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When my daughter turned one, I wanted to make her a special birthday cake.  However, I didn’t want to make just any cake, I wanted it to be healthy and a cake that she would always love.  I found this recipe, I’m not sure where, and then modified it, so it would be dairy free.  This is a great cake because when my daughter was about 8 months old she discovered how much she loved banana’s.  She could never get enough of them and I always called her my little monkey.

The original recipe also did not have walnuts but I decided to add them not really for her, but more for me since I absolutely love walnuts. Since many deserts in Greece are filled with walnuts,  I guess that influence took hold and now I crave deserts with walnuts so I suspected adding walnuts to the cake would really make it good. They also seemed to go well with the banana’s anyway.

My daughter is now seventeen years old and amazingly she still loves this cake.  I gave this recipe to my mother who prepares it a little better than I do, as my daughter will point out.  She’ll say that but then dive into the cake I just made.  I guess she likes it because, I the cook, take so much pleasure in making it.  When I chose this cake for her first birthday cake I didn’t expect to keep making it, but I think I do because it reminds me of all the years from then until now and how wonderful it’s been to have a child like my daughter.  She’s brought me so much joy.. that I believe this is what she’s really experiencing by eating this cake.. the pure love I have for her.

ENJOY!

Banana Cake with Walnuts

Banana Cake Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon allspice
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 cup mashed ripe banana (2 large)
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup almond milk
  • 1 cup of unsalted chopped walnuts

Garnish (optional)

  • use powdered sugar using a strainer to sprinkle on top

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Coat a 9″x12″ baking pan with nonstick baking spray.

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When mashing the banana’s, I used a potato masher which always works best prior to adding to all the ingredients.

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In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients above excluding the walnuts using a handheld mixer.

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Then using a baking spatula, mix in the walnuts and then poor the mixture into your baking pan.

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Bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cake completely before removing from the pan.

IMG_1127IMG_1130IMG_1132IMG_1133IMG_1301As a garnishment you can use powdered sugar to lightly sprinkle on top of the cake.. but I tend not to as it is perfect just as it is.  Enjoy!