Hungry for more? This recipes was featured in a podcast episode!

This flavourful cake from Chef Ottolenghi is bursting with bananas, dates and the earthy deliciousness of sesame. You can hear how Heather made her own date syrup for the top in the podcast episode.
Prep Time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 hr min
Yield: 8-10 servings
Ingredients
For the Cake:
50g hulled tahini
75mL orange juice (approx. 1 large orange)
140g medjool dates, pitted and quartered (or chopped a bit smaller if your dates are very large)
240g ripe bananas thinly sliced (about 3 large bananas)
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
113g unsalted butter, at room temp, cut into 2cm pieces, plus extra to grease the pan
150g sugar
2 eggs, beaten
200g all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
For the Icing:
130g cream cheese, at room temp
130g mascarpone cheese, at room temp
35g lightly packed light brown sugar
55g hulled tahini
For Toppings:
1 large banana, thinly sliced
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp date syrup
Directions
Preheat oven to 320F. Line a 10-inch springform cake pan with parchment and butter the sides. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, mix together orange juice and tahini. Stir in sesame seeds, sliced banana and chopped dates, trying not to have them all clump together.
With the paddle attachment, beat together butter and sugar in your stand mixer at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Then add eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl as needed, until combined.
In a small bowl, mix together flour, salt and baking powder. Add to wet ingredients, mixing at low speed to combine.
At low speed, stir in the tahini-date-banana mixture. Transfer batter to the cake pan and smooth the top.
Bake 25-30 mins until golden brown on top. Without removing the cake from the oven, place a piece of aluminum foil on top of the cake to prevent further browning. Continue baking for another 25-30 mins until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave in the pan on a wire rack to cool.
Make icing:
Place all ingredients in the bowl of your mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix 1-2 mins on medium speed until light and fluffy, scraping sides as needed. Set aside until cake has completely cooled.
Caramelize Banana:
Heat the oven's broiler to high and place the rack 10cm beneath the element. Place banana slices on a baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Watch them carefully under the broiler until the sugar is brown and caramelized.
Top the cake:
When completely cooled, remove the cake from the pan to a cake plate. Top with the icing and caramelized banana, and drizzle with date syrup.
This amazing recipe was written by Yotem Ottolenghi.
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