Banana Maple Walnut Cake

Last night I whipped up the above cake for my betrothed to take to work on his birthday.  Iced cakes aren't particularly transportable, so I thought a practical option would be a banana cake.  I started with a basic Edmonds Banana Cake recipe, and for a bit of glamour turned this into a banana maple walnut cake.  Alterations to the Edmonds recipe include using 2 large bananas in the recipe, instead of the 1 cup specified.  I roughly squeeze the bananas still in their skins before peeling them and adding the pulp to the cake mixture, to save mess.  I also halved the amount of sugar specified and supplemented the rest with a good slosh of maple syrup.  Maple syrup is wonderful to bake with as it means the cake comes away from the tin easily when it comes time to turn it out.  Last of all I added a good couple of handfuls of walnuts to the cake mix before combining, and then after filling the cake tin (lined with baking paper - no need to grease the tin thanks to the maple syrup), decorated the top with a few extra walnuts.  I'd suggest using a smaller cake tin so that you get a deep cake, as the recipe makes a fairly small quantity of cake mix.  Bake until golden brown.  The cake should be crispy on the outside and oh so moist inside.

End result - apparently gone by lunchtime.