Papuan Banana cake. So simple. And, according to my friend Manny, a very popular breakfast item in Papua New Guinea.
He explained that, because PNG is so diverse across the board, every area has a different dialect, traditions, etc. One thing that is consistent across the country is banana cake- and it can be found at any establishment. He also confessed that it was one of his favorite things, and that was enough to tell me that I should make it.
I actually didn’t go searching for a traditional recipe since my mom’s is so good, and therefore I decided to use that. The one tweak I made is that I swapped mom’s traditional walnut cream cheese frosting with a chocolate coconut sauce, which Manny said was a more traditional topper.
Chocolate for breakfast? DONE.
Frosting adapted from Baking Around the World
Papuan Banana Cake
Papuan banana cake is a personal twist on Papua New Guinea's traditional banana cake, popular at establishments country-wide.
Ingredients
- ½ cup super ripe mashed bananas (about 2)
- ¼ cup shortening
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ¼ cup buttermilk
- ¾ cup flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- Pinch salt
- ¼ cup nuts (optional)
- For the icing:
- ¾ cup chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk
Directions
- Step 1 In a mixer bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla and banana.
- Step 2 While the above is blending, combine the dry ingredients. Set aside.
- Step 3 To the sugar mixture, alternate the dry ingredients with the buttermilk, starting and ending with dry until well blended. Don’t over mix.
- Step 4 Add the nuts if desired.
- Step 5 Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes until a tester comes out clean.
- Step 6 After cooling in the pan for about 10 minutes, invert on a cooling rack until completely cool.
- Step 7 make frosting:
- Step 8 Place chopped chocolate in a mixing bowl.
- Step 9 Heat the coconut milk in the microwave (approx. 1 1/2 minutes) or in a saucepan until boiling. (Stir intermittently to prevent scalding.)
- Step 10 Pour the milk over the chocolate, ensuring the the milk completely covers the chocolate.
- Step 11 Cool the chocolate mixture for 30-40 minutes. After it has cooled for about 10 minutes and looks melted, gently stir.
- Step 12 Beat the mixture until smooth and spread atop cooled cake.