Banana cake with native honey ricotta

Yoghurt gives this cake its signature moistness, which is enhanced further by the creamy honey ricotta it's served with. Try and source the best quality honey you can, native or not.

Chefs are going beyond banana cake when it comes to producing waste-minimising sweets. Credit: Robert Palmer Photography

• serves

  12

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  1:10 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 180g butter, chopped, at room temperature
• 2 cups good quality honey
• 3 eggs
• 3 cups self-raising flour
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 cup natural yoghurt
• 1 banana, extra, sliced on an angle
• 2 cups ricotta
• Finely grated zest of half 1 lemon

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C (150°C fan-forced). Grease a 25cm springform cake tin and line the base with baking paper. Use electric beaters to beat the butter and 1½ cups of the honey until light and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

2. Sift together the flour, cardamom and a pinch of salt. Using a spatula, fold into the butter mixture, then fold in the banana and yoghurt. Pour into the prepared tin and arrange the banana slices on top. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then release the sides and slide onto a wire rack to cool.

3. Combine the ricotta with the remaining honey and lemon zest in a bowl and serve on the side.

Recipe and images from Surfing the Menu by Dan Churchill and Hayden Quinn (Simon & Schuster Australia - $49.99). Available now where books are sold.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.