It seems everyone was making banana bread back when lockdown was first announced and strangely that was the last thing I wanted to bake. Like with most food trends, banana bread has gone off the radar a bit now and like with most food trends, I get on board with them when it’s no longer trendy! This is my Banana Cake with Dalgona Coffee Cream, the ultimate 2020 quarantine cake!

Back in March and April (both of which feel like years ago at this point), you couldn’t go on social media without seeing a new lockdown food trend starting; first it was banana bread, next it was sourdough and suddenly dalgona coffee hit Instagram and it was crazy. I was introduced to dalgona coffee before lockdown happened but never had an opportunity to try it until lockdown began. This makes this recipe the ultimate 2020 quarantine cake. But this recipe isn’t for banana bread, it’s a slightly different beast to banana bread; a bit lighter, a bit more fluffy and a bit more fancy too, especially with the dalgona coffee whipped cream topping on the cake.

Here are some important tips and notes for the recipe, please make sure you read these before trying the recipe!

• I like to use a combination of two sugars here; the brown sugar adds deep caramel flavours as well as moisture to the cake but if you don’t have any, you can use all granulated sugar.
• If you don’t have or can’t find self raising flour, then you can all plain flour (240g in total) but use 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda instead.
• Ensure also that you use around 200g of overripe banana for this recipe; too much will incorporate too much moisture to the cake batter and make the cake heavy and dense.
• It is important to not overwork the cake batter once the banana has been incorporated otherwise it will become a bit rubbery at the bottom of the cake as gluten will be developed making a chewy tough banana cake, something that happened to me in my second test of the recipe!
• Another important step is that this cake needs to be taken out of the tin and moved to a cooling rack straight away. The heat from the tin can cause the bottom of the cake to become soggy.

Check out some of my other recipes that were created during lockdown:

Matcha White Chocolate Stuffed Cookies

Peanut Butter White Chocolate Stuffed Cookies

Hong Kong Style Cocktail Buns

Hong Kong Style Egg Tarts

For the banana cake:

• 110g margarine, or soft unsalted butter
• 60g soft dark brown sugar
• 115g granulated sugar
• 2 medium sized eggs
• About 200g overripe banana, mashed well
• 140g Greek yoghurt
• 180g plain flour
• 60g self raising flour (if you don’t have any, read the recipe notes above)
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the dalgona coffee cream:

• 150ml double cream, straight from the fridge
• 1 tsp instant coffee granules
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• Chopped roasted nuts, for decoration, optional
• Cocoa powder, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 160˚C. Line a 20cm square baking tin with two strips of baking parchment that cover the width of the tin and have extra that comes up the sides.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the margarine (or unsalted butter) with the two sugars until it is light and fluffy and even. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating each egg into the margarine and sugar well, adding the next egg only once the first egg has been well incorporated. Add in the mashed banana and the Greek yoghurt and gently mix until they are incorporated.

Add in the dry ingredients; the two flours, if using, the ground cinnamon and the bicarbonate of soda. Using a spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the cake batter, stopping once the ingredients have all been incorporated and the cake batter is even. Transfer the cake batter to the lined baking tin and level out the mixture in the tin.

Bake the banana cake for about 30 – 35 minutes or until the cake has risen, the surface is golden brown and a cocktail stick inserted into the very centre of the cake comes out clean. Immediately lift out the cake onto a cooling rack, using the parchment overhang to help you lift the cake. Cool the cake on the rack completely.

To make the dalgona coffee cream, place the double cream, instant coffee and granulated sugar into a mixing bowl and whisk until it holds soft peaks. Dollop the cream on top of the cooled cake and swirl the dalgona cream over the top of the cake, creating a swirly pattern. Sprinkle the toasted nuts if using and lightly dust the top of the cake with cocoa powder. Use a sharp knife to cut the cake up into 16 squares. Keep the cake refrigerated and bring the cake to room temperature if you want to serve.

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