Supermoist Banana and Almond Cake

Belated birthday cake for my friend Joelle...you can split the little layers and fill for extra frosted goodness :)

The first time I made this cake was years ago for book club and never posted it...too good not to. Scottie never got a cake on his actual birthday this year, so about a month later when we had friends over to dinner we called this his birthday cake.  For this occasion I baked what is typically a one cake pan recipe in two smaller  6" pans.  You can stack them to feed more folks, or share one with a neighbor like I did and serve the singleton to 4+.  You can even wrap the layers well in Saran and a Ziplock bag and freeze in advance.
This is wonderful served with nothing more than plain Greek yogurt as an accompaniment, or for a special treat you can whip up a batch of Whipped Cream and Cream Cheese Frosting* like I did for Scott's cake (pictured at bottom).  So darn good. Make it extra purty by decorating it with edible flowers (the flowers in the top photo are NOT edible...couldn't find any this time).

I was afraid I'd lost the recipe and wasn't able to find it again online.  Luckily I found it stashed in an old binder from the days I actually used to print out recipes.  Going on the blog in case I misplace it again!
Hope you have a scale because the measurements are mostly by weight as found in the original recipe.

Supermoist Banana and Almond Cake:
serves 8
(Adapted from Janni Kyritsis' Wild Weed Pie)

250g raw whole almonds (I've also just used 250g of blanched almond flour)
2 eggs
110g (1/2 cup) evaporated cane juice crystals
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
250g ripe bananas, peeled (approx. 3)
juice of 1/2 a lemon (I use a bit less)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract (I use a combination of about 1/4 tsp almond extract and 3/4 tsp vanilla)
1/2 cup sliced almonds
Plain Greek yogurt, to serve, or make a batch of Cream Cheese and Whipped Cream Frosting (minus the cocoa powder!)

Preheat oven to 300.

To make one larger cake use a 22cm. or an 8-9" tart pan with a removable base, lined with
parchment.

To make two smaller cakes use 2 6" regular cake tins lined with parchment bottom and sides.

Pulse almonds in a food processor until finely ground.
Beat eggs and sugar for 10 minutes until pale and fluffy.
Add almonds and baking powder to egg and sugar mixture.

Puree bananas with lemon juice and vanilla, then add to the almond mixture, stirring to combine.

Pour into tin (or tins) and sprinkle sliced almonds evenly over the top of the batter.

If baking in one tin bake 40-50 minutes (rotating midway through baking), or until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

If making two smaller cakes, I think I baked them for about 32 min, but start checking them at 20 minutes.  Rotate pans midway through baking if your oven heats unevenly like mine does.

* If you make the cream cheese frosting just buy an 8oz container of whipping cream, use 2/3 cup sugar and 5.33 oz of cream cheese, so that you don't have as much leftover.

Scott's birthday cake