Banana Black Cake
On Wednesday, June 8, we ran a wire story in the Extra section about variations on banana bread. The article mentioned a banana black cake, and though we had three recipes with the article, we did not have space to run the banana black cake recipe.
Reader Betty wrote in and asked if I could dig up the recipe for this cake, which included seedless blackberry jam, raisins and dates. YUM! I found it and thought I’d share it for anybody else who might be interested. The recipe comes from “Maida Heatter’s Cakes” by none other than Maida Heatter, who has been dubbed “The Queen of Cakes” by Saveur magazine. Enjoy!
BANANA BLACK CAKE
Yield: 1 tube cake (25 slices)
3 cups walnuts
1 1/2 cups pitted dates
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 cup unsifted whole-wheat flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon each nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice
1/2 teaspoon each ground cloves, ginger and salt
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup each granulated sugar and light brown sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups seedless blackberry jam
5 medium bananas (2 cups mashed)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 cup dark raisins
Procedure:
1. Adjust two racks, the first 1/3 up from bottom of oven and the second on the lowest rack. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Butter 10-by-4-inch (20-cup capacity) tube pan. Line with parchment paper and butter the paper. Chop 2/3 cup of the walnuts finely and turn into prepared pan to coat evenly. Distribute loose nuts evenly over bottom of pan.
2. Chop remaining nuts less fine. Cut dates into medium-size pieces. Toss with 1 tablespoon granulated sugar. Sift together flours, cocoa, spices and salt; set aside.
3. In large bowl of electric mixer, beat butter until soft. Beat in vanilla and both sugars. Beat in eggs one at a time, then beat in blackberry jam. Coarsely mash bananas and beat into batter.
4. Stir baking soda into buttermilk until baking soda dissolves. Add to batter. Scrape sides of bowl. On low speed, gradually add sifted dry ingredients, beating until incorporated. With wooden spoon, stir in nuts, dates and raisins. Turn mixture into prepared pan and smooth top.
5. Cover top with aluminum foil and place covered pan in oven. Place shallow pan of hot water on lowest rack (to keep steam in oven). Bake 1 hour, remove aluminum foil and bake for 1 1/2 more hours, or until cake tests clean.
6. Let cake stand 20 minutes before removing from pan. Chill and cut into thin slices.
Source: “Maida Heatter’s Cakes”
June 22, 2011 - 11:01 AM
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Thanks for posting this, Lindsey. It sounds delicious!
I really have to laugh at this – I know I have been ordered to only discuss topics like this with Jim Ellison in private where other customers can’t be made aware of the absurdity, but I don’t feel like following commandments from the mountaintop right now.
The captcha code has been moved from below the submit button to above the submit button, as I & others have repeatedly requested. Before we get all frothy with excitement over this grandiose bow to customer service, understand that it has only been done on this one blog, and NOT on any of the others on the RT website.
Curious logic, I’d say. Why here, in response to repeated complaints, but refuse to do so elsewhere? If the logic works here, does it not work elsewhere? Is it something related to food? Or does the RT administrator just not ‘have the time’ to make the extra keystrokes to change it elsewhere on the site? Quite the interesting question.
abdnva, wow. Get a life. Or apply for a job as the admin of RT. But really?
The absurdity is that it matters to anyone where the
captcha code is placed. Good Lord, people, Get a life.
I have to say, the name of this cake is not at all appealing. Without reading the recipe it sounds like a version of banana cake with super ripe, practically spoiled bananas! Maybe Ms Heatter should get a bit more creative with her names. Bobby Flay makes a few interesting alcoholic beverages using Blackberries and-the Black Widow was pretty good if I remember correctly. Maybe something called a Banana Blackjack Cake would seem more enticing?
@ Cole, your comment made me go back and look at the recipe in the book again, and there is an intro that reads “There are many old Southern recipes called Black Cake. Usually it is a dark and heavy cake made with candied fruit.” I had never heard of a black cake before this. I agree that the word “banana” at the beginning could conjure up some unfortunate images. LOL
The phraseology of ‘black cake’ is one derived from old Appalachian recipes, and it simply references a cake that is dark colored. Much as if you called a devil’s food cake with chocolate icing a ‘black cake’, it means nothing more than a rough approximation of the color. A deep stream is ‘Black Creek’, etc. That’s all.
I wish I had the time to worry about a captcha code!
Calling a cake “Devil’s Food” leads one to believe it would be “sinfully” good. The point of being descriptive in naming a recipe or dish is to inform AND entice. “Better Than Sex” cake is another good example of this. “Black” just doesn’t do it.
C78, your sense of irony is pretty ‘sinful’. Maybe that will entice some to eat a cake they wouldn’t otherwise try.
If I pretended to call a cake a chocolate chocolate cake, would that make it more palatable?
We can all hope it’s all a beautiful thing…
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Lindsey
One of the best things bout ‘black cake’ is that it is so moist & rich. Some folks might not like the banana flavor, but it is very similar to eating bread pudding, where the richness just overtakes all the rest of thee dessert.
I went home at lunch 6/24 and looked in my many southern cook books (thanks to my mother who was raised in SC) and found no reference to “Black cake”. There were several jam cakes, but they didn’t include any fruit or nuts. Intrigued, I did some research: black cake isn’t southern, it’s Caribbean or Jamaican and is made for Christmas or weddings. Usually includes rum, brandy, or sweet wine, but no jam. Fruits galore, yes, and nuts, but not chocolate. Hummmmm.
This looks delightful! I think it would make a good alternative to Fruit Cake during the holidays. Definitely going to give it a try before then.