Banana, Coconut and Ginger

Okay so I have to admit that I took a couple of days to process this one because I had no idea how to work in the banana. It seemed really foreign to me when it came to getting fresh banana into my biscuit. For the cake, it was quite simple to mash the fruit up and put it into the mixture. So let's just say I wasn't expecting too much out of the biscuits...

Cake vs. Cookie

Welcome to another 'cake vs cookie'. If you want to see the other parts in this series then check out the links below...

So far, I've had the most luck with orange, tarragon and honey, which seems popular and easy to use in a recipe. Let's take a look at today's flavours of banana, coconut and ginger. This was slightly more daring considering that I don't actually like banana and nor do I like coconut - so tasting this recipe left me feeling a bit crap. However, it wasn't all doom and gloom...

1: Cookie

Folded Ginger and Coconut Shortbread Filled with Fresh Banana

Ingredients:

• 40g Light Brown Sugar
• 100g Vegan Butter
• 100g Coconut Cream
• 1x Tbsp Powdered Ginger
• 1x Yellow Banana
• 220g Plain Flour

How To:

1. Preheat your oven to 200/C and line your baking tray with greaseproof paper
2. Cream together your butter and sugar and add your coconut cream and ginger - mix again until fully combined
3. Add your flour and mix again until a dough forms
4. Roll out the dough and cut into thin rectangles
5. Slice your banana and add the little slices to the rectangles
6. Fold the dough over the banana slice to make sure it is completely sealed within the biscuit dough
7. Place on the greaseproof paper tray and repeat until you've finished your dough
8. Put the tray in the oven for 15-18 minutes until the biscuits are slightly brown
9. Remove and chill for 5 minutes - do not refrigerate
10. Enjoy your cookies!

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2: Cake

Banana and Coconut Cupcakes with a Ginger Buttercream

Part 1: The Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 100g Light Brown Sugar
• 50g Vegan Butter
• 100g Coconut Cream
• 1x Yellow Banana
• 2x Tbsp Apple Sauce
• 1x Tsp Baking Powder
• 100g Self Raising Flour

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Tip: You probably want to mash your banana up before adding it to the mixture to prevent it getting clumpy in the batter. You could possibly be left with pieces of banana, but if that's you're thing then dont worry about it, just add the banana straight after peeling. It really depends on what kind of texture you want.

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How To:

1. Line your cupcake tray with 12 cases
2. Cream together your butter, sugar, banana and coconut cream in a bowl
3. Add in your apple sauce and mix together until fully combined
4. Add your baking powder and flour and mix together until a cupcake batter forms
5. Spoon into your cases and place the cupcake tray into the oven for about 16-18 minutes
6. When out of the oven, leave to cool
7. After five minutes, remove the cakes from the tray, transfer them to a plate and place the plate in the fridge

Part 2: The Buttercream

Ingredients:

• 100g Vegan Butter
• 200g Powdered Sugar
• 2x Tbsp Powdered Ginger
• 2x Tsp Your Choice of Gel Food Colouring

How To:

1. Whisk up your butter for 5 minutes
2. Then ass your sugar, ginger and food colouring and whisk up for another 5 minutes
3. Grab your cupcakes from the fridge (they should now be cooled entirely), put your icing in a piping bag and pipe your cupcakes
4. Place them back in the fridge for the buttercream to harden
5. After 10-15 minutes you can enjoy your cupcakes

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Conclusion

As you can probably tell, the cakes won.

I am still unsure about using fresh fruit in my baking because it can cause things to go bad faster but then again, it is healthier than using dried fruit or jams. I can honestly say I'm quite happy with these even though I wouldn't eat this flavour. My mother definitely said that the cupcakes worked better because the banana makes the cakes really nice and moist. I would say if you're looking to use eggs in this recipe and make it not vegan, I am not going to tell you how many to use (though I would recommend either two large eggs or three small ones). I think that the apple sauce, because of the sweetness, works better with the banana.