Gluten Free Banana Chocolate Chip Cake

Sockmonkeys Kitchen ♦ January 31, 2013 ♦ 10 Comments

I have a wonderful friend named Donna.

Donna and me, Thanksgiving 2012
(Please do not pin this photo on pinterest, thank you.)

We met at the beginning of the school year, in the 8th grade, and here we are, 33 years later, still close. I remember talking her into being my roommate in our early adult years, by telling her I’d do the cooking, and she gave in. Yay to that! It became a common occurrence for me to walk over from the kitchen to wherever she was in our apartment with my latest concoction on a spoon for her to try. She never asked what it was, and instead always tried it with gusto. It was like my own version of that new show, The Taste  Looking back, I have one thought:  Boy was she brave!

She seemed to like my cooking, and even though I’d love to take all the credit for the amazing ideas I had…just before she moved in, I’d purchased my very first Martha Stewart cookbook.

So, between that, and all I’d learned from my Mom, Grandma, Martha, and my new subscription to Gourmet magazine, Donna wasn’t poisoned, and stayed on as my roomie for a long time.

Fast forward to the present time: Donna’s learned in recent times that she must eat Gluten Free. No fun, you say? Actually, there’s a plethora of amazing foods that just happen to be Gluten Free, and some old favorites that can easily be changed into being perfect for all the Donnas in our life.

Gluten Free.

This week, I came across a picture of a delicious-looking dessert while browsing Pinterest. It was a Banana-Chocolate cake, and I was shocked when I saw the title named it as a “Gluten Free” dessert! Whoa…really? Then I clicked on it and saw it was a recipe by one of my favorite bloggers, Jennifer Farley. I follow her on twitter too. She’s got culinary experience that she readily shares, and I can honestly recommend her blog as one to bookmark.

The Cake.

I read through the ingredient listing, and saw I had all but two, so I went to my local Sprouts for the remaining items: Sweet Sorghum Flour and Almond Meal. I asked Steve if he’d be my guinea pig on a gluten free recipe, and I began to make the cake.

The batter was quite easy to put together, and the entire time it was baking, the scent of bananas were wafting through my kitchen. Finally it was time to see the finished product. I took it out of the oven and it was absolutely perfect! It was a light golden color, with a tiny bit of a darker tone on the edges. I patiently let it sit about 10 minutes and then cut through to see if it was easy to lift out of the pan. A perfect cut! And another!

The Taste.

I plated them up and Steve and I each took a bite, not knowing what to expect. ”Oh, WOW this is good”, he said. “This is delicious, and it’s what I’ve really been missing since I went gluten free.” I agreed that it was delicious. Actually, I just shook my head because my mouth was too full of this lovely chocolatey-banana perfection. We both decided that another “little piece” couldn’t hurt. After 10 minutes, we were both in the kitchen again, sheepishly looking at each other, trying not too look too much like gluttons.

I waited and let him cut a piece for himself, and he also cut one for me. I was about to say, “You know, I wasn’t going to have any more, but since you already cut into it…” but seriously, who was I trying to fool? As we went to sit back down, he stopped me and said, “You KNOW we’ll both be back here again for the rest, right?” And, with that, he cut the remaining quarter of the cake in half and lopped it onto our plates. He was right. And we FINISHED the entire 9″ cake. Please keep in mind that as much as we both love desserts, this is not normal for either one of us!

However, something was very different. You know that feeling you get, after eating a bit too much dessert? That “oh dear what have I done” thought, followed by the “where did that extra bulge in my stomach come from?” That feeling? Neither of us got that! The gluten free dessert only made the tummies happy!

The Verdict:

Holy Cow this is delicious. Make it. Now. Really.

The Recipe.

The original recipe can be found here, and I’ve changed it up a bit to suit my own tastes, after making it a second time. For example,  I changed the oil to coconut oil. It has no flavor and works really well in baking. Plus it’s a really healthy oil choice. I also changed up the method of the recipe, including pureeing the bananas. Doing so gives it an even consistency. Of course, I doubled the amount of chocolate chips (I know, surprise!). I use Guittard, which tastes like delicious high quality chocolate, as opposed to the typical chocolate chips you see in grocery stores that have a fake, waxy taste. Trust me on this one.
I  used to only be able to find them at Williams Sonoma, but now I can get them at my local Ralphs supermarket!

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Banana Cake

coconut oil to grease the pan
3 ripe bananas
 ¾ cup almond meal
½ cup sweet sorghum flour
¼ cup arrowroot starch
¼ cup sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ cup coconut oil in solid form
½ cup of milk
3 eggs
⅔ cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°

Grease a 9″ glass pie pan using coconut oil and a pastry brush; set aside.
Using a stick blender, pureé the bananas well; set aside.

Even if your bananas aren’t ripe enough, a stick blender will puree them perfectly

In a medium bowl, mix together almond meal, sorghum flour,
arrowroot, sugar, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Scoop coconut oil into a small glass measuring cup.
Microwave about 30 seconds till oil just liquifies, but is not hot.
(Double check to make sure you have exactly ¼ cup)
To that, add milk and stir.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs. Add milk mixture and stir.
Stir in dry ingredient mixture.

Add banana puree and stir well.

Pour in chocolate chips and barely stir, only till incorporated.
(If you stir too much, they’ll end up sinking to the bottom of the cake)

Carefully pour batter into pan

Carefully pour into pie pan.

Bake 42 minutes (checking after 35) till edges are dark golden.

Your house will now smell like bananas!

Let cake sit at least 10 minutes before cutting into it.
You’ll notice that it’s very easy to remove from the pan!

Notice the texture on this cake – it’s perfect and moist!

Enjoy!

So what do you think? Do you have any gluten free people you’d like to make this for? I’d love to hear your feedback on this one, and also, if you’d like more special dietary recipes, let me know. I’m here to help!
Have a great week!