until smooth and fluffy. Add more peanut butter or water to achieve the desired consistency. Frost the cooled cake and serve immediately.

This is best eaten the same day it is baked. This cake is also great (and a little lighter) without the frosting. It’s perfectly sweet and moist cake with a decadent peanut butter frosting.