The Saga of the Banana Cake

I love banana cakes. And to a great extent the husband's aunt (she's no more, and I am uncomfortable using any euphemism for her) takes away the credit for introducing me to this lovely dessert.

I was served with the yummiest of them on my first visit to her place as a new bride. She knew that I was a foodie with an extra pair of sweet fangs. So after dinner, she set out a dish with a few slices of a banana cake that she picked up from a neighbourhood store. One bite and I had fallen for the cake -and the aunt. What ensued was a gastronomic connection. Every visit of hers was an event to look forward to. She would get her famous spicy chicken Hakka noodles, her sardines cooked in coconut sauce and the banana cake. Every visit of mine saw me coming back with the cakes. After her untimely death, the banana cakes too stopped. And in all those years not even once did I ask her where she got the cakes from.

It's been two years. I still don't know where to buy those cakes from. But I can definitely bake one, thanks to a wonderful recipe that I found on Nigella's page. This is a tried and tasted recipe and I hereby proclaim that it is a toothsome one.

Ingredients:

• 5 oz butter
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cup milk
• 2 bananas (mashed)

Method:

1. Preheat oven 180c.
2. Melt butter, add sugar, eggs, vanilla essence & mix well.
3. Sift flour, baking powder & baking soda on top of melted ingredients in the pot. Mix carefully then slowly add: milk & mashed bananas.
4. Pour into well greased and lined 20cm ring tin and bake at 180 C for 30-40 mins (check after 30 so it doesn't go for too long and dry out).

So just barge into the kitchen, take out those dark skinned overripe bananas, mash them, blend it with flour and sugar and turn them to a delicious, moist working woman's cake. 

Another banana cake story here
An eggless banana cake for you here
Interesting history of the luscious banana

I did it!

'Tis that time of the year when you look back at all those months, days and hours that passed by. You peek into your bucket list, eager to tick off a few items, feeling elated that at last you were able to achieve what you set out for.
I have a rather lengthy list of 'to-do-before-I-die' still waiting to see the light of the day. But sad I am not. And there's no need to panic either, because a bucket list has a life and mind of its own. Just when you think you've done it all, it throws a new item at you. And you grab it tight, keep it stuck to your memory till you reach out for a place to note it down. So I have come out with this brilliant idea - why not a 'leap list' instead! Apparently, a leap list is more challenging as it comes with a time frame. So you have stuff to do before you take some kind of a leap in your life, like marriage or pregnancy or turning thirty or forty or fifty. Now does that mean that if you kick the bucket before you fulfil your leap list, your leap list automatically qualifies to be in the category of a bucket list? Confusing.
Never mind. I am glad that I was able to tick off a few things off my list.

1. Bake yummy cupcakes, right from scratch
2. Bake a cheesecake
3. Learn to play a musical instrument
4. Travel to Ladakh
5. Attend a photography workshop

I know, these were not Herculean tasks, but they were challenging for me. And I am ecstatic. Time to move on the next ones. My list please...