banana bread cake with fig blackberry and ricotta cream

This banana bread cake with fig, blackberry and ricotta cream celebrates late summer and the early beginning of autumn. The season in which fresh, juicy ripe figs are finally available. That’s why I wanted to make a healthier cake featuring those beautiful figs and came up with this simple recipe. 

This recipe consists of a healthy banana bread layer with lots of cinnamon and some five spice powder, topped with fresh ricotta cream that is lightly sweetened with honey. The cake is topped with juicy figs, blackberries and nuts.

This banana bread cake with fig, blackberry and ricotta cream is not only delicious and beautiful, but it’s actually a cake that you can eat without any guilt. The ingredients used in this cake are really nutritious. 

This banana bread cake with fig blackberry and ricotta cream :

• is made without sugar, but is sweetened with bananas, a little bit of monk fruit sweetener and honey
• uses whole grain flour, so it’s a treat full of healthy fiber
• is much lower in fat compared to regular cakes.

Makes: 6-8 slices
needed: 20 cm. round baking tin

Ingredients to make this banana bread cake with fig blackberry and ricotta cream

To make the cake:

• 3 medium sized ripe bananas
• 3 eggs
• 60 grams monk fruit sweetener or other natural zero calorie sweetener
• extra drops of liquid stevia or liquid monk fruit , to taste (optional)
• 20 grams olive oil or soft butter (optional)
• 200 grams whole wheat (spelt) flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp five spice powder or pumpkin spice
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of sea salt

For the ricotta cream:

• 200 grams ricotta cheese
• 1 full tbsp honey

To make the topping:

• 4 ripe and sweet figs
• handful of blackberries
• chopped hazelnuts or walnuts
• extra honey, for drizzling

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 c. Grease a 20 cm round tin with butter or oil and dust with a little bit of flour to prevent the cake from sticking.
2. In a bowl, smash the bananas with a fork until it’s a course puree.
3. Add the oil , the eggs, vanilla extract and the sweetener and mix.
4. Next, add the flour, baking powder, sea salt and spices. Mix until the batter is incorporated but don’t overmix.
5. Poor the batter into the prepared round tin and bake for about 30 minutes until done. Let the banana bread cool completely.
6. Meanwhile, prepare the ricotta cream. Add the ricotta to a bowl and add the honey. Stir and set aside. Cut the blackberries in half and the figs in four wedges.
7. When the cake has cooled down, slice in 6 or 8 slices and top all the individual slices with the ricotta cream. Decorate with the blackberries and the figs. Sprinkle the nuts on top.
8. Serve with an extra (optional) drizzle of honey and enjoy!