Banana & Malteser cakes

Banana & Malteser cakes

originally in a WW recipe book.  Original points, so recalculate for your plan.

Makes 20 small or 8 large

Points per cake:1 for small and 2-2½ for large

Points per recipe 22½

Freezing recommended

210g packet of low fat sponge mix eg Greens

1 egg

1 small banana, mashed

2 x 37g packets of Maltesers

Preheat oven Gas 6/200ºC/400ºF

Make up the sponge mix according to the instructions on the packet.  Mix in the mashed banana.

Without opening the packets, crush the Maltesers using a rolling pin or bottom of a jar.  Then put the crushed Maltesers into the cake mix and stir in.

Spoon the mixture into 20 cake cases, and bake in the oven for 10-15 mins until risen and golden.  Cool on a wire rack.

Can be frozen for up to 2 months.

Variations:

Orange & Chocolate Chip Cakes add the rind of an orange and use orange juice instead of the water in making up the cake and then add 50g choc chips.  These also count 1 pt each.

Using Fatless Sponge Mixture

I have made these using a fatless sponge mixture for the same points.

The small banana is 1pt and the 2 packs of Maltesers come to 7 pts.  Add these to the following mixture and either make as large cakes as below or small ones as the WW recipe above.

  

Fatless Sponge

2 cakes - 8 portions

Points per recipe : 12

3 standard eggs
75 g./ 3 oz. castor sugar
75 g./ 3 oz. self-raising flour, sifted twice or three times

Prepare two 17½ cm (7") round sandwich tins - grease them, line with greased greaseproof paper. Set oven to moderate - 180°C (350°F - gas mark 4).

Break eggs, one at a time, into cup. Transfer to mixing bowl. (It is best to do this in case one egg out of three is bad). Whisk until very frothy. Gradually add sugar. Continue to whisk steadily until mixture is very pale in colour, the consistency of whipped cream and at least twice the volume than it was when you started. To test if eggs and sugar have been whisked sufficiently, lift beaters out of bowl (remembering to switch off electricity first or mixture will fly all over the eplace) and allow it to fall from the beater heads back into bowl. The mixture should stay on the surface, like a decoration, for about half a minute; if it sinks immediately, it's under-whipped and you must continue whisking until the correct consistency is reached. It is vitally important to get this absolutely right because a sponge depends almost entirely on air to aerate it, especially if it's made with plain flour.

Sprinkle all the sifted flour all at once over top of the whisked eggs and sugar. Using a large metal spoon or thin plastic spatula, gently and slowly fold in flour by flipping the spoon or spatula over and over. Occasionally cut athe edge across the base of the bowl to lift up and incorporate any flour that may have sunk to the bottom. When smooth and evenly combined, and it is obvious that all the flour has been worked in, divide mixture evenly between the prepared tins. Bake in centre of oven (or any position in a fan oven) for 20 minutes, when sponges should be well risen and golden. At this stage the edges should also be pulling slightly away from sides of tins. Turn out on to wire cooling rack covered with a damp tea-towel and then lined with a length of greaseproof paper lightly sprinkled with castor sugar. Peel away lining paper and then leave cakes until completely cold. To complete, sandwich together with raspberry jam (this is the traditional one to use, but any other flavour may be used if preferred) and dust top lightly with castor sugar.