Chocolate Banana Cake with Chocolate Chips

This cake is a new family favorite. A chocolate banana cake, lactose free, baked with olive oil. I use non extra virgin olive oil, but if you decide to make this cake, which I totally recommend, you can use any type of oil you prefer. You can also add some pieces or chips of chocolate to the dough for an extra chocolate flavor. The secret of this cake however is a mash made of extra ripe bananas which gives this cake sweetness and an amazing texture. The magical powers of bananas.

I also used dark brown sugar, the darkest natural cane sugar we can find, which adds texture and a special flavor to this cake. The result is a dense, humid, chocolaty and fruity cake that is definitely a winner. The dark brown shade of this cake is due to the dutch-processed cocoa which is a process that reduces the natural acidity of the cocoa beans.



The Dutch process is called this way because it was invented by a Dutch chocolate maker in 1840. The process creates an alkalized cocoa, changes the composition and the taste by reducing the acidity and the bitterness natural to cocoa beans. This process unfortunately reduces the amount of antioxidants in the processed cocoa. Dutch processed cocoa powders contain in average 20% of the antioxidants contained in the natural cocoa powder and impedes the organic certification of alkalized cocoa powders. Quite a downside, hum?

Alkalized cocoa is more suitable for certain recipes, but not recommended for others. For example, to make a good hot chocolate at home it is best to use natural unprocessed cocoa which have a more reddish color. Even if the beverage industry used the processed cocoa in liquors and cocoa based drinks. The alkalized cocoa powder is interesting to bake cakes, cookies and pastries because it is less bitter, less acid and has a much more intense color. I used Valrhona, which is a lightly processed cocoa and one of the cocoa brands we used to sell at the store.




Chocolate Banana Cake with Chocolate Chips


3 eggs
125ml (1/2 cup) olive oil
2 DL brown sugar
3DL baking flour
1 DL cocoa powder
3 ripe bananas mashed
1 tablespoon baking powder
100 grams of chocolate chips (optional)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract natural or vanilla powder
How:

Put olive oil and sugar in a large bowl and with a hand whisk (fouet) or a simple wooden spoon, beat sugar and oil to form a lightly foamed mixture. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well to form an emulsified and smooth batter. Add the cocoa powder and the vanilla powder and mix well to incorporate. With a fork mash the bananas in a large dish, until you obtain a homogenous mash without any large pieces of bananas left. Add the mashed bananas to the batter and mix well to incorporate. Add baking powder to the flour, and add flour in parts, mixing well until you get a homogenous batter. Finally add the chocolate chips, if using, and mix some more. Transfer the batter to a oiled bread pan and bake at 180C for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of mass comes out dry.

Obs.

Baking soda will not work as a leavening agent in a cake made with alkalized cocoa powder. Baking soda needs an acid component to make it react, therefore you need to add regular baking powder. To use baking powder you have to add natural unprocessed cacao.