Plantain cake (serves 6-8)

If you got leftover or very ripe plantains, dont throw them away. Just bake them into plantain cakes. This is another easy recipe made with plantains. It's a flourless cake and is usually made for evening snacks and during Ramadan. Since this cake is so moist, it has a pudding kind of texture and so no icing or cream topping is necessary. It is best to store in refrigerator if not finishing on the same day. It doesnt stay out long. I got this recipe from my mom who bakes this cake in a non-stick sauce pan with lid,kept on a low flame- medium flame. Infact she bakes all her cakes so! And it always turned perfect! For the same reason, I baked this cake on the hob-top, in a non-stick saucepan with lid, rather than using oven. I think this cake could be baked in oven too at medium temperature. But never dared to do so. Next time I should try that way!

The recipe for plantain cake: This time I Made a bigger cake using the double amount of ingredients i normaly use since I had lot of plantains leftover. If you want a smaller one, just use exact half amount of ingredients.

Ingredients:

4 Ripe plantains

8 extra large eggs/ 10 medium eggs

14 tbs sugar

4 cardamom/1/2 tsp cardamom powder

Preparation:

1.In a blender add eggs, sugar and cardamom and blend well until sugar dissolves (1 minute).

2. When done, Add the peeled plantains and again blend for few seconds until you get a smooth batter.

3. Set the flame to low-medium. Dont set the flame to high, else the cake will get charred very soon. Grease a nonstick sauce pan with ghee (clarified butter/butter fat) and add the batter. Close the lid tightly, making sure that no steam escapes. I cover the lid using foil and cover the sauce pan so that the lid stays intact.

4. Check if the cake is done, by inserting a knife or tooth pick. If they come out clean with no batter sticking to it, Then the cake is done. It took me 45 minutes to cook. I used a heavy base sausepan of 30 cm diameter with lid.

N.B: The upper part of the cake wont be browned, But it will be cooked from steam inside. If you want upper side to be browned, You can turn the cake over, once it is completely cooked. I normaly dont go for this hassle just for the color.