Banana cake not bread

Banana cake, originally uploaded by bossamama.

Okay, I've gone on a bit of a dessert mania. I made dessert last night and tonight. I rarely do that. Last night I made blueberry cobbler, using the recipe from Deborah Madison's "Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone" - that I've had for a thousand years. Her recipes always are a bit complicated, or maybe I just have a hard time reading them. I was reading and re-reading and really it was just a simple recipe. It turned out very good, but mostly because of the marvelous blueberries, who doesn't like warm, gushy fruit? 

Anyhow, I decided tonight that I had to absolutely use up the dying bananas, instead of throwing them away as usual. I used to have this amazing banana bread recipe, it tasted more like cake, it was smooth and light- not dense like most banana breads. But, I can't find that recipe, so I Googled 'banana cake." I soon discovered this recipe and website, which of course was calling to me across the ether to find it! The author is David Lebovitz- who I had never heard of but should have. He has a very, very nice website with some fantastic recipes and beautiful photography and he lives in Paris! I'm very excited about it, can you tell? So anyhow- I printed up the recipe lickity-split and stood in my kitchen and churned this baby out. Wow! What a nice texture, firm, not dry, very spongy. The addition of the chocolate chips and the whipped cream sent it over the edge. We all enjoyed it greatly, even Lilah who ate some of the cake instead of just licking off the cream!  I used the Ghirardelli 60% cocoa chips- they are divine- be sure to use very little, they pack a powerful wallop of chocolate taste- not so sweet. I thought they would be better than the super sweet waxy ones I had in the pantry and not add to the super sweetness of bananas. I was right! 

Please try it if you like banana bread- it is very easy and you will not be disappointed. And as the author points out, these are not high in fat or other bad stuff. I do love his take on the difference between muffins and cakes and how people insist muffins and sweet breads are healthier- but really just the same thing in a different form.