Flourless Choc Cinnamon Banana Cake

I came up with this recipe when we had over-ripe organic bananas at home that neither of us wanted to eat but seemed wasteful to throw away.  It occurred to me that I could use the bananas as the “sweetening” component for a flour-less chocolate cake, instead of using Stevia (which I don’t have anyway) or sugar.  The result was fabulous — the bananas give the cake a creamy, almost mousse like quality.  The cake is light and isn’t overly banana-y — just a hint of the fruit.  The cake pairs nicely with a mango sorbet.  I served this cake as a dessert for our Christmas Eve dinner party and everyone loved it!

FLOURLESS CHOC CINNAMON BANANA CAKE

• 10 oz. bittersweet dark chocolate (I like to use 81% dark)
• 1/2 cup organic butter, room temperature and softened
• 3 very ripe organic bananas
• 4 organic free-range eggs
• 3 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F (or about 175C).  Grease a spring-form pan (or another kind of baking pan — I use a 9 in. round spring-form pan, which works well).

In a double boiler, melt the chocolate, set aside

Cream the butter.  Since we don’t have a hand mixer, I had David cream the butter with a wooden spoon — it requires some muscle-ing, but it works fine.

When the butter is creamed, add bananas, one at a time.  We used the back of a wooden spoon to smash the bananas into the butter; blend well.

Add eggs to the butter/banana mixture, one at a time.  Mix well.

Add the cinnamon.  Pour in the melted chocolate, mix until blended.

Pour the batter into the baking pan.  Bake for about 25 minutes, until the cake sets.  Let the cake cool before serving.  The cake keeps well refrigerated.

Tags: chocolate, Christmas, dessert, paleo cake