As you may remember, the first recipe I made from the ‘not-so-naughty’ category in The Great New Zealand Baking Book was a #fail.

This time I was careful and didn’t substitute any ingredients, I followed the recipe to the t. Well, that didn’t make any difference because it turns out this recipe was another fail. I’m beginning to lose faith in the ‘not-so-naughty’ category!

This cake has no sugar (#redflag). Supposedly the pineapple’s natural sweetness means the cake doesn’t need any added sugar but I disagree, in my opinion it most definitely needs sugar. But this was not the only problem. After well over one hour in the oven, the cake was still uncooked. My theory is that the mixture was way too wet (thanks to the pineapple pieces + grated carrot + mashed bananas + oil + yoghurt). Also, when I took it out of the oven it sank in the middle. So not only it didn’t taste good, it didn’t look good either #doublefail.

I ended up cutting the cake into pieces and transforming it into a bread pudding (which wasn’t even that good #triplefail).

If you give the recipe a go, please let me know how it turns out! I’d like to hear if someone had a different experience!

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Pre-heat oven to 190° C. Line a 20 cm round cake tin with baking paper.

Sift together plain flour, coconut flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.

Stir in pineapple pieces and grated carrot.

In a separate bowl, combine mashed bananas, beaten eggs, vegetable oil and unsweetened yoghurt.

Add to the flour mixture and stir until the mixture is just combined.

Spoon into the prepared tin.

Sprinkle coconut over the top.

Bake for 30 minutes, then put tinfoil over the cake to prevent the coconut burning. Continue to bake for a further 15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool in the tin. Store in an airtight container and eat within two days.

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Fruity Banana, Carrot & Pineapple Cake

From The Great New Zealand Baking Book, copyright © Niki Bezzant from Healthy Food Guide

Serves: 16 | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 45-50 mins | Skill level: 1 (easy)

Ingredients

• 1½ cups plain flour
• ½ cup coconut flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ cup pineapple pieces
• 1 cup grated carrot
• 3–4 ripe bananas, mashed (2 cups pulp)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• ¼ cup macadamia or vegetable oil
• ½ cup low-fat plain unsweetened yoghurt
• ¼ cup coconut threads

Method

Pre-heat oven to 190° C. Line a 20 cm round cake tin with baking paper.

Sift together flours, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Stir in pineapple and carrot.

In a separate bowl, combine banana, eggs, oil and yoghurt. Add to the flour mixture and stir until the mixture is just combined. Spoon into the prepared tin. Sprinkle coconut over the top.

Bake for 30 minutes, then put tinfoil over the cake to prevent the coconut burning. Continue to bake for a further 15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool in the tin. Store in an airtight container and eat within two days.

Tip

If you want to make this more like a traditional carrot cake, you could go with a cream cheese icing instead of the coconut on top.

Where to buy the book:

Bookreps New Zealand

Whitcoulls

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