Banana Sponge Cake

I love bananas. They are delicious on their own, in yogurt, with whipped cream, frozen and dipped in chocolate, and in banana bread of course! My mom had a recipe for banana bread which we have used for many years however, we seem to have lost the little piece of paper we had the recipe written on. The banana bread that we made was very light and definitely more like a sponge cake than a dense bread. After scouring the internet for banana sponge cake recipes, I have found one that is just like the recipe we had at home. Although it may seem like there are many steps involved in this recipe, it is definitely worth it. I promise! 

Banana Sponge Cake (adapted from 18Boot's)

I was able to make one loaf of banana bread, 12 cupcakes, and 24 mini cupcakes with this recipe

8 eggs, with the egg whites and yolks separated in large bowls

1 cup sugar

11/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cream of tatar 

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup oil (vegetable oil, or something similar)

3 super ripe bananas, quickly mashed with a fork

To prep, preheat the oven to 350F or 175C and sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.

Pour the cup of sugar into the egg yolks and beat with a mixer until it becomes fluffy and the color of the mixture is a light yellow. Add the oil and the mashed banana into the mixture and combine with the mixer. Next, gradually fold in the sifted flour into the wet mixture until there are no traces of dry flour left.

Add the cream of tatar to the egg whites. (Make sure your mixer/whisks/beaters are cleaned before proceeding with this!) Turn your mixer onto its highest speed and whisk the egg whites and cream of tatar to create a meringue. Whisk until the meringue forms stiff peaks.

Gradually add the yellow banana mixture into the meringue and fold until combined. Pour into desired pan and bake for about 40 minutes if using a loaf pan and about 15-20 minutes in a cupcake pan. The cake is ready when a tooth pick comes out clean.

I topped the cupcake with a nutella cream cheese frosting. I am still working on my frostings and when I have one that I am really happy with, I will be sharing it on here! This banana sponge is amazing on its own, but if you are so inclined, a little nutella on it doesn't hurt either!