Ottolenghi's Sesame, Date & Banana Cake
This recipe has to be my most baked cake of 2020, and undoubtedly 2021 and beyond.
I have made this cake time and time again, and every time I am blown away but how delicious it is. I have made this in try circle cake form, into a loaf and also into cupcakes - it is just such an adaptable and easy recipe that you too will want to continually indulge in and share.
If you are looking to step up your banana cake game, this recipe will be sure to impress. The use of tahini in this cake makes it taste so much more sophisticated and fresh compared to the average banana flavour. Although it’s full of dates and bananas, this cake is very light and airy. Also, if Halva is up your alley, you will absolutely die for this recipe.
This recipe is 100% Yotam Ottolenghi’s. and can be found on the Delicious website and the NYT Cooking website too.
The images I have included are all my variations on styling and presentation.
Ingredients
Cake
50g hulled tahini
75ml orange juice (approx. 1 large orange)
140g medjool dates, pitted, quartered (approx. 8 dates)
2-3 (240g) very ripe bananas, peeled, thinly sliced
2 tbs sesame seeds, toasted
113g unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 2cm pieces, plus extra butter for the pan
2/3 cups (150g) caster sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/3 cup (200g) plain flour, sifted
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
Tahini cream cheese frosting
130g cream cheese, at room temperature
130g mascarpone, at room temperature
35g lightly packed light brown sugar
55g hulled tahini
Caramelised banana
1 ripe banana, peeled, cut into 1cm-thick slices
1 tbs demerara sugar
1 1/2 tsp date syrup to drizzle
Method
Preheat fan forced oven to 160°C. Grease a 20cm springform cake pan with butter, and line the base and side with baking paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together tahini and orange juice, then stir in the date, banana and sesame seeds, separating the date and banana pieces as you add them to the bowl so they don’t clump together. Set aside.
Place butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, in 2 additions, until combined, scraping the bowl down as needed.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt, then add to the stand mixer bowl and mix on low speed for about 30 seconds, just to combine. Add tahini-date mixture with the speed still on low and mix until combined, then spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Without removing from the oven, carefully cover the cake loosely with foil. Continue to bake for an additional 25-30 minutes until cake is cooked through and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and set aside and cool in the pan on a wire rack.
Meanwhile, for the frosting, place all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk for 1-2 minutes on medium speed until combined and airy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed to mix thoroughly. Set aside until the cake has cooled.
For the caramelised banana, heat the oven grill on its highest setting, with a rack placed about 10cm beneath the heat source. Arrange banana slices closely together on a small baking pan and sprinkle with sugar. Grill for 2-3 minutes until sugar has melted and caramelised. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
To assemble, remove cake from the pan and transfer to a plate. Spread the frosting generously over the top of the cake. Arrange the caramelised bananas on top, then drizzle with date syrup to serve.
Muffin version