Hi all!
This is our very first ever video tutorial (so please excuse the repetition about melting carob...and all the other mistakes!) and it is how to make the easiest and yummiest honey and banana birthday cake for your pup!
Before we start making our cake batter there’s a few things we need to prepare.
First - because spreadable cream cheese will be used to decorate the cake it is best to pull it out of the fridge and leave aside to soften even more and make decorating easier.
Second - preheat the oven to 160 degrees fan forced.
Third - prepare your tin. I’ve chosen a 6 inch tin cause I prefer a small and slightly high cake. You can use a standard 8 inch (about 20cm) but it will be flatter. If you wanted a higher cake but only had the 8 inch about then I recommend that you double the recipe and make one big cake. To prepare it spray the tin with oil and then get a sheet of baking paper, trace the base of the pan, cut it out and place it in.
So onto making the cake batter. There’s only 4 ingredients to this cake all of which are common everyday ingredients you most likely have on hand.
We have 2 medium sized bananas, 1/4 cup of honey, 2 free range eggs, 2 cups of self raising flour and 1/3 cup of water.
If you like you can substitute the self raising flour for wholemeal self raising or if you have wholemeal plain flour you can use that and just add 4 teaspoons of baking powder as a raising agent. Just be mindful that when working with wholemeal flour you may need to add extra water to achieve the desired consistency.
So just mix all the wet ingredients together and then add the flour and fold in well.
You’ll see the consistency we’re aiming for is quite thick and sticky. So if you’re using wholemeal flour try and match this.
Now we’re ready to add the batter into the tin. Place it in the preheated oven for 45 mins or until a skewer comes out clean.
While it’s cooking we can start preparing the decorations. I’ve chosen to decorate with some natural sprinkles and use melted carob to pipe the pups name.
For decorating you will need a palate knife, size 2 piping tip, a coupler and a piping bag. If you don’t have these you can definitely improvise. You can use a butter knife instead of a palate knife and you can forgo the piping tips and bag and just use a zip lock bag and cut a small tip cut at the end.
To prepare the piping bag just cut the bottom of it (not too big or your coupler will fall through!) and then place the larger piece of the coupler in the piping bag, place the piping tip on the outside of the bag and then secure it with the ring (smaller part of the coupler).
Now when melting the carob be super careful not to overheat it as it can burn easily and it’s not pleasant to smell or clean up!
We use and sell no added sugar carob drops which are human grade so if you’re peckish you could even snack on these! If you need these in a pinch then you usually can purchase carob from the health food store. Try to avoid purchasing these from the pet shop as the ones at the pet shop usually have lots of sugar (first in their list of ingredients) and they also won’t melt well.
Place a handful of the carob drops in a small bowl and microwave for 20 seconds and stir, continue for another 20 seconds and lots of 5 or 10 until it’s all melted and smooth with no lumps. Lumps can block your piping tip!
Place your prepared piping bag in a cup with the top edges folded over then pour your melted carob into the bag. Make sure to push the carob towards the tip and then carefully twist the bag around your thumb and finger to secure it (and make sure no carob comes out the top, over your hand, the bench, etc!)
Pipe your baby’s name on the baking paper in various sizes and styles. This helps to give you lots of practice and extras (in case they break, which they do! See the video!!). Put them aside and let them fully set. If it's hot then best to put it in the fridge to set, otherwise at room temperature is fine.
When the cake is cooked, let it cool in the tin for 10 minutes and then place onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
When it’s completely cooled then the decorating can commence! You can place a bit of the cream cheese on the plate you’d like to serve your cake on then place the cake on your plate. The cream cheese acts as glue. Then start to cover the cake with the cream cheese. If you have a cake turn table then you could use that, if not you can just spin your plate around.
Instead of aiming for straight edges which can be time consuming and frustrating I prefer a wave like pattern to make it look a bit rustic.
Once that’s done place the sprinkles around the top edges of the cake and then place your favourite carob decorations carefully on your cake.
And there you have it, an easy, healthy homemade cake for your pup!
Thanks so much for reading and/or watching. If you have any questions please do let us know.
Until next time, please give your pup a cuddle from Aunty Kylie and Aunty Denise!!
HONEY AND BANANA CAKE
Ingredients:
2 medium sized bananas
1/4 cup of honey
2 free range eggs
2 cups of self raising flour
1/3 cup of water.
250g tub of spreadable cream cheese
100g No added sugar carob drop
Natural sprinkles to decorate