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Fluffy Finger Millet Banana Chocolate Cake

Well… I told you all that I might not be posting any new post till the first week of Jan but I just couldn’t wait to share this recipe with you all! I baked this cake yesterday and I am really thrilled about it!

After my foxtail millet recipe I am here with another millet based recipe. This time it’s finger millet and that too a cake! Like I said I have been trying my hands with different grains, flours and millets and this time I wanted to see how it could include them in my bakes and cakes. I remembered my friend Sajeeta baking a chocolate cake with finger millet in it but I wanted to take this a step further and make it healthier.

Finger Millet in a cake!

Finger Millet or Ragi (in Kannada) is not a foreign name for most people from Karnataka. I think a considerable number of people eat finger millet balls at least once a day even today. Finger Millet balls are made by adding finger millet flour to boiling water, cooking it till it all comes together into one ball. This cooked dough should be soft and free of lumps. The dough is then divided into small/medium size balls and is served with a vegetable or meat curry.

Finger millet is a nutrition powerhouse. Finger millet is especially valuable as it contains the amino acid methionine. It is rich in calcium and protein and also has a good amount of iron and other minerals. It is low in fat most of which are unsaturated fats.

Fluffy and moist

Though this is a sweet cake it’s still quite different from all the other buttery sugary goodness we all have been indulging in this season. It has simple healthy ingredients in it. I have used finger millet flour for the first time in a cake and it’s not bad at all. Finger millet flour is a staple in our house so I am definitely looking forward to using it in more and more bakes from now on. With finger millet flour, I have used wheat germ and oatmeal for more fluffiness.  Flax seeds once again replace eggs in this cake.

I had a bunch of frozen bananas which is used in this cake. Mashed banana is a favorite of mine as it’s cuts down the sugar and fat needed to make soft sweet cakes. I skipped oil all together and used only a little bit of Tahini instead. Here again I had some Homemade Tahini which I wanted to use up. You can use any oil of your choice instead.  A little of cocoa added makes everything tastes better. So this simple healthy banana cake is taken to another level with a hint of cocoa in it.

Finger millet flour, wheat germ and oatmeal

Fluffy, lite and airy finger millet banana chocolate cake is perfect for breakfast, lite snack and accompaniment for evening tea. Sorry for the not so great photos… with so much happening right now, all I could do was just click some quick shots of the cake before it was over.

Perfect for breakfast and lite snack

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• 1 cup finger millet flour
• ½ cup quick cooking oats
• ½ cup wheat germ
• ¼ cup cocoa
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda

• 2 tbsp flax seed powder + 6 tbsp water
• 1 cup mashed banana
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup raw cane sugar
• ¼ cup tahini
• 1 tbsp vanilla

Pre-heat the oven at 180 degree C.

Mix flax seed meal with 6 tbsp of water, stir well and keep aside.
Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix together. In a separate bowl mash the bananas and add all the other wet ingredients into it.

Pour the wet ingredient into the dry and mix till combined. Do not over mix. This batter will be not really be very liquidy. Pour it into a greased pan and even out the surface with a spatula.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or till the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Wait for it to cool down completely before you cut into it.