Banana & chocolate peanut butter swirl cake
on May 19, 2014, Updated Aug 19, 2022
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In the course of preparing our apartment in Greece for renting before we left recently, we must have thrown or given away almost two thirds of its contents. For weeks and weeks, dust flew and bag after bag filled up as I rummaged through my belongings and wondered why on earth I had kept hold of most of it for so long. Or why I had even bought it in the first place! Among the items that I needed to find new homes (or rather bin space) for was a chest of drawers with the front part hanging off, a sparkly ‘party skirt’ that left glitter everywhere I went with it on and that I had worn a grand total of about twice since I bought it in about 1995 and an old film SLR camera with a mouldy lens. Truly essential keepsakes, you know (ahem).
There were also household bills, bank statements and the like stacked up (OK, to be honest, thrown in the bottom of drawers, cupboards and disintegrating supermarket bags) from the last I-don’t-know-how-many years. I did consider throwing some of these out but thought better of it as if there’s one thing I’ve learnt about Greek paperwork it’s that you never throw any kind of official or even semi-official paper out. Because if you do you can guarantee that’s the one paper you will then need to get this or that done. So, where did most of said rotten old papers end up? Yup, taking up literally half the space in my hold luggage and hand baggage when we caught our flight to the UK. And half the space in Mr. Scrummy’s luggage, too, which he was not exactly thrilled about.
There wasn’t much I could have done about the mountain of papers, but all this is really to say that it’s incredible how much ‘stuff’ I had collected over a relatively short space of time since my last move. I would definitely like to think that from now on I am going to be a minimalist. Time will tell, I suppose. One thing is for sure, though, and that is how satisfying it was to get things all clean and neat and organised and pared down.
Another thing that was very satisfying indeed was swirling peanut butter into the top of this banana, chocolate & peanut butter swirl cake! The cake was a total experiment. I’d seen something similar done on the top of brownies, but not on the top of a cake that would need to stay in the oven for quite a while longer. I had no idea whether the peanut butter would sink into the batter while cooking or, even worse, burn. Very happily, neither of these things happened and the swirly effect made by the peanut butter was still well and truly there on top of the cake after it was baked. Yippee!
I made this using a similar recipe to the one I used for this banana & pistachio loaf. Simply because I already knew that it resulted in a lovely light, moist and yet not overly sweet or butter-laden cake. Hey, if it ‘aint broke, don’t fix it. But certainly DO add chocolate and peanut butter, and plenty of it!
So what else did I like about this cake? Well, sorry to repeat myself, but I really am pretty excited about that slightly crispy & salty swirly peanut buttery top. It by no means overpowers the banana and chocolate in the cake, but adds another dimension that definitely holds its own.
I also loved that I could cut it into ‘proper’ squares of cake that would be equally as tasty served neat with your morning cup of tea or coffee or slightly warm with ice cream as a dessert for dinner guests. This is definitely one I’ll be making again, and next time I might even throw in a few chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups as well.
Why not? 😉
Banana & chocolate peanut butter swirl cake
Ingredients
- 12 tablespoons butter, chopped, (1 stick)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2-3 ripe bananas, mashed (to make about 1 cup)
- 4 tablespoons Greek yoghurt
- 1 cup flour, I used 3/4 cup white & 1/4 cup brown
- 1/3 cup ground walnuts, or you can use ground almonds – I ground my walnuts up in my food processor until they became a fairly fine powder
- a pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 1/2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped into chunks
- 1/4 cup peanut butter, plus 1 tablespoon
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350F/180C and line your baking tin or dish with baking paper. (I used a medium-sized dish, about 12 inches by 8 inches
.) - Mix together the butter & sugar with a handheld mixer or in a food processor until creamy. Add the eggs one by one with the mixer/motor still running until well combined.
- Add the bananas & yoghurt and stir in well, then add the flour(s), walnuts/almonds, salt & baking powder and mix until combined. Don’t over-mix.
- Stir in the chocolate chunks, then pour the batter into your baking dish.
- Now for the fun part! ‘Melt’ your peanut butter by heating it in the microwave for ten seconds at a time (or in a bowl over some boiling water), then pour or spoon it over the top of your batter (in splodges, not evenly). Then take a knife and drag it pretty roughly through the batter in different directions so that the peanut butter and cake batter combine a little & form a swirly pattern.
- Bake for about 55 minutes (check after about 35 minutes and every 5 to 10 minutes after that) or until a skewer or knife poked into the cake comes out with cooked crumbs on it.
- Leave to cool, then cut into square pieces and serve. Alternatively, serve when still slightly warm, with vanilla ice cream.
.)
or in a 
until creamy. Add the eggs one by one with the mixer/motor still running until well combined.Notes
Nutrition
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Argh, I hate moving house. I’ve only done it five times (three of those as an adult) but that is enough. Cleaning your house for inspection is a nightmare too… it’s amazing how much junk gets collected! Hope that all of your other plans go well. As for this AMAZING bread… oh man. I love chocolate, pb and banana. I would’ve chucked a pb ribbon into my most recent cake except that my husband hates pb with chocolate. Strange man. Glad that you did it – now I can live vicariously through your baking! x
Hi, Laura! Thanks so much for paying me a visit. Every time I move I remember just how all-consuming and tiring it is. Thanks so much for the good wishes. We are off to Perth in a week or two for a while, so then we have to live out of a suitcase again. Trying to see it as an adventure rather than something to get stressed about! So glad you like the cake – my hubby wasn’t all that keen but for me it’s definitely a keeper!
