Mini Banana Cheesecakes

Mini Banana Cheesecakes

200g tennis biscuits, finely crumbed (keep a handful aside for decoration/to serve)
60ml sugar
120g butter, melted
450g cream cheese, room temperature
125ml sugar
2 eggs
5ml vanilla
250ml sour cream
250ml mashed banana
5ml cornstarch
125ml milk
2 bananas, sliced
whipped cream
a handful of biscuit crumbs

Preheat your oven to 160℃ and line a muffin tin with paper cups. Set aside.
Add the biscuit crumbs, 60ml sugar and melted butter to a mixing bowl and mix until it resembles wet sand.
Divide the mixture among the paper cups and press it down firmly in the bottom to form a base. Set aside.
Add the cream cheese and 125ml sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
Beat on high speed, scraping down a few times, until smooth.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and add the vanilla as well.
Pour in the sour cream and mix until fully combined. Set aside.
Add the mashed banana and cornstarch to a bowl and drizzle in the milk. Whisk by hand until combined and thick.
Fold the mixture into the cream cheese mixture.
Spoon the batter into the prepared biscuit bases.
Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.
Allow the cheesecakes to cool completely and place them in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours.
Take the cheesecakes from the paper cups, scoop some whipped cream on top and decorate with slices of banana and a sprinkling of biscuit crumbs.

Easy Banana Bread

Easy Banana Bread

3 bananas, very ripe
200g brown sugar
150g butter
2 eggs
240g flour
10ml baking powder
1,2ml salt

Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line a 13cm x 23cm loaf tin with baking paper.
Peel the bananas and place them in a mixing bowl.
Now beat them with an electric whisk until completely mushed.
Add the sugar, butter and eggs and lightly beat the mixture together on low speed. Set aside.
Add the flour, baking powder and salt to another bowl and stir to mix.
Add one or two spoonfuls of the dry ingredients to the banana mixture while beating on a low speed. Keep adding and beating until all is incorporated.
Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 50 minutes.
Cool the loaf in the baking tin for 15 minutes and then remove it and cool completely on a cooling rack.
Serve thick slices of banana bread spread with salted butter.

Coconut-Banana Scrambled Eggs

Coconut-Banana Scrambled Eggs

2 bananas
30ml butter
2 eggs
30ml coconut cream
15ml coconut oil
15ml coconut flakes
15ml almond slivers

Peel the bananas and mash the one in a bowl. Set aside.
Slice the second banana into thick slices.
Place a pan on medium-high heat and add the butter.
Fry the banana slices until caramelised and golden. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Add the eggs and coconut cream to the mashed banana and stir through.
Add the coconut oil to the same frying pan, turn the heat down to medium-low and pour in the banana mixture.
Season with salt and black pepper.
Stir/move the egg and banana around in the pan until it is set to your liking. Ideally you should start to smell the banana as it starts giving off its natural sweetness.
Spoon into a bowl and place the fried banana on top.
Scatter over the coconut flakes and almond slivers to serve.

Banana Muffins

Banana Muffins

You may add 125ml of chocolate chips or the same amount of chopped nuts to these delicious, moist muffins.
Yields 12 muffins.

500ml flour
10ml baking powder
5ml bicarbonate of soda
2.5ml salt
5ml ground cinnamon
200ml brown sugar
100ml greek yoghurt
125ml sunflower oil
5ml vanilla
250g/3 very ripe bananas
2 eggs

Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cups.
Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cinnamon into a mixing bowl.
Add the brown sugar and stir through. Set aside.
Add the yoghurt, vegetable oil, vanilla and eggs to a jug and whisk together. Set aside.
Add the bananas to a bowl and mash them.
Add half of the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir through.
Now add half the banana and mix again.
Add the rest of the liquid and the rest of the banana and mix with a spatula.
Spoon the mixture into the paper cups and bake for 25 minutes.
Cool the muffins on a wire rack.


Banana Cake

Banana Cake

4 + 3 ripe bananas
125ml yoghurt
2 eggs
250ml sugar
2,5ml ground cinnamon
5ml vanilla
a pinch of salt
500ml flour
15ml baking powder
150g butter, melted
160g sugar
30ml water

Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line a 20cm x 20cm baking tin with baking paper.
Peel 4 bananas and halve them in their length.
Arrange cut-side down in the prepared baking tin and set aside.
Peel the other 3 bananas and mash them with a fork.
Add to a bowl with the yoghurt, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and salt.
Mix together.
Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix together until smooth. The mixture will be very stiff.
Add the melted butter and mix again until all of the butter has been absorbed into the batter. Set aside.
Add the 160g sugar and 30ml water to a small saucepan set over medium-high heat.
Stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Simmer the mixture WITHOUT STIRRING until it turns a caramel colour.
Remove from the heat and pour it over the bananas in the prepared baking tin.
Now pour the batter into the tin and spread it out evenly.
Place in the oven and bake for 35 minutes.
Remove the cake and cool in the baking tin for 15 minutes.
Invert the cake on to a serving plate and cut into squares to serve.

