Isolation has motivated me to enter another hobby (as if I haven't been swamped with work already, right?). From Sunday to Friday, I have been catching up with work because of the slump I have been experiencing during the last week. But I did gave in to my slump and spent some time to not be so stressed out for my mental health. During the weekend, I tried baking! Yes, this is my first time baking and it was a huge success thanks to my sister who shared this banana cake recipe with me (original recipe here). I ended up having a soft, fluffy and semi-sweet banana cake and I'm really proud of myself. 

But I did a slight revision based on my personal experience (all the changes/revisions I made from the original recipe is marked with *) and made this recipe simpler when you lack some of the ingredients in the list. Also, I actually made this by hand. As a newbie, I didn't have a whisk and I don't know how to use the mixer. LOL So it is possible to do this by hand but it is quite the workout. 

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 pinch of salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 cup of brown sugar*

2 eggs

4 overripe bananas*, mashed 

2/3 cup buttermilk* (No buttermilk? No problem. See alternative below.) 

Optional: 

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or nuts of choice) or chocolate chips

Alternative to buttermilk:

Same amount of fresh milk or evaporated milk as needed + 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. Hence, in this recipe, I used 2/3 cup of evaporated milk (since I only had evaporated milk on hand) mixed with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C (350 degrees F). 

2. Grease pan of choice using butter. 

3. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. 

4. In another bowl, mix butter and brown sugar until its fluffy. Beat eggs one at a time, then mix the bananas. 

5. Add flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk to the creamed mixture. Add nuts or choco chip of choice. (In my recipe, I didn't have any available.) 

6. Pour batter into the prepared pans. 

7. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes. During the last 10 minutes, I kept checking the cake (using the toothpick test) if it still needs more time in the oven.

What's the toothpick test? You stick a toothpick on center top of the cake, pull it out, and feel if there is wet batter on the toothpick. If there is, it needs more time in the oven. If it comes out clean, then your cake is done!

8. Once done, remove from oven, and place on a drying rack.