Grain-free Raspberry Cake/Cupcakes/Muffins/Squares

Stop Making Banana Bread! Just kidding, but this is delicious too.

There seems to be a craze right now of everyone making banana bread. I get it: there was panic shopping, you bought all the bananas, and then the kids decided that this week was not a banana week (you know, that phase), and now you have ripe bananas begging you to not let them go to waste.

Fear not, you do not have to succumb to another loaf of banana bread (although let’s be honest, banana bread is delicious!).

My sister in law sent me this recipe years ago, maybe around 2014. I’ve made it so many times, and it’s always a hit. In my usual fashion: it’s really easy to throw together. And you can make it as a cake, as cupcakes/muffins, as squares, whatever tickles your fancy… or suites the occasion.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs

• 1 tsp vanilla (or 1/2 tsp vanilla powder)

• 1/2 cup granulated sweetener (like coconut sugar, monk fruit sweetener, xylitol, etc)

• 1/2 cup oil (like coconut oil, butter, ghee, etc) - this can be melted/softened (see instructions)

• 2 very ripe large bananas (or 3 if they are smaller)

• 1 cup almond flour

• 1/2 cup of tapioca flour/arrowroot/potato starch (you can swap this for 1/2 cup of almond flour if you need, but it will be denser)

• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

• 1/2 tsp baking soda/bicarbonate of soda

• pinch of salt

• 1/2 - 1 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 180 C or 350 F. Prep whatever dish you’d like to use (either grease it, or line it with parchment paper). You can make these as a cake. 9 inch is good, or 8”, 7”, or even a Bundt (it’s not picky), or as cupcakes/muffins, or you can make them like you would brownies: in a square dish.

The easiest method is to toss this all into a blender (except the raspberries), and pour it into your baking dish of choice.

Otherwise mix together the first 5 ingredients (in which case you’d need to pre-mash the bananas, and melt the oil of choice), or simply blend together the first 5 ingredients (you can use an immersion blender, stand blender, or a food processor); and put this liquid in a mixing bowl.

Sift in the rest of the ingredients (except the raspberries), and fold together before pouring into your baking dish of choice.

Once the batter is in the baking dish, sprinkle the raspberries on top. If they are frozen (I’ve always used frozen actually), then you can squeeze them with your hand to break them apart into tiny pieces.

You’ll have a glimpse of how Hulk feels… until your hands go numb from the cold.

Bake it for 30 minutes. If you’re making cupcakes/muffins, check on them from about 15 minutes onward. It’s done when a toothpick comes out clean. It’s really nice how the raspberries caramelize on top.

You really don’t need to add a topping/frosting, but sometimes I like a little dollop of whipped cream with it. If you do decide to add a topping, I’d recommend something that’s not very sweet, like a cream cheese frosting.

Oh, I did also make some pineapple/banana muffins last week that are to die for, but I’ll post that another time, so stay tuned!