This is a low-carb banana bread recipe that has no bananas in it. Huh? What are you saying there, crazy woman! It does have banana essence (see it’s all becoming clear now right), but tastes somehow banany even without it…

This is the deevine cake my deevine sister-in-law made for us on several occasions – it’s that good, it got eaten in one sitting each time! It’s easy to make and tastes delicious. This recipe and many other great low-carb recipes can be found in the book:
The Low Carb Solution for Diabetics by Vickie de Beer and Kath Megaw

I had never seen banana essence before South Africa, but I intend keeping a look out for it here in Europe. Let me know if it’s readily available where you are.

INGREDIENTS:
125ml (1/2 cup) water
125ml (1/2 cup) chia seeds
500ml (2 cups) almond flour
125ml (1/2 cup) xylitol
80ml (1/3 cup) coconut flour
80ml (1/3 cup) whey protein powder
15ml (1 tbsp) baking powder
2,5ml (1/2 tsp) salt
180ml (3/4 cup) milk
3 eggs
50g butter, melted
2,5ml (1/2 tsp) vanilla essence
2,5ml (1/2 tsp) banana essence (if you can find it!)

METHOD:
1. Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F. Line a loaf tin (about 22x12cm) with baking paper.
2. Soak the chia seeds in the water for a while. It will become a tad glutinous.
3. Mix the almond flour, xylitol (a natural sugar replacement product), coconut flour, whey, baking powder and salt.
4. In a separate bowl, mix the milk, eggs, butter and essences together.
5. Fold the wet ingredients and the chia seed mix into the dry ingredients and mix well to combine. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 1 hour. Turn the heat down to 100C and bake for a further 30 minutes.

This cake is fantabulous so enjoy!

(Also from the book, here are the calories, etc: from 100g: energy 229kcal, protein 16g, fat 14g, carbs 10g)