Welcome to TONGA!

In our group My Kitchen My World, we virtually travel each month to a different location and choose a recipe from that country.  This month we chose Tonga.  I do not personally know a lot about Tonga so I had to do a bit of research.  Just think polynesian.

If you do not know much about Tonga, it is located in the South Paciifc and is a group of 176 islands. The capital of the Kingdom of Tona is Nukualofa and it is also the largest city in Tonga.


One of the most popular recipes I found was the Tonga Toast.  It looks fabulous. . .all covered in cinnamon and sugar.  However, I went for the Banana Cake.  This makes a two layer cake, but since there are only two of us and we are trying to cut back on sweets, I halved this recipe and made in a loaf pan.  Looks a little more like tonga toast than cake, but cake it is.  The banana pudding in between the layers makes it so moist and rich.

Check us out at mkmw.wordpress.com and see what the others in the group came up with.  Should be interesting!
If you are feeling like a little polynesian this week, try the banana cake!  Next month we check out POLAND dishes.  Come join us!


Ingredients for 2 layers, 9-inch round:
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs, separated
  • 2 medium bananas mashed
  • 1 tsp vanilla, or 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp banana essence
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 plain yogurt or sour milk
  • 1 recipe banana pudding filling (recipe given below)
  • 2 cups whipped cream with 1 tsp vanilla and 2 Tbsp powdered sugar
Method:
  1. Preheat oven to 350° F.   Line 2 baking pans with parchment paper, butter and dust evenly with flour.
  2. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
  3. Add egg yolks, bananas, and vanilla.  Mix until well combined.
  4. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form.  Set aside. 
  5. Sift flour, soda and salt together.  Add to creamed mixture alternately with the yogurt. Note:  if weather is very dry, additional yogurt may be needed.
  6. Immediately fold egg whites into batter.  Pour batter into prepared pans.
  7. Bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Transfer cakes to cooling rack for 5 minutes.  Remove cakes from pans and cool completely.
  8. Fill with banana pudding between layers. (recipe given below)
  9. Cover top and sides with whipped cream.  Use a star tip and piping bag to decorate top and bottom edges if desired.
  10. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Ingredients for Banana Pudding:
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3 Tbsp cornstarch
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 2 egg yolks, beaten slightly
  • 1 tsp vanilla, or banana essence or banana liqueur
  • 1 large ripe banana, mashed smooth
  • 2 Tbsp lemon juice
Method:
  1. In a heavy bottom sauce pan over medium high heat, place sugar, cornstarch and salt.
  2. Slowly add milk whisking constantly until smooth.
  3. Temper the eggs with 1/2 cup of hot milk mixture and return to sauce pan.  Cook a few minutes more until custard thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon.
  4. Remove from heat.  Cool to room temperature.  Add banana and lemon juice. 
  5. Cover top of pudding with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator.
  6. Use to fill between layers of cake.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Saw this listed a lot on Google. Glad some one made it for us.
grongar said…
I saw a lot of references to Tonga Toast, too, but I get the feeling it's a made-up recipe from Disney... I didn't see that banana cake recipe anywhere, though. Good choice!

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