The combination of banana and coconut just screams of summer, however, this combo is probably best in a cake rather than a drink. I was never a big fan of pineapple upside down cake, but replacing the pineapple with bananas just seemed right. I made a few adjustments to the traditional recipe and made this cake lighter and the crumble a little less sweet.

Sliced and ready for dessert

One tip is to use bananas that are not too ripe. Keep the old ripened bananas for the bread not this cake. Bananas are delicate and since you need to lightly cook them in the crumble before baking the cake they can easily become softened if they are old and too ripe.

Recipe

Cake
4 egg whites
110 grams sugar
4 egg yolks
20 grams almond flour
20 grams powdered sugar
90 grams flour
15 grams butter (melted)

Quick to make, easy to eat

I am running out of cookie ideas so will have to dig deeper for inspiration or revert back to baking cakes. We are getting used to having a container of cookies readily available for munching in the house which is cancelling out the steps I track each day. Oh well, these aren't usual times.

This is another quick recipe to put together. It should take about 20 minutes preparation and then about 30 minutes in the refrigerator before baking. Double the recipe if you want a larger batch but with only two people eating the results this size is best for my home. Recipe should make about 25 small cookies.

Recipe:

85 grams all purpose flour
10 grams cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
55 grams butter (room temperature)
100 grams brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
145 grams chocolate (sweet chocolate or about 66% or less)

Please feel free to use a stand mixer if you have one for this recipe, but this recipe does not use one.

1. In medium size bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
2. In a small bowl, melt the chocolate over hot simmering water. When melted, remove from the heat and let cool.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the butter until soft and then add the brown sugar and whisk together. Then add the add the egg and mix well. Add the vanilla. Whisk in the chocolate in portions and mix well.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture in portions and use a spatula to mix thoroughly. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes so the dough will be easier to handle.
5. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Use a small spoon to spoon out the dough and lightly roll into round pieces about 20 grams each. I prefer small size cookies, but up to you on this point. Place the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silpat. The cookies will spread when baked so leave room in between.
6. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes and let cool for a few minutes before removing from the pan. Enjoy!

During my stay at home days, I have been learning how to make sourdough starter and sourdough bread. Once the sourdough starter is ready though, it should be used and fed everyday. This is fine if you are plan to bake bread everyday, but I don't need that much bread in the house on a regular basis, so I looked for other ways to use the bread starter.

Lots of banana goodness in this loaf

Of course, a short search on the Internet produced many recipes that use sourdough starter in other baked goods than just bread. My favorite site for all things sourdough is The Perfect Loaf, this site is really a labor of love and painstakingly provides thorough and clear instructions for starting on the sourdough road. The  below recipe is from the Perfect Loaf but I have decreased the original recipe in half since I needed a smaller size bread. I also added a few walnuts and a banana on top.

Recipe
120 grams all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
50 grams chopped walnuts
65 grams butter (room temperature)
50 grams brown sugar
1 egg
65 grams sourdough starter
1 tablespoon honey
2 medium size bananas (mash with a fork)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 banana for topping before baking

1. You can use a stand mixer or make by hand. This recipe description does not use a stand mixer. Prepare a loaf pan by lightly buttering and dusting with flour.
2. In a small bowl, measure together the flour, baking soda and salt.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the butter then add the brown sugar and mix. Next add the egg and mix together. Add the ingredients sequentially, but complete mixing before adding the next. Continuing mixing in the sourdough starter, honey, mashed bananas, olive oil, vanilla, flour and nuts.
4. Pour the mixture into the loaf pan. Slice a banana lengthwise and place on top before baking.
5. Bake in a preheated 180 degrees Celsius oven, for 35 - 40 minutes. Let cool for about 20 minutes before removing from the baking tin.

Sliced and ready for breakfast