Rice Krispie Cups

Rice Krispie Cups

4 bananas
1 x 380g tin of caramel treat
4 x 250ml Rice Krispies

Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cups.
Add 3 bananas to a mixing bowl and mash until smooth.
Add 190ml of the caramel and mix through.
Now add the Rice Krispies and mix thoroughly.
Divide the mixture evenly amongst the paper cups, pressing in the cup with the bottom of a shot glass to create a hollow centre.
Now add a teaspoon caramel to each Rice Krispie cup.
Slice the last banana into 12 slices and place a slice on top of each Rice Krispie cup.
Refrigerate the cups for 1 hour.

Caramel Banana Pull-Apart Bread

Caramel Banana Pull-Apart Bread

62ml tepid water
10g instant yeast
250ml milk, warm
30ml sugar
7,5ml salt
5ml ground cinnamon
62ml butter, melted
2 eggs
4 x 250ml + 83ml flour
1 x can/portion Dulce de Leche or Caramel Treat
3 bananas, sliced

Pour the tepid water into a small mixing bowl and sprinkle over the yeast. Stir until dissolved and set aside.
Add the milk, sugar, salt and cinnamon to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and whisk together by hand.
Stir in the butter, eggs and yeast mixture.
Turn the mixer to a low speed and gradually add the flour. You are looking for a dough that is soft enough to handle. It is usually ready when it easily pulls away from the sides.
Knead/mix for another 5 minutes.
Rub a few drops of oil on the inside of a mixing bowl, place the dough in the bowl and cover with a tea towel.
Allow to rise until double in size. (about 90 minutes)
Punch the dough down and turn it out onto a work surface lightly dusted with flour.
Roll the dough to a 0,5cm thickness and cut circles of dough with a biscuit cutter, about 8 cm in diameter.
You need about 22 circles to make two small breads.
Line two 11cm X 25cm loaf tins with baking paper.
Spread a teaspoon of caramel on half of each circle and place 3 slices of banana on top.
Fold the circle in half and place it in the prepared tin with the open ends facing up.

Continue until all the discs are in the loaf tin.
Cover with a kitchen towel and allow to rise at room temperature for 40 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 180℃.
Bake the breads for 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven, cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then remove from the baking tin.
Serve the pull-apart bread warm or at room temperature.

Deep Fried Chocolate Banana

Deep Fried Chocolate Banana

4 wooden skewers
4 ripe bananas
80g chocolate, chopped
1 egg
62ml sugar
125ml milk
15ml vegetable oil
250ml flour
10ml baking powder
1ml salt
oil for deep frying

Peel the bananas and push the skewer into the banana lengthwise so that it is easy to handle. Place in the freezer.
Add the chocolate to a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and allow to melt.
Take the bananas from the freezer. Hold the banana over the bowl with the chocolate and spoon the melted chocolate over with a spoon so that the entire banana gets covered in chocolate. The cold from the freezer will help to set the chocolate.
Now stick the skewer into a piece of styrofoam or an egg carton or even an empty cereal box so that the banana is held upright and the chocolate won’t smudge.
Add the egg and sugar to a mixing bowl and beat together with an electric beater.
Add about half the milk and the oil and beat some more.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a separate mixing bowl.
Add a spoonful of the flour mixture to the egg mixture while beating.
Gradually add the rest of the milk so that you create a smooth runny batter.
Heat your deep fryer, dip the bananas in the batter and fry them until golden brown.
Dust the fritters with icing sugar and serve immediately.

Dutch Banana Fritters

Dutch Banana Fritters

200g flour
10ml baking powder
30ml icing sugar
1,2ml salt
170ml buttermilk
1 egg
3 ripe bananas, mashed
vegetable oil for frying
45ml caster sugar
10ml ground cinnamon

Butterscotch Sauce:
200g sugar
100g butter
62ml cream

Mix the flour, baking powder, icing sugar and salt together in a mixing bowl.
Add the buttermilk and egg to a jug and whisk together.
Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and stir together.
Add the mashed banana and mix through. Set aside.
Heat about 7cm deep vegetable oil in a saucepan.
Mix the caster sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl.
Mould the banana batter with two teaspoons and fry in batches for about 3 minutes, until cooked and golden.
Drain the fritters on kitchen paper and immediately roll them in the sugar-cinnamon mixture.

For the butterscotch sauce:
Measure the sugar into a small saucepan set over medium heat and allow the sugar to melt without stirring. Allow the sugar to caramelise and become golden while watching it with a hawk’s eye – you want a light caramel colour at this stage.
Add the butter and stir until melted.
Simmer the mixture over gentle heat for 2 minutes.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the cream. Whisk vigorously until smooth.
Decant the sauce – it will thicken as it cools.

Serve the banana fritters with the butterscotch sauce on the side for dipping.