We are in Copenhagen this week. Although we haven’t talked much about it on the blog, it was a big decision for Luise to move up from Copenhagen to Stockholm for our relationship. I might have promised her mom that I would bring her back after a year, but it has now been more than, ehm, six years…
Anyone that has moved abroad knows what a challenge it can be. Luise still has many of her closest friends and family in Denmark and she lights up like fireworks every time we are here. It literally took her 2 minutes to start talking with a complete stranger on the train from the airport. So this week we are pretending that we are a Copenhagen family. If all goes well, we plan to move here by the time Elsa starts school. We are staying in a cute little apartment on the 5th floor on Vesterbro and Luise drags her 8 months pregnant body up all the stairs with the biggest smile on her lips.
First time I baked this cake was a few weeks back when Luise craved a chocolate cake on a regular Tuesday. Her biggest craving during this pregnancy has been watermelon, so when she finally wanted something else, I was happy to bake something for her (and Elsa and myself!).
We shot this before we left, but to make sure that I had the measurements right, I baked it again just last night. I couldn’t find any baking pans in this apartment’s small pantry kitchen and had to bake it in a sauce pan, but it also turned out just great. So this recipe truly has been tried and tested.
It can best be described as a chocolate and almond version of a banana bread/cake. The ingredient list is short and the method very uncomplicated and will therefore suit all type of bakers. The cake has a rich bitterness to it from all the cacao and works especially well with some fresh strawberries and a dollop of yogurt. It holds up well in the fridge and actually tastes even better on the second day. For the photos, I covered it in a cappuccino ganache, but it’s entirely optional. The cake is naturally gluten free and dairy free. I haven’t tried to make it vegan this time, but if anyone tries and succeeds, please leave a comment and tell us your method for replacing the eggs.
Banana, Almond & Chocolate Cake
10 servings
This recipe calls for a lot of cacao, so make sure to choose a good tasting one. It’s a quite small cake but very rich, so 10 servings should still be enough.
200 g / 2 cups / 500 ml almond flour
25 g / 1/3 cup / 6 tbsp unsweetened cacao powder
1 tsp baking powder
sea salt
2 eggs
2 bananas
1/3 cup / 80 ml cold pressed rapeseed oil or olive oil
1/2 cup / 120 ml maple syrup or honey
Preheat the oven to 180°C / 356°F.
Add almond flour, cacao powder, baking powder and sea salt to a large mixing bowl and set aside.
Crack the eggs into a medium size mixing bowl and beat for about a minute. Mash the bananas with a fork and add to the eggs together with oil and syrup. Beat until all is well combined. Add the wet ingrediens to the dry ingrediens and use a whisk to stir until everything is mixed. Grease a small/medium size baking pan with oil. Mix a little almond flour with cacao powder and coat the sides with the mixture to prevent the cake from sticking to the pan. Pour the batter into the greased form and bake for about 45 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool completely before carefully tilting it out of the pan and adding the ganache. Serve with fresh berries and a dollop of turkish yogurt.
Cappuccino Ganache
80 g / 3 oz dark chocolate (70%)
1 single shot (4 cl) hot espresso or strong brewed coffee
4 tbsp heated milk of choice (plant based or regular)
Chop the chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl. Pour the hot espresso and heated milk over the chocolate and leave for a minute to melt. Use a spoon to stir until completely smooth. Pour the ganache over the cake and watch as is firms up. If the ganache thickens before you have poured it over the cake, you can melt it again over a water bath.
Ps. This is completely unrelated to chocolate, but we have posted a new recipe for a post-workout hemp shake on our youtube channel.
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