1 ripe banana
1 small-medium Gala or Honeycrisp apple, seeded
1/3 cup water
2 eggs (leave out if you prefer vegan cake – it’ll be fudgier and more dense)
1 TBSP instant decaf coffee powder or crystals
1 TBSP apple cider vinegar
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup unsweetened baking cocoa
1 ½ cup gluten free (or all-purpose flour)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground flax seed (optional)
1 tsp chia seed (optional)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup chocolate chips
- Cut banana and apple into pieces and blend In processor with water and eggs, until smooth
- Add all other ingredients except chocolate chips and blend smooth
- Add the chips and pulse just twice or three times until they’re incorporated
- Pour into a greased and sugared bread pan
- Bake for about 35 minutes at 350 degrees
- Cool before removing from pan and serving
If you happen to have someone who doesn’t enjoy the taste of banana, this cake cleverly masks it with chocolate, decaf coffee crystals, vanilla, and cinnamon. With only 1/2 cup of brown sugar, it is still as sweet and soft as cakes with far more processed sugar. The sweetness comes from both the apple and the banana, and there is also no extra fat, aside from what’s in the chocolate chips.
The flax and chia seed give the cake additional protein and other nutritional delights in addition to holding it together when I make this into a vegan cake (or let’s be honest, when I don’t have enough eggs for both making breakfast and baking). The recipe is going to be in my second book, SMOTHERED: A Whipped and Sipped Mystery (due to be released summer 2020)!
