Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Sticky Timing

I was holding back on sharing this recipe with you, since I figured given all the gluttony of the winter holidays (not to mention New Year’s) it would just be mean to put your diet resolutions through the ringer. I figure, though, that the Superbowl is to the food world what Labour Day is to the ix-nay on wearing white pants. In other words, let the good times roll (again!).

I actually made this cake a while back after seeing a TV show where the California restaurant Bashan was highlighted as part of a “night on the town” aspect of whatever tour they were taking. Being the foodie that I am, I hopped onto the restaurant’s website to peruse their menu, and being the baker and general sweet tooth that I am I inevitably wound up on their desserts page. Unusually for me, as a chocolate freak who would order absolutely anything on the menu with the dark stuff, the thing that drew my eye instead was their "Peanut Butter Banana Sticky Toffee Cake". I know. Oh trust me, I know.

I had to try to make a version of my own. But finding a recipe that incorporated peanut butter, bananas, and the decadent British sticky toffee pudding was proving to be impossible. So I made my own, with the added bonus that, while undeniably sticky and sweet, I could make a portable form without the traditional sauce for my dad to enjoy. Of course, you can’t have sticky toffee pudding – in any form – without the toffee, so to get that decadence into the neat little packages I tossed in toffee bits. With the heat of the oven, those bits melted into hidden pools of golden yumminess which actually stayed more-or-less molten even after the miniature forms of the cakes I made cooled. It was a little twist on tradition that I would even pass up a slice of Flourless Chocolate Valentino for.


Sticky Peanut Banoffee Cake
Inspired by Bashan Restaurant in Glendale, CA
Serves 8
8 oz pitted dates, chopped
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups boiling water
2 tbsp butter, softened
1/3 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup Demerara sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
1 large banana, mashed
1 cup flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup toffee bits
  1. Preheat oven to 350F, grease a 9" springform pan.
  2. In a small bowl, combine dates, baking soda and boiling water. Let stand 15 minutes.
  3. In a large bowl, cream butter, peanut butter and sugar.
  4. Beat in vanilla, banana and date mixture, then stir in the flours, baking powder, salt and toffee bits.
  5. Bake 35-40 minutes, until it tests done. Cool 40 minutes in the pan before unmoulding.
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 440.0
Total Fat: 12.1 g
Cholesterol: 14.3 mg
Sodium: 120.5 mg
Total Carbs: 87.3 g
Dietary Fiber: 6.4 g
Protein: 8.3 g

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