Banana, Rhubarb and Ginger Loaf Cake Recipe
The sun has finally started to shine and our allotment has at last woken up. The first few visits since winter have mostly involved weeding and digging, mending and tidying but one plant is rewarding us for our hard work already. In the middle of the plot, planted long ago by previous tenants, sits an enormous rhubarb plant. Unfussed by our neglect of its needs, each year it gives more bright pink and red stalks to us than we can possibly eat, resulting in carrier bags full of it swinging on the buggy in the playground as it is passed out to other mums.
Its comfortingly sour taste is a great favourite for many. It needs a sweet pairing and, here, banana and brown sugar in the background give it the lift it needs, while the ginger and its syrup give a fiery overtone. If you love ginger more than you love rhubarb, you can add much more ginger than suggested here.
Banana, Rhubarb and Ginger Loaf Cake
Sweet bananas, sour rhubarb and fiery ginger meld into a soft, moist and moreish teatime delight.
Gives: 8-10 slices
Timings
Prep Time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Ingredients
8oz/225g wholemeal plain flour
4tsp baking powder
4oz/110g brown sugar
½ tsp ground ginger
4oz/110g butter
10oz/280g bananas, mashed with a fork (approx 2; weight is with skin)
6oz/170g rhubarb, chopped (approx 1 large stick)
2 pieces stem ginger, chopped (plus a couple of teasppons of syrup from the jar if you like it)
2 eggs, beaten
Equipment
A 2lb loaf tin (approx 23cm x 13cm x 7cm) or 2 x 1lb loaf tins
Method
1. Set your oven to a temperature of 160 degrees C, Fan 150 degrees C, gas mark 4 or 350 degrees F.
2. Line your loaf tin using a ready-shaped loaf tin liner or use greaseproof paper or baking parchment and cut it to fit the tin.
3. Prepare your fruit - mash the banana and chop the rhubarb.
4. Put all the dry ingredients into a big mixing bowl and stir to combine. Add the butter and rub it into the dry ingredients - do this using the rubbing in method: first, cut up the butter into bits with a table knife then rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips. More detail on this method is found in our rubbing-in method step-by-step guide.. The combined butter and dry ingredients will look like breadcrumbs.
5. Mix in the chopped rhubarb.
6. Fold in the mashed banana and beaten eggs, then the dried stem ginger and a bit of the ginger syrup.
7. Transfer the batter-like cake mixture into your lined tins.
8. Bake for approximately 1 hour. All ovens vary. See our article How to Know if your Cake is Cooked for assistance with knowing whether your cake can be taken out of the oven.
9. After a few minutes, remove the cake from the tin and cool it on a wire rack. Slice and share with friends.
10. This cake stores well in an airtight tin or can be frozen.