BEST Banana Cake EVER – JB Hiap Joo Bakery

1st October 2019 /

I LOVE Banana cake. Specifically, cold banana cake. I know it sounds a little peculiar, but try chilling a banana cake in the refrigerator and have it a few hours later. Oh, especially those swiss roll cakes with a gentle layer of whipped cream – SO DAMN GOOD.

Celebrating their 100^th anniversary this year, Hiap Joo bakery is one of the oldest bakeries in Johor Bahru (i.e. Southern tip of Malaysia) which opened in 1919. This family owned business is well known for their traditional and authentic wood fire baking techniques. Usually packed with several parallel queues outside the store, people travel to the busier part of town just to buy their famous spongy banana cake. Last year, I went to Johor Bahru for the first time as I visited the BF’s turf / birthplace / hometown / other Thesaurus synonyms. During my trip, I had the privilege to try this famous banana cake and I can officially declare it as the best banana cake that I’ve ever had.

The banana cake was very fluffy, but not dry. The texture was moist and light, yet its banana flavour was in abundance. It was definitely no less than what a perfect banana cake would be. Unfortunately, as I only visit home a couple of times throughout the year, I will only be able to have the cake once or twice a year. So here I am today, in a shameless attempt to recreate this amazing banana cake! (no wood fire kiln, unfortunately)

Before jumping into the recipe, let’s talk about Bananas real quick.

Q: how do Bananas become fully ripe?

Once a fruit is harvested, its life is drastically changes as the flow of minerals and water is instantly cut off. The only energy a harvested fruit can draw on comes from its dwindling reserve of sugars, acids and starches. (Yes, some harvested fruits do not ripen nearly as well as they would on a tree.) Only “climacteric” fruits ripen in a frenzied climax of respiration and activity which can occur away from the parent plant, allowing further ripening process as a fruit itself after being harvested.

A mature banana usually would be harvested when it’s still completely green. The fruit can continue photosynthesis in a minor sort of way when exposed to sun because of its colour. The banana will continue to ripen with the stored reserves of starch, allowing the fruit to grow much sweeter after harvest. They go from 1% sugar and 25% starch to 15% sugar and 1% starch during ripening.

Q: my banana cake does not have a strong banana flavour, is it because bakeries use flavouring?

I attempted this banana cake a few times with many variations. One of them was to test the outcome from the ripeness of the bananas used. I found that the greener the banana, the weaker the flavour. On the other hand, the “more dead” the banana, the stronger the flavour. Then again, I’d play safe by sticking to spotted bananas before any black patches start to appear, in avoidance of further decay and fermentation inside their skins.

There is also the option of increasing the banana content beyond what is recommended in a recipe. This will definitely result in a much more intensely flavoured banana cake. Do take note that the moistness of the cake will increase alongside, which is good at first but until a point as this tends to reduce the fluffiness of the cake as well.

Without further delay, I present to you.. my new pink bunny plate! 🙂 And the BEST banana cake recipe, inspired by the BEST bakery in JB. It is the best, in fact, as it is also the only bakery that I’ve been too. 😛

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