The Big Sweet Tooth: Banana Coconut Crumbs Cake

At time, you need a lot of push to realize what you are, who you are... With the level of competition in the whole outside world, sometimes even the best effort looks halfhearted when compared to others. I saw this quote a couple of days ago and was awed by it. The Almighty has made us with all imperfections. If we were that perfect, wouldn't we forget our Creator? Once we realize our imperfections and its beauty, things will come quite easily. This person who is so eloquently tapping on the keyboard and writing such big words is definitely not somebody who is in peace with her imperfections! However, to make myself feel at ease at times when I feel that I am not what I wanted to be, I really look around for affirmations as these. One more thing I really love to do these days is to randomly open the translation of the Quran, and read what I lay my hands on. Seriously, I feel Allah is speaking to me, giving me a response to my current situation! A habit that was instilled into me very recently by a great friend and well-wisher, that I really hold on to... I really suggest all of you to do this - when you feel down and trashed, go to your holy book and randomly open a page, your answer will be there!!! :)

Coming on to today's post, it is the month's Home Baker's Challenge. Apart from the cookie challenge, I was able to participate in all and was quite happy with working on it. This time, Shama Nagarajan had suggested a list of sweet and savory bakes. I as usual went for a sweet bake - any surprise??? ;) - and baked this cake during the weekend. Three things attracted me to try this recipe - bananas, coconut and almonds!!! The result was a really crumbly, soft cake which was an absolute treat! Warning: If you do make this, I would advise adults not to be over confident and use a plate or a napkin while eating the cake - it's that crumbly!!! :) We had guests over that day and it just got cleaned apart from two small pieces... How much I was expecting to have my big slice? :(

Banana Coconut Crumb Cake

Makes 1 brownie pan

Recipe source: www.yummly.com

Ingredients:

1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 baking soda
A pinch of salt
1 ripe banana, diced
1/4 cup dessicated coconut
For the crumbs:
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
2 tbsp oil

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees. Grease a brownie pan well and keep aside.

Combine the milk with the oil, eggs, sugar and vanilla and mix well. Mix all the dry ingredients into another bowl. Gently fold in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients using a spatula until combined. Add in the banana and coconut and fold in again. Pour into pan - A word: the batter is really thick.

In a small bowl, crush the almonds slightly with your hand. Add in the remaining ingredients and mix well to represent crumbs. Sprinkle evenly on top of the cake batter. Bake for 45-50 minutes till the crumbs become golden and a tester comes out clean from the center.

Serve warm with a cup of chai!!! :)

Notes:

The original recipe asked to add almond milk into the batter. I replaced it with milk, as I didn't have almond milk available.

Linking this post to Cutchi Kitchen's 100th post giveaway...