I highly recommend this incredibly moist yet fluffy banana bread/cake. It is loaded with lots of bananas and the incredible aroma of gula Melaka. Try it and you will know what I mean. So good!
Okay, I know there are so many banana bread or cake recipe out there! Like seriously do I need another one? If you ask me, well, yes! 🙂 At least try this version. My family was very impressed with this very easy-to-put-together banana bread/cake (I really can’t decide if it’s bread or a cake! LOL!). It’s like a dessert for us, yet not a heavy one!
Why you will love this recipe
1. Easy
You don’t need any special kitchen equipment and the recipe is quite forgiving
2. Loaded with banana flavor
The aroma as this loaf bakes in the oven is insanely good! the banana flavor and that gula Melaka/palm sugar marry well I must say!
3. The crunchy sugar topping on top is delicious
The moist and fluffy cake has a bit of crunchy sugar topping on top and is just so..so good!
How to make gula Melaka banana bread
1. Preheat oven to 325 F (170 C) for a conventional oven. If you use a convection oven, lower the temperature by 20 F or 15 C. Place the oven rack at the lower 3rd of the oven. Lightly grease your 9 x 5 loaf pan and line it with parchment paper on all sides
2. Whisk all the dry ingredients and set aside. Mash bananas, gula Melaka, oil, buttermilk, eggs, rum, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl using a fork.
3. Sift the dry ingredients into the wet and fold to combine. As long as you don’t see any pockets of flour, you are done mixing. Don’t overmix the batter
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Tap a few times on the countertop to release any bubbles. Decorate with 2 thin slices of bananas and some walnuts on top. Dampen your fingertips with some water and then pinch the sugar to form some clumps and sprinkle this on top of the banana and walnuts
5. Put the pan inside the oven and bake for 60-70 minutes. It took me about 70 minutes. When you insert a skewer into the cake, it should come out clean with a few crumbs as long as it’s not wet. Let it cool down in the pan for 20 minutes and then lift it out by grabbing the parchment paper and transfer to a wire rack to cool down completely
Did you make this gula Melaka banana bread recipe?
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This recipe is adapted from Shauna Sever’s The Only Banana Bread You’ll Ever Need in her Midwest Made cookbook. We truly enjoyed it !! So good!
Gula Melaka/Palm Sugar Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 400 gr mashed very ripen bananas
- 200 gr gula Melaka see notes 1
- 112 gr cooking oil neutral-tasting recommended
- 75 gr buttermilk (room temperature) see notes 2
- 100 gr eggs weight of 2 large eggs without the shell
- 1 Tbsp dark rum optional but highly recommended
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Dry ingredients:
- 272 gr all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
Optional toppings:
- Thin slices of bananas
- Walnut halves
Crunchy sugar topping (highly recommended):
- 30 gr granulated sugar
Instructions
Prepare the batter:
- Preheat oven to 325 F (170 C) for conventional oven. If you use convection oven, lower the temperature by 20 F or 15 C. Place the oven rack at the lower 3rd of the oven. Lightly grease your 9 x 5 loaf pan and line it with parchment paper on all sides
- Whisk all the dry ingredients and set aside. Combine bananas, gula Melaka, oil, buttermilk, eggs, rum, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl using a whisk. Sift in the dry ingredients into the wet and fold to combine. As long as you don't see any pockets of flour, you are done mixing. Don't overmix the batter
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Tap a few times on the counter top to release any bubbles
- Decorate with 2 thin slices of bananas and some walnuts on top. Dampen your fingertips with some water and then pinch the sugar to form some clumps and sprinkle this on top of the banana and walnuts
Baking:
- Put the pan inside the oven and bake for 60-70 minutes. It took me about 70 minutes. When you insert a skewer into the cake, it should come out clean with few crumbs as long as it's not wet
Cooling:
- Let it cool down in the pan for 20 minutes and then lift it out by grabbing on the parchment paper and transfer to a wire rack to cool down completely
Serve:
- Do not cut into the bread/cake while it's still warm. It's very tempting I know! But it has to cool down completely. If you can wait to serve the next day, that's even better. The flavor has a chance to develop and the cake will be ultra soft and fluffy yet moist at the same time
Storage:
- It can be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature for about 5 days (it didn't last that long at our house!)
Notes
- If you don’t have gula Melaka or coconut sugar, feel free to use dark brown sugar or light brown sugar. The aroma won’t be exactly the same, but you’ll still have a really nice banana bread
- If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make your own by adding 1/3 teaspoon of vinegar/lemon juice to 75 gr (1/3 cup) of regular milk and let it sit for 10 minutes. You will see some curds, may not be a lot, but it’s ready to be used
8 comments
i used organic banana. cant find coconut sugar here so i used brown sugar 100gr. without rum and no toppings. it worked in my oven 55minutes. the result was excellent.
I’m glad the recipe still turned out well for you with the modifications. It’s quite a forgiving recipe actually!
Hello, Marvellina! Another lovely recipe. I made it in an 8-inch springform pan and it worked beautifully. I live in Japan and used dark brown sugar from Okinawa.
I’m so glad it worked out for you 🙂
Can I replace buttermilk with sth else?
Hi Josephine, under note 2 in the recipe card I did provide a replacement if you don’t have buttermilk. I hope that answers your question
Can I use dark/light brown sugar instead of Gula Melaka? Thank you
Hi Kin, absolutely!