Vietnamese Banana Cake

I took a visit to the City Market this week and got a ton of veggies for $10.50. Only half my haul is pictured above. The same produce at the supermarket would have been at least 3-4 times as expensive. It's not as convenient and you do have to plan ahead, but I definitely need to make more of an effort to go down there! A lot of times, there are "on their last legs" produce offered, like these super ripe bananas which were $1 for an entire basket.

I found this recipe for Vietnamese Baked Banana Cake on Almost Bourdain and it sounded like my mom's banana cake. It didn't look like hers, but I gave it a go because the recipe and steps sounded so ridiculously simple that even a novice baker like myself could make it. The end result was a deliciously rich, banana-y dessert that I will be making again soon. Very soon. Because I still have more bananas! I much prefer it hot out of the oven, but traditionally it is eaten cold. And next time, I think some whipped cream or ice cream would make this standout dessert even more amazing.

Bananas are so easy to prep! Peeling and slicing only took moments. Then some caster sugar was added to give the bananas a nice syrupy coat. The rest of the ingredients (eggs, butter, flour and condensed milk) got mixed together and the bananas folded in. That's 20 minutes AT THE MOST. I didn't have a deep round cake pan like they had shown over at Almost Bourdain, so I used a rectangular pan instead and it tasted just as good. I just sliced them into squares and rectangles instead of pie shapes. All the sugar gave it a crispy crust with the filling being a hot custardy texture. The house smelled like heaven.

The next morning, I wrapped them up in some cellophane and butcher paper and tied it up nicely with my unending supply of baker's twine. Over at The Employee Lounge (my other blog), we recently chose an Employee of the Month and an Honorable Mention. Along with their gifts, I also delivered some home-made banana cake. Short story long, this is a great dessert, hot or cold and easy to make. Definitely give it a try.