Plantain and apple, well why not?! You’ve seen them in all the grocery stores, they look like bananas but bigger. You’ve probably walked by them thinking “oh they look spoiled”, black splotches etc. Well, the reality is, that’s what you want. That is when these plantains are at their peak of taste. You can do just about anything you like with them. This is adapted from the preciouscore.com site.

Okay they not be a pantry staple in your house – yet, but I tend to pick some up whenever I see some ripening plantains on the shelf, I’m inspired to do something with them. Plantains are difficult to peel – well not as easy as a banana anyway, but most definitely a “do it once and learn” technique. I slice the tips off both ends, and using a sharp knife, just cut vertically into the plantain, just past the thickness of the skin, then peel and use as you will.

I used 2 ripe plantains for this recipe. The original recipe called for 4, but when I bought the 2 plantains last week, I wasn’t thinking of this recipe, I was planning on using them for tostones or pan fried to have as a side with a meal. But my wife sent me this recipe and after reading and loving it, I had everything except for 2 plantains. (My wife sends me a lot of recipes :), you just see the ones that look interesting to me). Wanting to keep to my pantry staple theme, rather than go out and buy 2 more plantains, I decided to use what I hand in the house to make up the bulk of “mashed plantain”. I thought of frozen fruit, but too much water would be released changing the chemistry of the cake recipe. I decided to use a large gala apple instead. My plantain, 90% ripe, could not be easily mashed with a fork so I used my processor and together with the apple, pureed everything together. Done!

The apple gave me enough mash, and taste, that it compensated for the extra plantains. Cinnamon makes this cake extremely fragrant and is a must. I also used a Bundt pan, not my favorite pan to use for cakes, but sometimes you have to follow instructions. Go get some plantains on the next run to the store – stand 6′ from the person in front of you and behind you – shoo them away if you have to. The nice thing about these is that they take longer than bananas to ripen so even if you buy them greenish this week, and keep them for a week or 3, they will be good to use for tons of recipes. When you come back from the store, before touching anything, wash up, clean up, don’t touch your face. Bake this cake, physical distancing will be hard as your family will want to hug you. Just explain, you are saving the world by not hugging them. Then sit across the room from them and share this cake. As always – enjoy! As always – stay safe!

2 overripe plantains – skins should be black and plantain should be soft to the touch
1 gala apple
¾ cup vegetable oil
1½ cups 3.25% milk (2% will also work)
2 tsp vanilla extract
Zest and juice of 1 lemon, separated – I had Meyer lemons from a previous shopping expedition, use an orange, lime, clementine or really any citrus fruit for flavor
4 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon powder

Preheat oven to 350f. Spray a 9 ½” Bundt pan – set aside
Peel the plantains and core and quarter the apple, no need to peel – add to the processor and pulse until finely pureed
In a large bowl add the oil, vanilla, lemon juice and milk – stir to mix
Add in the eggs and using a spatula, mix well
In another bowl whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and lemon zest
Add to the plantain bowl and mix until just combined
Pour the batter into the prepared pan
Bake for 60 – 65 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean