Last week we invited Avi’s Grandma over to dinner. It was also the first time she came to our new home. Avi’s Grandma appreciates food very much. Not so much eating it, as making sure that all her loved ones are being well fed. For instance when Avi and I told her that we were about to move in together, she looked at me, a bit worried, and asked “But, can you cook?”. Before meeting her I was never aware of the fact that people can serve a 6 course dinner - all of them containing meat! Imagine the challenge of making a dinner for her! On the other hand, she is such a wonderful person, one of those who instantly when you meet them you want to call them “Grandma”, that it was worth all the thought I’ve put into it.

It was great having her over, and I think the best thing was that for the first time ever I saw her sitting at the table and enjoying the meal for the whole evening (usually she goes back and forth from the kitchen to the dining table and vice versa). Even when she came to visit us before, she insisted on bringing some food with her, just in case

I made only a 3 course meal, but everyone, including her, were so full after it. I asked Avi if he thought that from now on she’ll make less courses in her dinners, understanding that 6 courses in one meal can kill even a horse. He looked at me amused and said “No, you impressed her so much with your dinner, that now she’ll make even more”…

This cake was the dessert for that evening’s dinner. It had to be a non-dairy dessert, and I also wanted a non-sophisticated but yet flavorful dessert. This cake is truly divine, so moist and comforting! Definitely a cake to keep straightening and straightening until it’s gone.

Some notes and tips about this cake:

* When using bananas in pound cakes, it’s recommended to use the ripest bananas you can get. I like to choose ripe bananas, but ones that didn’t turn all black. I find the black ones a bit too sweet.

* If you don’t have self-raising flour, use all-purpose flour and add 1 tsp of baking powder for each cup of flour.

* Walnuts and/or pecan nuts can be a great addition here. If you want to add them, add 1 cup of them, roughly chopped.

* Dark raisins could also blend well here, place 1/2 cup of them in a bowl, cover with water and let stand for half an hour before preparing the cake. Then drain the water and add the raisins to the batter after mixing the rest of the ingredients. Mix until uniformly blended. If you prefer them alcoholic - you can cover them with brandy instead of water.

Banana, carrot and spices cake / Adapted from Nira Russo’s recipe
For a 24 cm Gugelhupf mold

Ingredients:
3 eggs
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1 /3 cups sugar
2 medium sized carrots
1 banana, ripe
1 3 /4 cups self-raising flour
1 tsp cinnamon
a pinch of ground ginger
a pinch of ground cloves
a pinch of ground nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp orange juice

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 356F (180C).
2. In a large bowl, mash the banana using a fork. Finely grate the carrots into the same bowl as the banana.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients but the flour into the bowl, mix well.
4. Add the flour, and mix just until the mixture is uniform.
5. Pour the mixture into the mold, and bake for about 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out with moist crumbles on it.

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