Goooodness! I absolutely LOVE this cake! It’s SO SO versatile! I wouldn’t mind having it for both breakfast and dinner and maybe even cramming it into my face at tea time! <3 I love the salty peanut butter swirls to balance the flavors of the chocolate and the banana!!!!!!
I’m just picturing you stuffing your face with this all day long now, Samina. Haha! 🙂
The picture of that cake cut up in squares and the sight of the moistness oozing out of it just made my heart skip a beat.
Haha … so glad to have made you swoon, Mariana! 🙂
Three of my very favourite things! And definitely one to add to the baking list. I’m with you on the hoarding of ‘stuff’. When Rich and I moved from our first bedsit to a proper flat I threw away or donated about half of the things we had accumulated, resolving to keep things minimalistic from then on. We moved again 9 months later and, true to form, I had to repeat the whole process. We’re aiming to move to our own house in a couple of years from now and, to be honest, I probably need to start the sorting out now!
I would definitely recommend doing the sorting little by little as you go along, Sian. I will (try at least to) do that next time we move! 🙂 So happy you like the cake!
I just am in love with these flavors Helen!! Banana, choc and PB. Plus it looks oh so moist 😀 Nothing worse than dry banana cake/bread! Pinned for later, thanks dear!
You’re welcome – so glad you like it! 🙂
I always try to get rid of so much when I move, but it seems to all re-accumulate once I’ve moved to the new place! I guess I just like buying new things! I love bananas, peanut butter, and cake so there is no doubt at all that I will love this cake!! Such a delicious combination 🙂
Oh dear, that’s what I’m afraid of. I will have things spilling out of cupboards again within months, no doubt. Oh well, I can but try. So happy you like the idea of the cake and hope you give it a go some time! 🙂
Apartment in Greece….sounds nice! You can never go wrong with these 3 ingredients mixed together! This cake looks scrumptious!
Yup, that little apartment of mine is lovely and I will miss it a lot. So glad you like the cake!
Oh heck yes! PB, banana, and chocolate in cake form is the best!! Love the swirls!
Thanks, Julie. So glad you approve!! 🙂
Totally in love with everything about this beautiful swirl cake. But bananas mixed with chocolate and pb? Yes please!
So happy to have made you swoon, Pamela! 🙂
I’ve been looking forward to checking this out ever since I saw the photo you posted on Facebook! It looks fantastic and I am liking the ingredients you’ve used a lot too. I have a bag of (very neglected) gram flour in my pantry and now I have a reason to use it, hooray! I’m gonna try and make it this weekend and will let you know how it turns out, hopefully as wonderfully as yours 🙂
Oops, sorry – just realised I misread the ingredients there. Still, I would love to make it!
Haha! Easily done, Aimee! So glad you like it anyhow! 🙂
Go ahead and try it with gram flour anyway – it bet it will work out just fine!
Helen! Are you moving to Canada now 🙂
You would make the perfect companion to the morning coffee break! J’en veux!
Oooh, I wish, Melanie! Actually, we have to move back to Perth Australia for a while. These days when I wake up in the morning, it takes me a moment to remember where I am. It would be great to add Canada to the mix. Well, you never know. Maybe one day! That morning coffee break sounds very tempting indeed.
Reading your post just reminded me of the moving we did a few years ago. It’s unbelievable how many things we can accumulate without even realizing…
Speaking of cooking, I love baking with bananas, they always add that something special to the final result. This one looks wonderful!
So glad you like the cake, Gintare, and can commiserate with me over the moving hassle! 😉
haha when we moved a few years ago I realized how much crap I had accumulated. Now I make it a point to clean out and de-clutter a few times a year (it made our last move much easier!!).
And this cake … I actually have some very ripe bananas that need to be used up! Looks delicious!
Great … go for it, Ashley! Hope you like it! That’s a very wise idea to de-clutter more often. I will try try try to become that person who does that. 😉
Beautiful and elegant. I love the flavors you have going here too. After all chocolate, peanut butter and banana makes for a great combo.
Thank you for saying so, Kathy. You wouldn’t think that banana bread could be elegant, but I think the swirls on top of this cake take it to a different level! 🙂
Go you guys for getting yourselves all organized and packed! I mean, obviously you didn’t really have a choice, but at least you weeded out some items instead of just taking everything with you! No better way to celebrate than with chocolate and peanut butter. What a lovely cake!
Ha … great way to see it, Joanne, that this cake was a celebratory cake! I like it! So glad you like the cake, too!
Hi Helen,
It’s already a big deal to move in a same country so I can’t even imagine what it can be from a country to another one!
Your banana and chocolate cake is just wonderful!
I like the flavor and it sounds so yummy!
Thank you for sharing!
Chantal
Thank you so much, Chantal. Yes, we are a very complicated couple right now, and I don’t think the moving around has quite come to an end. Thank you for the ‘cake compliments’, too. So appreciated!
I’m still traumatised by our last move that I have changed the way I shop dramatically! No more “I’ll take this in every colour” anymore! 😀 I find it so satisfying giving things away or throwing them out. I’d find this cake equally as good if not better! 😀
That’s exactly how I feel, Lorraine. I’m seriously considering becoming one of those people who buys a few more expensive items of clothing rather than a whole load of junk. Glad you like the cake! 🙂