Banana-Berry Cakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I've been baking and making cakes and treats for the past three weeks in anticipation of my daughter Lana Jane's first birthday (this Saturday, April 27th).  I've made chocolate cake, carrot cake, strawberry cake, a cookie cake and a half-dozen other things.  I have finally narrowed it down to three recipes for the big event.  And no, this isn't one of them. 

Although I decided not to make this particular one for this weekend, this sweet treat is still a keeper and a recipe worth sharing.  I modified it from my own Primal Banana Cake recipe.   This time I left out the coconut sugar, added in berries and made a few other changes.  :-)  Don't you love tweaking your own recipes to come up with something else delicious?  I know I do!




Banana-Berry Cakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
(Makes 10 - 14 cupcakes, depending on how big you make them)

2 eggs
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1/4 cup of olive oil + 1/2 tsp more for greasing pan
4 Tbsp of applesauce
3 bananas, ripened and mashed
1 cup of chopped strawberries (rinsed and stems removed)
2 cups of almond flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
a dash of salt

For the Frosting
8 oz of organic cream cheese, softened or at room temperature
2 Tbsp of Coconut Nectar (or you can use maple syrup or honey)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease your cupcake pan or mini loaves pan with about 1/2 tsp of olive oil. 


In a large bowl, mix the eggs and honey.  Add in the vanilla and almond extract.   Mash your three ripe bananas and throw those in the bowl as well.  Add in your chopped strawberries.   



In that same bowl place the dry ingredients - almond flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.  Gently mix until well incorporated. 

Gently pour or scoop into the greased baking pan.  Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

While the cakes are baking, make your frosting.  Simply pull out your standing mixer (or a handheld one is fine). Beat the cream cheese with the 2 Tbsp of coconut nectar (or maple syrup or honey) until it's fluffy and spreadable like frosting, about five minutes.  You can leave it out until the cake has cooled. Or you can place in fridge until you're ready to frost.

Once the cake has cooled, frost them.  If you want to make a good impression, you can top each one with a slice of strawberry.  This is about as fancy as I get!  :-)



If you can't tolerate cream cheese, you can leave off the frosting and still enjoy it.  Or you can experiment with coconut oil or organic palm oil.  The cakes themselves are very soft and melt in your mouth without any topping.  Delicious and moist.  Berries and bananas.  Great combination!