Single Serving Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

Friday was my birthday.  While I had a lovely evening with my husband grabbing drinks, appetizers, and seeing a wonderful ballet, I did not get cake or blow out candles.  So the next morning, I decided to make myself a cake.  And because I didn’t want to be left with an entire cake to nibble from all day, I wanted to make one serving only.  And because it was morning, and breakfast and I love this flavor- I decided lemon poppy seed was it.

Now, I will probably be tweaking this recipe in the very near future, but it was still delightful, and I wanted to share it with you.  And let’s be honest, I hardly ever make the same thing twice.  If you make any adjustments in your attempts, please report back!

For this single-serving cake you will need the following:

• 1 banana
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp lemon extract
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• 2 Tbsp coconut flour
• 2 Tbsp arrowroot starch
• 2 Tbsp blanched almond flour
• 2 tsp poppy seeds
• butter or coconut oil for greasing
• a 3 to 4 inch ramekin baking dish

The great thing about making yourself just one individual cake is that you can make it in a toaster oven!  Preheat yours to 350, and grease your ramekin.  (I do find butter to work better than coconut oil.  Grass-fed of course!)

Now, mash the banana well and mix it with the egg, extract, zest and poppy seeds.  Mix in the flours and starch and combine well.

Pour into your ramekin and bake for about 25 minutes, but toaster ovens will vary a good bit.  I would check for doneness (a firm top, slightly browned) just before 25 minutes.  Note that if you are using a smaller ramekin, the cake will be deeper, and therefore take longer. A larger ramekin, and your cake will be a bit on the flat and shallow side.

I decided to top mine with a spoonful of organic strawberry jam, but other berries or a lemon glaze would be delicious options.

I will be playing with this single-serving cake idea many more times, I feel!  Stay tuned for many variations on this theme.

I will come back to edit if I find a way that makes this even better, for sure!  In the meantime, experiment with your own favorite flavors!