Sarah at Clever Cook kindly piqued my interest when she posted up this banana skin cake recipe on her Facebook page.

Well, you’re either going to be in the “eew” or “hmm, sounds interesting” camp on this one.  Don’t be put off by the banana skin factor or think it’s too much trouble, because it is worth doing, even to get a reaction from people – after they’ve eaten it!!!  Hehe.  Anyway, the biggest job is being patient whilst your skins soak.

Of course, I never like to pass up the opportunity of using up what would otherwise become waste, so I promptly stripped my slightly browning bananas, topped and tailed the skins and set them in water to soak – for 3-4 days.  Meanwhile, the “edible” part of the bananas went into the freezer ready to be whizzed and whipped into a creamy whip at some stage.  Well, actually a banana nut ice cream …

Anyway, after several changes of water over the course of 3-4 days, I drained and rinsed the skins and in they went to the TM bowl and this is how it goes:

Top and tail your banana skins. Leave them to soak in water for 3 days, changing the water periodically, until they become soft and the water is clear.  Two days may even be enough:

• 3-4 organic banana skins (I used 4)
• Water to cover

After a few days, process 20 seconds / speed 9:

• soaked banana skins
• 80g water

Meanwhile, line a small round cake tin with baking parchment.  This recipe also makes about 8 muffins/cup-cakes

Strain the mixture through a sieve.  Extract any stray pulp fibres and discard.  You’ll end up with about 1 cup of, or 250g purée, and a smaller amount of liquid, about 140g.   Keep this liquid for later to make an icing, though you won’t need all of it.  Throw the rest into a smoothie, or something!

Note, before wetting your bowl, make sure you have your gluten or grain-free flour ready, by milling the necessary grains or non-grains at this point.  You could try my gluten free flour blend  or this grain-free flour mix:

For grain-free, while the bowl is dry, mill 30 seconds / speed 9:

• 50g buckwheat
• 20g linseeds

Add and mill 10 seconds / speed 9:

• 80g almonds – for nut free, try sunflower/pumpkin seeds OR

In lieu of the almonds/seeds, you could try 25g coconut flour, but add an extra egg

Set aside in a separate bowl for the moment.

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Add to the bowl and process speed 5 / 10 seconds:

• 250g banana skin pulp
• one egg
• 120g unrefined sugar (or grind the same amount of dates for the last 10-20 seconds when milling the flour grains)
  
• 60g oil of choice 

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and lid, then add and blend speed 5-6 / 10 seconds:

• Good pinch of salt
• 150g gluten free or grain-free flour
  
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon 
• 1.5 tsp baking powder

Scrape and repeat the blend on speed 5 / 10 seconds, ensuring all the flour is incorporated.

Place batter into the prepared baking tin
Bake at 180C, 170C f/f  for 40 minutes for a cake, or 20 minutes for muffins – or until a skewer inserted comes out almost clean.

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Towards the end of cooking, use the strained banana pulp liquid to make a pourable icing:

In a clean bowl, add and cook 100 degs / speed 2 / 2 minutes:

• 50g chopped dates (whizzed for 10 seconds / speed 9), a date paste or rice/maple syrup.  Alternatively, use 30g coconut or unrefined sugar)
• 50g creamed coconut, or coconut butter
  
• pinch cinnamon
• pinch salt (optional)
• 100g banana pulp liquid from earlier

Whiz up briefly to achieve a smoother texture, scrape down the bowl sides and lid and pour the icing over the cake.  Sprinkle with some desiccated coconut or chopped nuts for decoration – or whatever takes your fancy!

Serve and enjoy!

Remains moist for quite a few days.