Almost every day someone asks me how I have time to bake.
I have a lot of answers to that question. The best one is simply that I really love being in the kitchen. It calms me down from all the madness of the day—almost like a short afternoon nap.
But I also have another answer. I try very hard to make most of my recipes quick, with ingredients you already have in the fridge or pantry (because there isn’t always time to run to the supermarket just for one thing), and ones that don’t leave you with a sink full of dishes.
Over the years I’ve developed little habits that make baking feel very easy. Most of the time I stick to simple recipes and just add a small touch that turns them into something special. A nice addition, something I already have in my “surprise cabinet,” a slightly different way to serve it (like inside plastic egg cups), and other little tricks I share here on the blog from time to time.
This morning I woke up an hour before meeting friends and saw three very black bananas sitting on the counter. I knew I had to do something with them before they found their way to the trash. But what do you do when you realize the clock is ticking and you have to leave the house soon?
You make a simple cake.
It takes five minutes, uses maybe three dishes (a bowl, a whisk, and a fork), and while it’s in the oven you can get dressed, put on makeup, tidy up the house, water the basil that’s on its last legs, and even quickly write down the recipe so you don’t forget.
It took me ten minutes to photograph all the steps of this cake—and that included stopping because I spilled flour on the couch (I shoot in the living room, it’s the only place with good natural light), plus a few short breaks for a phone call and WhatsApp messages. The day I manage to ignore messages, I’ll know I have changed. For the better, of course.
So really, it took five actual minutes to make the cake. I didn’t skip anything for the photos, and I didn’t pre-measure anything either—I filmed it exactly the way I make it. The video is about four minutes long because I sped up a few parts like mixing, but if you watch it, you’ll see that’s more or less the real amount of time it takes.
And maybe the thing that matters to me most in this recipe—and in the video—is showing you how helpful it is to use a scale. Forget accuracy for a second (although yes, it helps)—I use it because it saves so many dishes. No measuring cups for flour, no extra cups for oil, no spoons for sugar or vanilla. Everything goes straight in, right over the scale. And it’s not expensive either.
If you want me to explain how to use one, in case it’s not clear from the video, I’d be very happy to—just tell me. But take a look at the video first and see how much easier it makes things.
I just realized that writing all of this took longer than making the cake 🙂
Alright, enough talking—here’s the recipe.
