This Banana Nut Chiffon Cake is a great way to use up those overripe bananas. I have a bunch of them lying around and wanted to use them up. I’ve made several chiffon cakes in the past, but I was curious what one with bananas would be like. This cake is light fluffy and moist what is not to like?
Chiffon cakes are the richer cousins to the angel food cake. Using both the whites and the yolks and vegetable oil to make this a moist and tender light cake, First invented by a man named Harry Baker (really his name was Mr Baker!) Mr Baker was an insurance agent and amateur baker in California. In 1927 he started playing around with traditional cake recipes. He came up with a cross of an angel food cake and a classic butter cake, substituting the vegetable oil for the butter and beating the egg whites to stiff peaks before folding them into the batter. It became a huge hit. He sold the recipe in 1948 to General Mills. General Mills heavily promoted the chiffon cake as the “first new cake in 100 years” during the 1950s and 1960s. Now it is rarely made, and I think that is a shame. Chiffon cakes are still a great cake to serve, especially when you want something just a bit lighter.
Chiffon cakes come together very quickly and are wonderful served with a glaze or just plain as an afternoon snack. I decided to use some toasted walnuts to give this banana nut chiffon cake a different flavor than the norm. Most of the recipes I have made have all been citrus based such as lemon or even a grapefruit flavored chiffon. But banana nut is a fantastic flavor combination that was just screaming at me to give this recipe a try. I found toasting the walnuts before using them really brought out the nut goodness. And this cake is terrific.
You do need an angel food pan for this recipe. It requires the ungreased straight sides of the to help it rise nice and high. And it needs to cool inverted on a bottle to stabilize it before unmolding. Let me know in the comments below if you make this delectable cake and what you have served with it. I bet it would be incredible with a chocolate glaze…..yum!
- 5 large eggs separated
- ½ cup walnuts
- 2 ¼ cups cake flour
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup mashed ripe banana about 2 medium
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 5-8 tablespoons milk or cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- chopped walnuts for garnishing
- Or a Chocolate frosting or frosting of your choice
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Directions
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Preheat oven to 325°
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Have a 10-inch angel food pan ready, do not grease it.
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Separate the eggs, place the egg whites into a clean mixer bowl and let them both come to room temperature as the oven heats.
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When the oven is hot toast the walnuts for 10 to 12 minutes until lightly toasted and fragrant. Let cool while you gather the ingredients.
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Finely chop the cooled walnuts in a food processor, be careful not to over process as they will become walnut butter. You can very finely chop the nuts by hand.
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In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and the chopped walnuts.
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In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, oil, water, and vanilla. Stir in the mashed bananas and combine well.
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Add the wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Beat just until well blended.
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Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry peaks form.
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Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the egg yolk batter to lighten it.
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Fold the remaining egg whites into the lightened batter folding in big strokes just until combined. Very important to not over mix as it will deflate the egg whites.
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Spread the batter into the angel food pan.
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Bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly pressed and it is golden brown.
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Invert onto a bottle and let cool completely at least 2 hours
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Run a knife around sides and center tube of pan. Invert cake onto serving plate; frost top and sides.
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Invert onto a serving platter or cake pedestal.
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To make the glaze
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In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir or whisk together the powdered sugar, the milk, and the vanilla. start with the lesser amount of milk and add more to reach a pouring consistancy.
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Pour over the cake and let the excess drip over the sides.
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Sprinkle the freshly glazed cake with more chopped walnuts.
