Recipe: Sugar-free Banana Cake with Salted Gula Melaka Glaze

Whenever I bake, I always try to reduce the sugar used in the bakes (if possible) as I do not want my kids to have a diet high in sugar. Banana cake is a good example of a bake which does not require sugar to make it taste good, in fact this banana cake recipe is sugar-free! :)

For this recipe, use overripe bananas (those with black spots are the best for banana cake). Both the bananas and raisins will naturally sweeten the cake without the need of any added sugar. If you like, you can also add walnuts or almonds to the cake. The salted gula melaka (palm sugar) glaze is optional - you can skip it as the cake tastes good even without it. I made it as an experiment to see how well it would work on a banana cake :)

We love the moist texture of the cake, and best of all, we feel no guilt in eating a few extra pieces since it is sugar-free :) Plus the fact that this is such an easy recipe (all you gotta do is mix it with your wooden spoon - no electric mixer required! Which also equates to less cleaning up to do afterwards ;)) which you and your children can do together.

Great cake for those who are health-conscious

You can either brush the salted gula melaka syrup on top of the cake or drizzle it over the cake before serving :)

Sugar-free banana cake with salted gula melaka glaze
Recipe by Baby Sumo, adapted from here
Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 35-45 minutes

Serves 6

Ingredients
125g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
75g sultanas or raisins
50g butter, melted
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg
1 tbsp milk
3 ripe bananas, mashed

For the salted gula melaka glaze (optional)

2 tbsp concentrated gula melaka syrup or homemade syrup

2 large pinches of fleur de sel or sea salt

1.Preheat the oven to 180°C (no fan). Grease and line a 450g loaf tin with baking parchment.

2. Sift the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon into a large bowl. Add the sultanas/raisins and mix with a wooden spoon.

3. Place melted butter, vanilla essence, egg, milk and mashed bananas into another bowl and mix with a whisk or fork.

4. Pour the wet ingredients (from Step 3) into the dry mixture (from Step 2) and combine thoroughly with a wooden spoon.

4. Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 35-45 mins or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and brush the salted gula melaka glaze while the cake is warm. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out to cool completely on a wire rack.

5. For the salted gula melaka glaze, you can use either store-bought concentrated gula melaka syrup or make your own easily (see Step 1 in this post for details). Place the syrup in a bowl over a double boiler, then add the salt and mix until dissolved.

Note: Your kids can help with Step 2-4. You can also add nuts such as walnuts or almonds to the cake.