Simple, no frills cake, perfect for sharing. I used a super moist chocolate banana cake by Joy of Baking, and topped with salted caramel buttercream (the same recipe I use for my salted caramel macarons). Again, the trick is to make the chocolate cake less sweet (and let the natural sweetness of the banana come through) and caramel buttercream texture as light as possible (fluff it up by beating very very well!), balancing it with salt, and drizzle on caramel for the extra swirls of decadence. I really enjoyed the chocolate banana cake for its extra moistness as well.
I modified the original recipe by using 0.5 cup ripe bananas as I had ran out, and replaced the rest with more milk, and reduced the sugar to 1.5 cups. Everything else is kept the same. It tasted really great! Then I paired it with a simple American salted caramel buttercream, which was good as well. Next time I’m thinking of trying an Earl grey buttercream (recipe by A Beautiful Plate here) for more flavor variations. They made a gorgeous London Fog Cake with earl grey infused swiss meringue buttercream, topped with a generous layer of homemade salted caramel, that sounds like something people would really enjoy.
| Chocolate Banana Cake adapted from Joy of Baking
Chocolate Banana Cake 1 3/4 cups (230 grams) all-purpose flour Salted Caramel Buttercream by Cupcake Jemma 150g butter |
To make Chocolate Banana Cake
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Butter, or spray with a non stick vegetable spray, a 9 x 13 inch (23 x 33 cm) pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. In another large bowl, whisk the eggs. Then stir in the mashed bananas, coffee, milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir, or whisk, until combined. (The batter is quite thin.) Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. When completely cooled, frost with the Salted Caramel Buttercream. To make Salted Caramel Buttercream Start with 150 g butter and beat well with icing sugar (sifted). Add 3-4 tablespoons of whole milk. Mix for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy. Add homemade salted caramel to taste. For the final cake assembly, swirl in more salted caramel |
My Dose of Sugar 