The Total Challenge - Spiced Banana Cake with Greek Yoghurt & Honey

Earlier on in the week, I received a huuuge batch of Total greek yoghurt (12 pots to be exact!), courtesy of Fage and a lovely PR lady, to do some experimental cooking, eating and reviewing with. Needless to say, this month will feature a number of recipes containing greek yoghurt! After a bit of brainstorming, you come to realise just how versatile it is - it could work in so many dishes, sweet and savoury. The first experiment was a great success...

This is a great recipe (adapted from the the Good Food Channel's site) for a gorgeously moist banana bread - I've just added a bit of mixed spice to give it some warmth and make it feel a little more wintery.

Creamy, thick and slightly sour greek yoghurt and a dash of hunny make a fantastic match for the sweet, spicy banana loaf. There are two different ways of serving this, depending on whether you want banana bread or more of a cake. Both are equally lush!

The first way is to keep the bread as it is, cut slices off at whim and spread with the yoghurt and a drizzle of honey - makes a delicious breakfast or mid-afternoon snack with a cuppa.

Alternatively, make up the yoghurt and honey icing, whip it until thick and then spread it over the top. Scatter with some crushed pecans to make an impressive looking cake. This makes a fantastic dessert and it will keep in the fridge for a couple of days.



RECIPE

For the Cake
100g soft Butter
200g granulated sugar
2 Eggs
2-3 mashed Bananas (I use 3 - the more banana you use the more moist it will be)
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
2 tsps Mixed Spice
1 tsp Salt
250g plain flour

For the Icing
300mls Total 2% Greek Yoghurt
4 tsps Icing Sugar
3-4 tsps runny Honey
A handful of Pecans, broken into small pieces (optional)

Preheat oven to 150C and grease a loaf tin with a little butter. Beat together the butter, sugar and eggs and then combine the mashed bananas with the mixture.

Add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, mixed spice and flour and stir until well blended. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin.

Bake for about 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes until the cake has risen and is golden. It is ready when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Do not overbake the bread or it will dry out. Cool it in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

If you are not planning on icing the top of the cake, put it in a plastic bag or wrap with foil or cling film while the bread is still slightly warm to help to keep it moist.