Another stab at taking a fatty and sweet dessert and replacing the fat and most of the sugar with bananas. Usually it’s made with full-fat milk plus heavy cream — instead, I use skim milk with banana blended in it to thicken it. Replacing some of the all-purpose white flour with whole grain oat flour provides extra fiber. Adding a pear and nectarine (or any 2 similar fruits) boiled in sherry is optional, but also adds fiber and natural unprocessed sugar (traditionally, you would use prunes soaked in rum, and you can certainly do that with this one — I didn’t have any on-hand, and I prefer fresh fruit anyway).

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup of Sherry (optional)
• 1 Pear (optional)
• 1 Nectarine (optional)
• 1 medium banana (about 100g without peel)
• 2 cups skim milk
• 3 eggs
• 33g organic sugar
• 70g all purpose flour
• 50g whole grain oat flour (plus a bit for dusting pan)
• 1 tbsp rum or vanilla

Directions

Preheat oven to 475F. Prepare a cake pan by buttering, lining bottom with parchment paper, buttering parchment paper, and then dusting with additional oat flour.

Optional fruit filling: Chop pear and nectarine in 1/2″ cubes. In a small saucepan, heat the fruit and sherry over medium heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the fruits have absorbed most of the sherry. Drain the remaining sherry and set fruits aside to cool.

Put banana and milk in a blender (if all the milk doesn’t fit in the blender, just reserve the rest for later). Blend well.

Put flours and sugar in a bowl. Slowly stir in the banana-milk blend into the flour, then any remaining milk. Beat in the eggs and rum or vanilla.

If using, spread the fruits at the bottom of the pan. Carefully pour in the batter.

Bake for 15 minutes. Turn off oven, and leave the pan in the oven to finish baking for 30 more minutes. Cool completely.

Makes 8 servings.