WW Recipe of the Day: Banana Chocolate Swirl Cake
This banana chocolate swirl cake is one of my favorite cakes from childhood. It's a basic banana cake made fancy with the addition a melted chocolate drizzle and maraschino cherries.
As a kid I didn't like anything that was too sweet, including cakes, and had a real aversion to frosting so this icing-free cake was a winner in my book. Mom didn't make it often, usually just at Christmastime, which added to its specialness.
Banana Chocolate Swirl Cake
I ate more than my fair share of this yummy banana chocolate swirl cake when she made it for us this year. I've had the recipe in my files for years, but have never actually baked it myself, something that I promise to remedy soon.
Truth be told, this is a bit more involved than most cakes I make, requiring separating eggs, beating egg whites and folding, which is probably part of the reason Mom didn't make it more often.
If you're unsure about these techniques or feel like you could use a refresher, I've included some helpful videos at the end of the post.
Favorite Banana Chocolate Swirl Cake
Studying the ingredients, I was excited to realize how relatively light and healthy this is as cakes go, calling for just ¼ cup butter. The only change I made to the original recipe was to use reduced fat sour cream instead of regular.
Rod, the true cake lover of the family, thought this needed a large scoop of vanilla ice cream, but I like it plain.
Slices of Banana Chocolate Swirl Cake
How Many Calories and WW Points in this Banana Cake?
According to my calculations, each slice has 237 calories and:
10 *SmartPoints (Green plan)
9 *SmartPoints (Blue plan)
9 *SmartPoints (Purple plan)
6 *PointsPlus (Old plan)
To see your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, Click here!
If you've made this low fat Banana Chocolate Swirl Cake, please give the recipe a star rating below and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. And stay in touch on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the latest updates.
Banana Chocolate Swirl Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
- ¼ cup water
- 1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (about 3 to 4 medium)
- ⅓ cup low fat sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 eggs (at room temperature, separated into yolks and whites)
- 1-½ cups sugar (divided use)
- ¼ cup butter (softened)
- ½ cup maraschino cherries (quartered)
Instructions
- Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan or standard size bundt pan.
- Position an oven rack in the center of your oven and preheat oven to 350F degrees.
- Put the chocolate chips and water in a small saucepan set over low heat. Stir often until the mixture is melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
- In a small bowl stir together the bananas, sour cream and vanilla until well blended.
- In medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder until well blended.
- In a very clean large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until they reach the soft peak stage. Gradually add ½ cup of the sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time until the egg whites are glossy and form stiff peaks. Set aside.
- In another large mixing bowl beat the butter, the remaining 1 cup of sugar until creamy. Add the egg yolks and beat until light.
- Alternately add the flour mixture and banana mixture to the butter/sugar/egg mixture, making sure the ingredients are combined before adding the next ingredient. Add ⅓ of the flour, then beat the mixture so the flour disappears. Then add ½ of the mashed bananas, and beat the mixture until they disappear. Continue this way, being sure you begin and end with dry ingredients.
- Stir in the cherries.
- Gently fold the egg whites into the cake batter, until no traces of egg white remain.
- Gently scrape ⅓ of the batter into your prepared pan. Drizzle with half the melted chocolate. Repeat with another ⅓ of the batter and remaining chocolate and then top with remaining ⅓ batter.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about ten minutes and then carefully remove the cake from the pan and place it on a wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe Notes
*Points® calculated by WW. *PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® calculated by Simple Nourished Living; Not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc. All recipe ingredients except optional items included in determining nutritional estimates. SmartPoints® values calculated WITHOUT each plan's ZeroPoint Foods (Green plan, Blue plan, Purple plan) using the WW Recipe Builder.
Here are three great videos. The first shows how to separate egg whites from the yolks, the second how to beat egg whites, and the third how to fold egg whites into batter.
How to Separate Eggs
How to Beat Egg Whites
How to Fold Egg Whites into Batter
More Weight Watchers Friendly Banana Cake Recipes
- Simple Banana Cake Recipe
- Healthy Low Fat Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting
- Banana Zucchini Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting (SkinnyTaste)
- Banana Cream Cake (LaaLoosh)
- Microwave Banana Mug Cake (Slender Kitchen)
Martha is the founder and main content writer for Simple-Nourished-Living.
A longtime lifetime WW at goal, she is committed to balancing her love of food and desire to stay slim while savoring life and helping others do the same.
She is the author of the Smart Start 28-Day Weight Loss Challenge.
A huge fan of the slow cooker and confessed cookbook addict, when she's not experimenting in the kitchen, you're likely to find Martha on her yoga mat.
This post contains affiliate links to products I like. When you buy something through one of my Amazon links or other (affiliate links), I receive a small commission that helps support this site. Thank you for your purchase!
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Brenda
This cake is simply delicious. Not a fan of maraschino cherries so I just substituted with Trader Joe's Amarena Cherries. It was awesome. Thanks for sharing the family recipe.