Chamomile-Banana Cake

 There is a good reason we married the flavours of banana and chamomile in this recipe - they taste great together! 
Have you ever explained the taste of chamomile tea as 'creamy'? Do you add honey to your chamomile tea? Do you smell the dried chamomile flowers and think 'ripe bananas'? This recipe takes traditional banana cake to new levels with overly-sweet ripe bananas and dried chamomile flower.
To really infuse the chamomile flavour into the cake, we need to do more than just add chamomile flower to the mixture. We take the milk in this recipe, add our chamomile flower, simmer in the milk on the stove and let cool in the fridge for an hour before adding to the recipe. We even add the now-soft chamomile flower to the mix!
The result? A wonderful tea-time treat!
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Very ripe bananas work best in any banana cake recipe. Our bananas were ripened before being frozen for many weeks, leaving them very soft and very sweet!

RECIPE
Serves 8

Ingredients
125 g unsalted butter, softened
115 g caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
4 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon bi-carb soda
150 mls milk
4 tablespoons of dried Chamomile flowers
250 g SR flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
​Coconut/nuts for topping

Butter Frosting
125 g unsalted butter, softened
90 g icing sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice

1. Start with preparing the chamomile milk. Pour the milk into a small pot, add the chamomile and bring to a simmer. Simmer the chamomile in the milk for approximately 5 minutes. Sit in the fridge until it cools.
2. Preheat the oven to 180 .C. Lightly grease a small cake tin and line with baking paper.
3. Cream the sugar and butter with an electric mixer in a small bowl until light and creamy. Add the beaten eggs slowly, ensuring to mix thoroughly after each addition. Then add the banana and and vanilla and continue to mix until combined.
4. Once the chamomile milk has cooled, dissolve the bicarb soda into the milk. Using a metal spoon, gently fold the sifted flour and cinnamon alternately with the chamomile milk into the mixture. Be sure to add some, or all of the chamomile flower into the mixture. Stir until all the ingredients are just combined and the mixture is smooth. Pour into the prepared tin and smooth with a spatula.
5. Bake for 1  hour, or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean and not sticky. Once cooked, leave the cake in the tin for 10 minutes, than turn out onto a wire rack for cooling. 
6. To make the frosting, beat the butter, icing sugar and lemon juice using an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Spread over the cooled cake and sprinkle with toasted coconut and almonds.