Ottolenghi's Sesame, Date & Banana Cake

This amazing cake by the famous chef Ottolenghi can also be made as small muffins, or simply baked without the frosting, sliced, frozen, and served to impress your guests at brunch with some mascarpone, pumpkin spices, and caramelized pecans.

Ingredients

Cake:

• 50g tahini
• 75ml orange juice (approx. 1 large orange)
• 140g Medjool dates, pitted, quartered (approx. 8 dates)
• 2-3 (240g) very ripe bananas, peeled, thinly sliced
• 2 tbs sesame seeds, toasted
• 113g unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for the pan
• 2/3 cup (150g) caster sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/3 cup (200g) plain flour, sifted
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt

Tahini Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 130g cream cheese, at room temperature
• 130g mascarpone, at room temperature
• 35g lightly packed light brown sugar
• 55g tahini

Caramelised Banana:

• 1 ripe banana, peeled, cut into 1cm-thick slices
• 1 tbs demerara sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp date syrup or caramel to drizzle

Method

1. Preheat Oven:

   • Preheat fan forced oven to 160°C. Grease a 20cm springform cake pan with butter, and line the base and side with baking paper.

2. Prepare Fruit Mix:

   • In a medium bowl, whisk together tahini and orange juice. Stir in dates, bananas, and sesame seeds, separating the pieces as you add them to avoid clumping. Set aside.

3. Mix Butter and Sugar:

   • In a stand mixer bowl, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add eggs in two additions, beating until combined and scraping down the bowl as needed.

4. Combine Dry Ingredients:

   • In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the stand mixer bowl and mix on low speed for about 30 seconds, just until combined.

5. Combine Mixtures:

   • Add tahini-date mixture to the batter on low speed and mix until combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

6. Bake:

   • Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Carefully cover the cake loosely with foil without removing from the oven. Continue baking for an additional 25-30 minutes until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

7. Prepare Frosting:

   • In a stand mixer bowl with a whisk attachment, whisk all frosting ingredients on medium speed for 1-2 minutes until combined and airy, scraping down the sides as needed. Set aside until the cake has cooled.

8. Caramelise Banana:

   • Heat the oven grill to its highest setting with a rack about 10cm beneath the heat source. Arrange banana slices closely on a small baking pan and sprinkle with sugar. Grill for 2-3 minutes until sugar has melted and caramelised. Cool.

9. Assemble:

   • Remove the cake from the pan and transfer to a plate. Spread frosting generously over the top. Arrange caramelised bananas on top and drizzle with date syrup to serve. Bon appétit!