Chef Pichet's Banana Cake

Claire told me that her banana cake based upon Pichet Ong turned out great... So it was the natural choice when I have some baby banana come to close of EOL (i.e. end of life).

She's right. I baked at night, and left it to cool on the rack while I hit the sack. The next day, in a hurry to leave for work, I forgotten to bring it out. When I got home 24 hours later (with the cake being exposed on the wire rack), it was still moist and soft.

But what if I have to choose to live with only 1 banana cake?

SSB's banana bread uses rub-in method (more mess but no need to wait for butter to soften), less fat (40%), and incredibly less ingredients than this one here. The crowning glory is the orange zest which adds a magical touch to the bread!

Pichet uses a combination of sweetener & liquid (honey, to achieve the texture and aroma.

Texture wise, both are equal winner. For the simplicity and shorter prep time, my vote goes to SSB!

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Banana Cake

taken from The Sweet Spot, by Pichet Ong and Genevieve Ko

1/3 cup (78g) unsalted butter at room temp
1 cup (155g) all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
¼ cup (85g) honey
½ cup (72g) packed light brown sugar - I used 60g
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
1 cup (228g) roughly mashed baby banana (about 5 pcs) - I use ~200g
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
½ cup (130g) whole-milk yoghurt or sour cream - I use Yoghurt
1 cup (155g) semi-sweet choc chips (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Light butter a 8.5x4.5” loaf pan.


2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and set aside.


3. Put the butter, honey, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a bowl of a electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat the mixture on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 min. Scrape down the side and bottom of the bowl, add the banana and vanilla extract, and beat on med speed until the mixture looks “broken” or lumpy, about 1 min. The banana should be smashed, with a few small chunks remaining.


4. Turn the speed to med low and beat in egg until incorporated. Turn the speed to low and gradually add in the sifted flour mixture, mixing just until no traces of flour remain, about 10sec.


5. Add the yoghurt and mix until the batter has only a few remaining white streaks, about 5sec. Avoid over-mixing. Gently fold in the choc chips, if desired.


6. Transfer the batter to the greased pan. Baked in the centre of the oven until the tester inserted in the centre comes clean, about 45 min.


7. Cool cake in the pan on the rack for 5min, then unmould and cool completely on the rack.