Lee’s Banana Birthday Cake
Banana bread. Banana cake. What’s the difference?
Last night we went out with our friends Debbie and Mike. They are quite the non-profit duo. Debbie founded the timely and super innovative Wellness Initiative, while Mike runs Progress Now. Two cutting edge organizations out to make the world a better place. What could be cooler?
Here’s what. Their son Lee will celebrate his first birthday next week. And they have another little one due any day now! We talked about children and of course, my favorite topic delicious, healthy food. They asked if I had any ideas for their son’s birthday cake and told me that little Lee loves bananas.
Here’s what I came up with. Bake it in a loaf pan and it’s delicious healthy banana bread; bake it in a cake pan and it’s delicious, healthy banana cake. Either way, enjoy!
3 cups blanched almond flour
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup agave nectar
¼ cup grapeseed oil
3 eggs, whisked
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 bananas (about one cup) mashed
- In a large bowl, mix together almond flour, salt and baking soda
- In a smaller bowl, combine agave, grapeseed oil, eggs and vanilla, then stir in bananas
- Mix wet ingredients into dry
- Place batter in either a cake pan or two small (7×4 inch) loaf pans
- Bake at 350° for 40 minutes
- Remove from oven and allow to cool
Serves 12
Serve plain or topped with cream cheese frosting.
Enjoy this delicious gluten-free, dairy free banana bread plain or indulge with some cream cheese frosting for a super rich dessert. Either way, happy birthday!
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Subscribe by Email to elanaspantry.com:Posted on October 21, 2007 in desserts by Elana
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12 comments for the post “Lee’s Banana Birthday Cake”
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hi i just found out that i have celiac disease.
could you help me get started. thanks so much.
August 6th, 2008 6:40 am
Angel,
You could look at my essential posts on celiac disease. There’s also a section devoted to celiac disease on my FAQ page.
Elana
August 6th, 2008 12:56 pm
Hi Elana,
I am so excited that I found this site. I eat gluten free and recently have eliminated grains from my diet, except for sprouted, whole oats and quinoa. Anyways, I have been searching for a long time for a site like this. These recipes are truly healthy, not just “so-called” gluten free, etc. I hated baking with brown rice and sorghum flour as they are still grains, and eliminating grains has changed my life for the better.
I made the banana cake tonight, and it came out great. My husband liked it also, but he did not think it was sweet enough. I thought it was perfect, but he likes it sweeter, and I dont want to add any sugar. If I added another banana, or more agave, would it make the batter too liquid, or would it be OK?
Thank you so much again for this site. I am going to spread the word about your blog. I am a student at the Clayton College of Natural Health and I will post the word about it there. I feel like I found a gold mine! I can teven tell you how excited I am about this. I can actually eat all of these things without guilt and adverse health reactions. Thanks again!
Jenna
August 22nd, 2008 10:01 pm
Dear Jenna,
Thanks so much for your feedback, I really appreciate it.
In terms of sweetening up the cake, I am not sure how your idea would turn out, though I like it and think it might be worth a try.
If you do experiment, please stop back by and let us know how it goes!
Thanks,
Elana
August 25th, 2008 10:51 am
I just had to tell you that I made this cake Sunday and we loved it. We did make the frosting too which is very yummy! The frosting does allow for a little more sweetness which is what my kids are all about but one of them ate it without the frosting and the other one loved it with the frosting. Even my husband enjoyed it which is saying a lot! Thank you for your yummy and smart recipes! I was thinking it would be fun to make cupcake or muffin style. Have you done that and do think it would work? Thanks again!
September 3rd, 2008 7:40 am
Jenni - Thanks for your comment; glad you liked the cake. Here is a delicious vanilla cupcake recipe for you to try. I haven’t made this banana cake into cupcakes or muffins; if you do so please let us know your results.
September 4th, 2008 12:56 pm
I’ve been making banana bread since I was a kid, and this tastes just as delicious as the white flour kind! You are my hero :). I made them as muffins and in a regular size muffin tray they took about 25 min. to bake at 350 and were fantastic. Oh and I had to use maple syrup (not a whole 1/4 cup) because I was out of agave. Thanks again!
October 16th, 2008 8:24 pm
Katie,
Thanks so much for your kind comment and for letting us know about the changes you made to the recipe.
Take Care,
Elana
October 17th, 2008 11:12 am
Love this website !!!
I tried this receipt this weekend with just a bit of an adjustment. I used a loaf pan for banana bread and added a shredded apple with some cinnamon and nutmeg to help kick off season. (also have way too many apple to use up) And other then needing to cook it a bit longer, it was wonderful.
November 19th, 2008 2:42 pm
sandy,
Thanks, glad you liked it!
Elana
November 19th, 2008 2:48 pm
Hi Elana,
I have tried a few of your wonderful recipes, my favorite is the Pumpkin Pie Muffins (which I made twice!), recently I made your Simple Bread and added some apples, walnuts, and cinnamon- it didn’t turn out that great, but it’s okay! I am trying to find another gf/sf recipe for all these apples I have- I did make your apple crisp and it was great, but I wanted to try something more pie/galette-like. Do you have a recipe for pie crust? I am also going to make the Banana Cake this weekend! Thank you so much for sharing all of your creations! It definitely makes avoiding sugar and gluten a lot easier!!!
Sincerely,
Laney (Portland, OR)
November 20th, 2008 11:31 am
Laney,
Thanks for your comment. Yes, the Simple Bread is very so-so, not one of my favorite recipes. I will have better bread recipes in my cookbook (coming out next fall). I do have a pie crust recipe here, though I’m not a big fan of apple pie with this crust (the apples make the crust soggy), I think the apple crisp is much better. What about making apple sauce? It’s so easy to prepare and very easy to eat too.
Hope this helps.
Elana
November 20th, 2008 11:43 am