In the Middle East, all sorts of cakes are baked at home for various meals and for different occasions. Rarely does one buy cake from a cake shop in the Middle East, many families bake cakes and biscuits regularly at home. Although occasionally some buy elaborate French pastries or birthday cakes from a baker, many execute elaborate recipes in their home kitchens. No Middle Eastern grandmother  doesn’t have a few pound and sponge cake recipes up her sleeve. You’ll often find a teta whip out a recipe for create orange pound cake during the orange season in the winter months when large, juicy oranges are abundant in the farmers’ markets; or a moist chocolate cake to serve guests coming for a cup of tea. 

Although bananas are plentiful in North Africa and the Levant, banana cake only caught on in more recent years with the introduction of American recipes through American-style bakeries, opened by folks who had spent time living or studying in the U.S.. By introducing different recipes and baked goods such as cupcakes and multi-layered buttercream-frosted cakes to Middle Eastern consumers and bakers who have started to adapt some of these recipes with local ingredients.  

Our recipe for banana bread with tahini and molasses combines an American recipe with Middle Eastern pantry staples: molasses and tahini. Together, the combination of tahini and molasses is unbeatable, and makes for the ultimate moist banana bread. We find this recipe so delicious that we’ve baked a loaf only to find ourselves eating from it before it cools! Whenever we come to bake this recipe, our ultimate moist banana bread doesn’t end up being around for too long as the family dives into it and polishes off every slice when its set out. So popular and loved is this take on banana bread, we suggest you pour the batter into muffin or cupcake tins to make individual servings that can serve as grab and go breakfasts for young children or professionals heading back to the office.