Banana Coconut Cake

I really felt like baking a cake one day, but I really didn’t want to go to the supermarket. It didn’t take me long to go through my fridge and pantry and come up with the following items: Bananas, Coconut flakes, Marshmallows and Coconut Milk. I decided they could all potentially pull together to form a pretty amazing dessert. So after some soul searching I landed on a Banana Coconut Cake. Eventually removing the marshmallows out of the picture, I’m sure if I tried really hard I could have incorporated them, but I was already too focused on the coconut by then (I get distracted by shiny things).

Who doesn’t love a warm ooey gooey banana cake with decadent and creamy icing? I figured I would take it up a notch and add in coconut milk and flakes to the batter itself, creating additional texture and upping the moistness of the cake. I couldn’t really find a recipe that utilized both bananas and coconut milk so I decided to try a few things, crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.

Lucky for me it was a success and the experiment turned out really well! I could even see this recipe turning in to cupcakes, breads, pound cakes…the opportunities are endless. With a few alterations here and there it can be made to appease the most picky eater. The best part is coconut milk is a healthy ingredient and so is bananas.

Nutrition Tidbit: Coconut milk have been known to help maintain blood sugar levels by preventing the fluctuations of insulin due to the amount of good fats it provides. Along with a good amount of iron and other vitamins it’s a great substitute for those that don’t consume or can’t consume milk (lactose intolerant).

My husband pretty much summed this cake up to be a more decadent version of banana bread. So if you enjoy banana bread or any baked banana goodness, this would be a great cake to try and definitely make it your own. Add in pecans or other nuts, change up the icing (I added a cream cheese icing alternative below). It can truly be made unique. I hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients:

Cake:
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar (lightly packed)
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
4 bananas
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup shredded coconut

Coconut Icing:
1 cup butter
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla

Topping:
2 cups coconut flakes, toasted in oven

Preparation:

For the Cake:Preheat the oven to 350ºF and oil two 9” round cake pans.

Mash the bananas and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

Beat the butter, until smooth and slowly add in the brown and white sugar. Continue to beat until combined. It should take roughly 5 mins.

Add in one egg at a time and turn the beater to low. Stir in the mashed bananas.

Slowly add in the flour and coconut milk. Alternating between the two until it all pulls together.

Stir in the coconut flakes.

Divide the batter among the two cake pans and bake for 45 mins or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Set aside and let cool for 15 mins, remove from pan for faster cooling.

For the Icing:
Beat the butter until smooth, slowly add in the powdered sugar until combined.

Add the coconut milk and vanilla and continue to beat until the icing becomes fluffy.

(A good variation to this recipe is using low fat cream cheese to replace half the amount of butter. Beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth and fluffy and add in the rest of the ingredients)

Putting the Cake Together:
Once the cakes have cooled, cut the tops off of the cakes if they aren’t level.

Ice one layer and stack the second layer over top. Continue to ice the cake all over and once complete sprinkle on the toasted coconut flakes. They should stick to both the top and sides of the cake.

Store in fridge until ready to serve. Enjoy!

Bakes 1 two layered cake.