Banana Cake for Tu Bishvat

This moist banana cake is a tasty way to celebrate Tu Bishvat. Colloquially known as 'the birthday of the trees,' Tu Bishvat was once a tax holiday–and now has become a chance for Jews around the world to think about the ways in which trees, plants, and the fruits of the earth sustain us. Tu Bishvat is connected to the natural world and to the land of Israel. Many people celebrate the holiday by attending a Tu Bishvat Seder, a practice with origins stemming from the Kabbalists of 15th century Safed. Today, it can be a chance to learn about environmentalism and Judaism. At Tu Bishvat Seders, the consumption of fruits, nuts and wines are symbolically understood to create a spiritual journey linking people to the land of Israel. Many of those fruits have connections to the traditional “seven species” found in Deuteronomy 8:8. Wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates–the actual word used is honey, but scholars believe the biblical honey mentioned is a syrup made from dates rather than the honey from bees–are all traditionally associated with the land of Israel.

Today many people celebrate Tu Bishvat by enjoying all kinds of fruits and plants, even those that are not mentioned in the Bible. This cake combines the classical ingredients of Israel's agricultural tradition (dates, raisins, wheat) with its contemporary bounty (bananas, pecans, ginger). It could be called banana bread's wickedly delicious step-sister, for it is at once decadent and thrifty. Giving delicious new life to tired bananas, this cake is full of nuts, fruit and chocolate–rich enough to feel like dessert, but nutritious enough to eat for breakfast.