https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sat, 16 May 2026 14:26:28 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pastry-bees-opinion-on-tweaking-this-recipe#post-1762111 Wed, 16 Jul 2014 11:01:31 +0000 gingerbebe 1762111@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Whole wheat flour is way more dense than cocoa powder. If omitting the cocoa powder, I'd try adding 2 tablespoons of whole wheat flour sifted with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, which will replace the missing cocoa and also act to lighten the cake structure since it seems like the whole cake is whole wheat flour and will be quite dense. I would agree with possibly cutting down the sugar to 1/3 cup, depending on how ripe your bananas are. If they are black-ripe, 1/3 cup should be fine. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pastry-bees-opinion-on-tweaking-this-recipe#post-1761895 Wed, 16 Jul 2014 10:03:43 +0000 aegie 1761895@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Snowdrop: haha .. yes us americans and our weird measurements. i actually prefer grams and mls since it's much more precise. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pastry-bees-opinion-on-tweaking-this-recipe#post-1761883 Wed, 16 Jul 2014 09:59:47 +0000 Snowdrop 1761883@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@aegie: ah ok. To be honest, being english I don't really understand the measurements here we normally have everything in grams and mls so that went completely over my head :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pastry-bees-opinion-on-tweaking-this-recipe#post-1761872 Wed, 16 Jul 2014 09:56:29 +0000 aegie 1761872@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Snowdrop: this recipe is not exact though. 3 ripe bananas is completely arbitrary. Plus banana bread is better moist than dry. So a wet and thick batter is preferred in such case. I would think adding 1/3 cup of whole wheat flour would actually dry out the cake. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pastry-bees-opinion-on-tweaking-this-recipe#post-1761833 Wed, 16 Jul 2014 09:46:17 +0000 Snowdrop 1761833@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I agree with @blackbird: about substituting the cocoa powder because it will change the consistency. Either a bit more flour or less milk. Too much wet ingredients to dry ratio often leads to a sinking cake. it would still taste just as good though. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pastry-bees-opinion-on-tweaking-this-recipe#post-1761808 Wed, 16 Jul 2014 09:38:45 +0000 Freckles 1761808@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I personally would not omit the cocoa and would prefer to reduce the sugar. The amount of sugar you have in cocoa (i'm assuming this is the unsweetened stuff you're using, not instant cocoa that you put in your milk) is so minimal. </p> <p>If you're going to replace sugar, i would think about increasing the wet ingredients by a bit (maybe a little more milk or banana) since sugar adds to the moisture of a baked good. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pastry-bees-opinion-on-tweaking-this-recipe#post-1761783 Wed, 16 Jul 2014 09:30:26 +0000 aegie 1761783@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsLilybugg: I would not replace cocoa with flour. 1/3 cup is actually not a lot ... about 5 tbsp. cocoa powder is completely different from flour. If it says it's for flavor, then I would completely omit it and not replace it with anything. period. ESPECIALLY whole wheat flour which does act differently than regular flour.</p> <p>It also says 3 ripe bananas so I'm going to assume sweetness is taken into account but I've been known to remove 2 tbsp of sugar per 1/2 cup of sugar if I'm giving it to my kids. </p> <p>For frosting, I would suggest cream cheese and just a ripe banana. And no extra sugar. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pastry-bees-opinion-on-tweaking-this-recipe#post-1761616 Wed, 16 Jul 2014 08:41:06 +0000 blackbird 1761616@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>That's usually waht I do! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pastry-bees-opinion-on-tweaking-this-recipe#post-1761601 Wed, 16 Jul 2014 08:38:11 +0000 MrsLilybugg 1761601@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@blackbird: ok thanks! So less sugar and instead of cocoa 50% flour ! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pastry-bees-opinion-on-tweaking-this-recipe#post-1761585 Wed, 16 Jul 2014 08:32:57 +0000 blackbird 1761585@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So whenever I adjust banana recipes, I usually cut the sugar down to 1/3 of the original recipe and it bakes up fine. I would probably replace the cocoa powder with flour, at least 50%, because otherwise the batter may be more wet. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pastry-bees-opinion-on-tweaking-this-recipe#post-1761580 Wed, 16 Jul 2014 08:31:11 +0000 MrsLilybugg 1761580@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thank you ladies, very helpful!! I m going to try baking them today! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pastry-bees-opinion-on-tweaking-this-recipe#post-1761571 Wed, 16 Jul 2014 08:29:31 +0000 Adira 1761571@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>You also might not need as much sugar if you leave out the cocoa, but I'm not positive on that one. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pastry-bees-opinion-on-tweaking-this-recipe#post-1761558 Wed, 16 Jul 2014 08:26:32 +0000 Cole 1761558@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think you will be OK too. Cocoa is an acid so the one thing I was watching for was baking soda vs powder but with baking powder you should be fine. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pastry-bees-opinion-on-tweaking-this-recipe#post-1761550 Wed, 16 Jul 2014 08:24:14 +0000 ValentineMommy 1761550@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think so! It's only 1/3 of a cup, so it shouldn't make a huge difference. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pastry-bees-opinion-on-tweaking-this-recipe#post-1761546 Wed, 16 Jul 2014 08:21:59 +0000 MrsLilybugg 1761546@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm on my phone and couldn't copy recipe so I took a screenshot of all ingredients in case it makes a difference. If a banana cupcake recipe calls for 1.5 cups of flour, and 1/3 cup of baking cocoa, can I leave out the cocoa? The notes say it's for chocolate flavor. Do you think it will affect the texture, fluffiness, Etc though? I'm not a baker and am experimenting smash cake recipes :wink:</p> <p>[attach=1335/14/n8t3sn.338x600.image.jpg] </p>