Apple-Banana nut chiffon cake

Ever since I had my first apple banana, I never wanted to have another plain banana again. I'm very lucky to live in Hawaii for that reason, because I don't know if apple bananas are available anywhere else. What are apple bananas, you ask? Imagine a plain banana, but with a bit of a tart taste, like an apple. It's still very sweet..but it has a little bit of a kick. It's so yummy. Once you try it, you'll never go back. They're normally smaller than regular bananas and make great banana breads.

My mom's friend gave her a bunch of apple bananas that she grew herself. They're so delicious, I decided to make the Banana Nut Chiffon cake that I've been eying from Baking Illustrated. This cake is absolutely delicious!! It's so moist and has a wonderfully nutty taste from the toasted walnuts. This is definitely a winner. Here's the recipe.

Apple Banana Nut Chiffon Cake
adapted from Baking Illustrated
total time: 1.5 hours

1 1/4 cups sugar (see note)
1 1/3 cups plain cake flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
7 large eggs, 2 whole, 5 separated at room temperature
2/3 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup very smoothly mashed banana (about 4 apple bananas)
1/2 cup finely ground toasted walnuts

1. Adjust the rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Whisk the sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Whisk in the 2 whole eggs, 5 egg yolks (reserve white), water, oil, and vanilla extract until the batter is just smooth. Fold in the mashed banana and the walnuts.

2. Pour the reserved egg whites into the bowl of a standing mixer; beat at low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Add the cream of tartar, gradually increase the speed to medium-high, then beat the whites until very thick and stiff, just short of dry (as little as 7 minutes in a standing mixer and as long as 10 minutes with a handheld mixer). With a large rubber spatula, fold the whites into the batter, smearing in any blobs of white that resist blending with the flat side of the spatula.

3. Pour the batter into an ungreased large tube pan. Rap the pan against the countertop 5 times to rupture any large air pockets. If using a pan with a removable bottom, grasp both sides with your hands while firmly pressing down on the tube with with your thumbs to keep the batter from seeping from the pan during the rapping process. Wipe off any batter that may have dripped or splashed onto the inside walls of the pan with a paper towel.

4. Bake the cake until a toothpick or thin skewer inserted int the center comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes (see note). Immediately turn the cake upside down to cool. If the pan does not have prongs around the rim for elevating the cake, invert the pan onto the neck of a bottle or funnel. Let the cake cool completely, 2 to 3 hours.

5. To unmold, turn the pan upright. Run a thin knife around the pan's circumference between the cake and the pan wall, always pressing against the pan. Use a skewer to loosen the cake from the tube. For a one-piece pan, bang it on the counter several times, then invert it over a serving plate. For a two piece pan, grasp the tube and lit the cake out of the pan.

Note:

• The original recipe uses 1 1/2 cups of sugar, I decreased it to 1 1/4 cup. Next time, I will decrease it to 1 cup of sugar.
  
• The original recipe says that you need to bake the cake for 60 to 70 minutes. I checked the cake after 50 minutes, and the skewer already came out clean.
• The cake can be wrapped in plastic and stored at room temperature up to 2 days or refrigerated up to 4 days.