Baked Banana Cake - Banh Chuoi

Recipe adapted from "My Vietnam, Stories and Recipes," by Luke Nguyen.

I've had this at a Vietnamese restaurant served with sweet coconut milk (Bambuza in the South Waterfront) and was pleasantly surprised to find the recipe is quite simple.  This recipe is nice in that it is not too sweet or mushy.  I should state as a disclaimer that Mark actually baked this one.

THE RECIPE

12 small, ripe bananas
2 1/4 cup sugar
7 eggs
14 oz (1 can) sweetened condensed milk
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

Slice the bananas thinly on the diagonal and coat with sugar. Cover and set aside at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9 1/2-inch round cake pan and line bottom with parchment paper.

Beat the eggs and combine with the condensed milk and melted butter. Now add the flour and mix well, then gently fold the bananas through the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 1 hour, or until the cake is cooked through and golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool,then cover and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.